E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

by David Bodanis

E=mc². Just about everyone has at least heard of Albert Einstein's formulation of 1905, which came into the world as something of an afterthought. But far fewer can explain his insightful linkage of energy to mass. David Bodanis offers an easily grasped gloss on the equation. Mass, he writes, "is simply the ultimate type of condensed or concentrated energy," whereas energy "is what billows out as an alternate form of mass under the right circumstances."

Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are not as well known as Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the "dominion of matter" with "a great stillness"--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening.

Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well; namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--a view that would change the world. --Gregory McNamee

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Physics, Biography, Popular Science, Mathematics

337 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

David Bodanis' latest book THE ART OF FAIRNESS: THE POWER OF DECENCY IN A WORLD TURNED MEAN was published November 2020 and asks the question that has long fascinated David: Can you succeed without being a terrible person? The answer is 'Yes, but you need skill', and the book shows how. I demonstrate those insights through a series of biographies…

David Bodanis is the bestselling author of THE SECRET HOUSE and E=MC2, which was turned into a PBS documentary and a Southbank Award-winning ballet at Sadler's Wells. David also wrote ELECTRIC UNIVERSE, which won the Royal Society Science Book of the Year Prize, and PASSIONATE MINDS, a BBC Book of the Week. Then a return to Einstein and the struggles he went through with EINSTEIN'S GREATEST MISTAKE which was named ‘Science Book of the Year’ by the Sunday Times, and also widely translated.

David has worked for the Royal Dutch Shell Scenario Prediction unit and the World Economic Forum. He has been a popular speaker at TED conferences and at Davos. His work has been published in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and the New York Times, and has appeared on Newsnight, Start the Week, and other programs. When not slumped in front of a laptop, he has been known to attempt kickboxing, with highly variable results.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο με κάθε κεφάλαιο να αποτελεί ένα διαφορετικό κεφάλαιο της ιστορίας της φυσικής, με κοινό άξονα ότι όλα σχετίζονται με την περιβόητη εξίσωση του τίτλου!

Πολύ έξυπνη ιδέα, και δεν περιλαμβάνει καθόλου μαθηματικά και σύνθετες περιγραφές, εξάλλου ο συγγραφέας είναι δημοσιογράφος, που έχει κάνει επισταμένη έρευνα. Ο τρόπος έκφρασής του είναι σωστός - για όσους είστε επιστήμονες και ψάχνετε προβλήματα - και αποτελεί μια πολύ καλή πρόταση για όσους ενδιαφέρονται για τα επιστημονικά ζητήματα.

Bonus: όσοι ενδιαφέρεστε για το 2ο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, η ιστορία της πυρηνικής βόμβας νομίζω ότι είναι ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα κομμάτια του, με τη στρατηγική εκατέρωθεν να δίνει και να παίρνει.

[Darin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may not seem strange that I include a history book in my top 20...until you consider that the history book is not about a person--or a civilization--or an era. It is about an equation. E=mc2.

There are lots of biographies of Einstein, and I think the best may have just been published(I am currently reading "Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson.)

But rather than write about the professor, Bodanis discusses each of the five elements of the equation. He also talks about the people and mini-dramas of science that led to the famous discovery in 1905. It is easy on science and numbers--which is fine for me. The hard-core readers can find number-crunching equations on the book's website. It is bursting with stories that are seldom heard in the textbooks--making it easy and fun read.

While I don't agree with some of his conclusions in later chapters, he does make you think.

I recommend this to any of my friends with the slightest bit of interest in physics.

[Hari Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, this book was good, but not as I expected, that it would be awesome; as I was longing to lay my hands on this books for nearly an year until I found this in my usual bookstore.
And this is truly an amazing biography of the Equation, of which Dr.Einstein would have had only a moderate knowledge.
This book is a collection of stories of different thinkers, from the medieval period to the detonations of nuclear bombs, and how they happened to do it, from our history books. Many of which I had much more insight than what's in the book. This book contains a far little and juvenile scientific approach, which 'might' annoy certain people with a profound knowledge in Physics. But it also gave me many amazing details of certain discoveries.

[Greg]

A customer at work:

"This title is so stupid, who knows that this would even mean, 'e equals mc two. How the hell am I supposed to know what this book is even about?"

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well constructed story. Turned out to be of less scientific insight than I had hoped but was full of delightful historical factoids. Full review to follow.

[Gendou · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not what's advertised. It's mostly (counting pages) about the building of the first nuclear bomb. If you're into war history, you may like this book. If you want to learn about the equation E=mc^2, try reading a real science book. Which this is not.

The author writes like an outsider looking in. I didn't feel like he had a firm grasp of the physics. He uses really poor analogies to try and describe the physics to the layperson instead of just explaining the physics like it is. Such half-wrong analogies are worse than useless because it later takes time to cure the lay reader of the resulting misconceptions. Why plant them in the first place?

The book even ends on an anti-intellectual tone, where it's claimed Einstein was a "profit" bringing down knowledge from "on high". This is the absolute opposite of the truth. Physics is accessible to anyone who is interested enough to spend the time and energy it takes to learn.

The author's apparent lack of expertise is also on display in the many subtle mistakes in the book. For example, he says that GPS satellites need a "relativistic fix" because the satellites are "traveling so fast". Sure, there's a 7 microsecond delay due to special relativity from their twice daily orbit around the Earth. But that's ignoring the larger, 45 microsecond delay due to general relativity from the Earth's gravity well! (source)

I would go so far as to say this book contains "scientism". I hate that word and it's almost exclusively used inaccurately by Creationists. But it happens to fit what this book has in it. It's claimed, over and over again, that the bombs dropped on Japan were somehow due to the equation. Which they weren't. The discoveries of radioactivity and the theory behind radioactive criticality had nothing to do with the equation. That equation explains where the energy comes from in terms of a conservation law (mass/energy). But it's ridiculous to say the equation "allowed", "enabled", or "caused" nuclear bombs to detonate over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since it's the thesis of the book, this poor philosophy is repeated throughout the book. Each time I read that the equation "made" something possible, or that something happened as "a result of" the equation, I wanted to stab out my eyes with an ice pick.

[Rohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks like I cannot get enough of Historical Science books. This is yet another book that surprised me. In this book, the Author presents History and the impact of Einstein's famous equation. He initially tries to give a decent historical account of how the equation came about.

The book has its downsides. I really felt the equation could have been explained in much more exciting way than the Author did. But, I did like the fact that the Author focused in great detail about making of the Atomic Bomb (The Manhattan Project) and its destructive force that led to the surrender of Japan. Even though I was aware of most of the things described in this book from some of the other books I have read before, I still enjoyed going over them again thoroughly. Definitely a good read.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a bad read, but it has some major flaws.

For one, this book is aimed at kindergartners.

Fay Weldon, in an ebullient blurb, claims that by reading this book she achieved an understanding of Einstein’s theory of relativity “by osmosis”. I’m afraid my brain does not work that way. For me, insight is based on facts, concepts and reasoning. And some concepts are not easy, and some sophisticated reasoning is sometimes necessary to "get" a difficult theory. In principle, even very hard concepts can be explained in simple terms, but it takes a very talented and patient author to do this well.

Mr Bodanis does not rise to the challenge. He aims his book squarely at readers who have no mathematics, no physics and no chemistry whatsoever, and who are not expecting to pick up any here. For instance, he patiently explains the concept of squaring: four squared is not eight but, don't be surprised, sixteen. Any concept more difficult than this he is afraid to tackle, so most of what we get are broad generalizations, egregious simplifications, rough approximations, not-very-apt similes and repetitions.

On page 50, the author suddenly asserts “That’s why it’s speed can be an upper limit” [he’s talking about the speed of light here] and a few pages further on “That’s what explains ‘c’ in the equation” [light again]. Alas, nothing in the preceding paragraphs or pages warrants these bold statements: we know the speed of light IS an upper limit, but WHY that is so not even the most intelligent and dedicated reader will have fathomed, there simply not being enough explanatory power applied here.

Another thing I find grating in a science book is that Bodanis loves to talk about God whenever given half a chance.

He comes up with a highly original take on Michael Farraday’s work on magnetism : it was inspired by his Sandemanian religious beliefs. Scientists are used to think in straight lines, Bodanis posits, but in church the circle is more important: “I will help you, and you will help the next person, and that person will help another, and so on until the circle is complete”. So that’s why Michael went looking for circular lines around his magnets, duh! Somehow I am not surprised no historian of science ever thought of this before.

And while Bodanis does not discuss Einstein’s religious beliefs explicitly, he disingenuously suggests that the latter was a believer. Twice he mentions that The Wild Haired One referred to God as “The Old One”, and he ends his book with a sentence strongly suggesting Einstein was a theist (…the divine library that he was convinced awaited…). In fact, though he disliked the label “atheist” and on occasion flirted with pantheism, Einstein called a belief in a personal god “childlike” and often defined himself as an agnostic.

If you made it this far down my review, you earned this confession: I only scored this book two stars to mark my displeasure with the overblown blurb on the cover, and the overly generous score on Goodreads. In fairness, this merits three stars.

There are some good stories here, competently told. The author gives pride of place to female scientists whose contributions were at one time underappreciated, which is laudable of course. And the voluminous notes at the end of the book partly offset my criticism about egregious simplification.

So if you find this in a yard sale, go ahead, spend a few cents, it is worth a read. But it has some major flaws. (Da capo)

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories, it has been said, are what we all have. Especially, the old. The young also have hopes and dreams. In E=MC2, David Bodanis looks back hard at the lives of some of the greatest scientists to ever live. From the moments of their reckless youths, through the tragic and painful years of world war II, to the solitary decades after. Yes, it could be said that they lived their lives, if not to the full, at least almost to the brim. What more could we the living ask from them? Rare is the person whose life overflows. These scientists, from Einstein, Meitner, Fermi, Voltaire, Du Chatelet and Chandra have lived, travelled, and discovered greater things.

These people had very strong minds. Before this book, I had heard a lot about them from university challenge, a BBC quiz show. I never imagined that I would ever be interested in their childhood and life. Reading about their lives gave me a very pleasant feeling. I learned how they determined to fight the misconceptions of their time. They aimed and challenged those things that the society had accepted as facts.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giving 5-stars to this biographical masterpiece makes me want to lower the rating of every other book I’ve read this year. WOW! This biography of the world’s most famous equation (E = mc^2) is unbelievably enchanting, thrilling and fascinating in all the right ways.

Bodanis ingeniously provides the reader with an unforgettable ‘mini history’ of each component of Einstein’s equation — energy, mass, speed, the equals sign and the exponent. He then broadens the reader’s horizon to view the ‘childhood’ (discovery), ‘adolescence’ (paradigm-shift), and ‘adulthood’ (application) of the equation with simplicity and suspense.

I particularly enjoyed the way Bodanis spends time elaborating the contributions of under-represented and under-appreciated women theoretical physicists to both special and general relativity. Wish more books like this existed :/

WARNING: this book will make you fall in love with math 🙈

[Giuseppe Sirugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por sí mismo el título: E=mc² explica un poco lo que el autor quería hacer entender sobre el volumen. David Bodanis, profesor de la Universidad de Oxford, en el libro describe la fórmula de la relatividad del físico judío (1879-1955). La narrativa no es solo el pináculo de la historia biográfica del científico, premio Nobel de física en año 1921. Mucho menos es un libro de física donde Bodanis trata de explicar paso a paso la teoría de la relatividad, que seguramente muchos lectores tendrían dificultades para entender debido a la complejidad. Pero el autor en la manera más simple tomó letras y símbolos matemáticos para resaltar cuáles fueron los descubrimientos científicos más convincentes; la historia en temporada de escuela secundaria podría haber sido aburrida, en cambio, Bodanis en esto libro logró convertirla como un evento fácil de entender.

En este viaje emocionante histórico donde se escribieron enciclopedias enteras para explicar el descubrimiento de la relatividad, sin embargo dividiendo capítulos entre ellos para que los lectores y estudiosos entiendan los subtítulos, el profesor universitario recordó algunos de los personajes famosos y históricos que luego marcharon en torno a la fórmula de Albert Einstein. Con confianza se acercó al significado de la ecuación de Einstein y a partir de una representación sintética explicó el título del libro E=mc²: E que significa energía; el signo = permanece igual al de las matemáticas; el signo M para la masa; la C se basa en la velocidad de la luz, mientras que el número 2 final lo da como el proceso de expansión, lo que luego devuelve el efecto del producto. En otras palabra, sea el resultado de una cosa vista con una lupa. A partir de aquí, una vez que la ecuación quedó consolidada de cualquier variación, el autor recuerda que fue de apoyó a varias personas para la profundización de cualquier estudio, por ejemplo: Marie Curiese con los primeros experimentos de radioactividad; la estructura del átomo descubierta por Ernest Rutherford; Enrico Fermi que cavó dentro del núcleo del átomo. Y desde Ernest Rutherford y Enrico Fermi hasta a llegar a Lise Meitnerr que percibió la división del átomo, por ejemplo. Todas personas que consecuentemente estudiaron y trabajaron intensamente para lo que habría sido el efecto violento de una bomba química.
Una vez que se narró brevemente la representación de la relatividad y las personas que apoyaron la ecuación hubo una lucha contra el tiempo frente una destrucción mundial imparable: hubo una carrera para desarrollar la bomba atómica. Un acto que habría cambiado el mundo irrevocablemente ya que la energía de masa cuando condensada y concentrada bajo justas circunstancias se balancea como una forma alternativa de masa y destruye todo lo que está cerca de su rango de acción.
La ingeniosidad de la ecuación del científico en manera pragmática quedó demostrada con la destrucción de Hiroshima. Además, antes de alcanzar el efecto catastrófico de la bomba, Bodanis pensando en ciertas circunstancias era inevitable que no recordara los predecesores que apoyaron la fórmula que marcó el siglo XX. Como por ejemplo el nombre de Maxwell, Faraday, y lo del químico francés Lorenzo Antonio Lavoisier; tal vez estas primeras personas no obtuvieron la popularidad que alcanzó Einstein, pero es cierto que al físico son igualmente servidos para intensificar y establecer definitivamente la ecuación: E=mc².



El texto está disponible bajo la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución Compartir Igual 4.0; pueden aplicarse cláusulas adicionales.

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Version:

This book is a well laid out explanation of each part of the equation, its history, and its role in our universe.

Long Version:

The genesis of David Bodanis’ book was an interview he read in which actress Cameron Diaz expressed the desire-serious or in jest-to know what E=mc² really meant. Bodanis realized that the truth is that very few people have even a rudimentary knowledge of the usefulness of the world’s most famous equation; this book is his attempt to rectify that.

The format chosen is an interesting one. Those who are true novices to physics-or lack interest in pursuing the equation beyond the basics-can read the front half of the book and walk away far more knowledgeable than they were when they picked it up. After a brief introduction to the time and place in which Einstein generated the paper which introduce the theory to the scientific world, Bodanis goes on to break down the equation and discuss each of its parts separately. What do they mean, and how do they interact with each other? The reader is then led on a quick trip through history with regards to how the scientific community used the theory-the race to be the first to build “The Bomb” during World War II. Finally, the author discusses the theory in our universe. Those not interested in a brain drain of a read would still likely read the Epilogue, which discusses what else Einstein did, and the interesting appendix, which gives closure regarding the other key participants.

Of particular interest with regards to the structure of the book are the notes. If you would like to know more details (and are not afraid of either the odd equation or in depth descriptions), Bodanis suggests that you read the notes, where he has taken things a bit further. It is here that I have a bone to pick. The format that was chosen was that of endnotes, as opposed to footnotes. When endnotes are used, there is absolutely no indication within the text that there is a back of the book furtherance of the topic-two members of our book club did not even realize they were there and thus missed the opportunity to add to their reading experience. For those readers that do choose to read the endnotes concurrent with the front half of the book, you are left constantly flipping between the text and the notes to see if you have reached the next note (they are listed by page number). This is extremely disruptive to the flow of a book which requires some level of concentration to read and annoyed me to no end. Footnotes within the text would have been grand. As a side note, a member of our group tried to read the e-reader version. Footnotes would have enabled her to flip from text to notes with ease. As it was, she quickly gave up on trying to maneuver between the two.

The final section, a guide to further reading, is one of the finest source guides I have ever seen. Books are divided into categories and are each given a paragraph of explanation designed to help the reader ascertain if they are a good fit for their reading list.

Bodanis tops off his two leveled read with one final feat-he has a website to which he directs the serious student for further, more in depth, study. Whether you are interested in a basic explanation of a complicated theory, have a fascination with physics and would like to know more, or would like to go beyond your high school physics knowledge, this book is likely to fit your need.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like science books so was eager to read E=mc2. This brief book follows the evolution of the equation E=mc2 from the germ of an idea that began in Einstein’s mind to the construction of the Atomic Bomb. Later on in the book the equation is used to explain such things as the scientific creation of earth, where stardust comes from and then on to black holes.

One drawback to the scope here is that the book unintentionally reads like a series of articles. Covering this much scientific ground is hard to get right in a 200 page book. So some of the threads felt like teasers leaving me with wanting to know more.

One sizable portion of the book was especially interesting. Perhaps one of the best reads that I have found describing the Nazi efforts to build the A-bomb and the Allied attempts to disrupt it. The book detailed the efforts of Heisenberg and the story of the British and Norwegian’s successive attempts to blow up the Nazi’s heavy water supplies.

In another case I thought the vignette of Hoyle’s use of E=mc2 to derive the origins of star dust from supernovas was excellent.

Where this book suffers is that the author is not a great storyteller and there are very few quotes in the book.

There is also no math on the book beyond the profound equation itself which was disappointing. In fact I learned in my relativistic physics class more than 20 years ago that E=mc2 is not technically the correct equation. Rather it is a shortened equation. Of course the gist is valid but it would have been nice to see a little more consideration here given to the origins of the equation.

I give this book 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars because the subject matter is interesting and the book is pretty short.

For better books that cover the history of the A-bomb, although lengthy, I would recommend two that each won Pulitzer prizes. The first being Kai Bird’s American Prometheus: The Tragedy and Triumph of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Rhodes book on The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

[Jarek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking at other reviews of this book it's apparent that it allowed many of its readers to finally understand the famous equation. Apparently I'm either too stupid or too inquisitive, but my experience was quite different.

In my opinion this is mostly a history book, just like one could expect from its subtitle "A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation". It provides comprehensive historical background, spiced up with a lot of little known facts about people, whose work eventually contributed to the formulation of the special relativity theory. It also broadly discusses the consequences of this development, with particular attention given to the race between the Nazis and the US to create the first nuclear bomb.

However, when it comes to the actual equation, the book only skims the surface and mostly wanders around vague borders between physics, cosmology and philosophy. It does not offer any math beyond this deceptively simple equation nor does it explain how the equation relates to the formulas describing the relationship between energy, mass and velocity we learned at school.

The book is a well written biography, and if you are interested in the history of science you will probably enjoy it. However, how anyone could learn any physics from this book remains beyond my comprehension.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should state that I am not the sort of reader this author had in mind when he wrote this book. He cites actress Cameron Diaz saying that she would like to know what E=mc2 means. So not written for a PhD engineer. Still . . .

It should be possible to write a book that explains the science without simplifying to the point of misleading.

Without focusing on a small number of historical persons and giving them credit for advances that were not theirs

Without making some seem more like mystics than scientists or intellectuals.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bodanis, David. E=MC2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation (2000)
Vivid, readable and compelling

This is science history framed as a biography about Albert Einstein's famous equation, and an especially good read. Bodanis begins with Einstein in the Bern Patent Office in 1905, and then goes back in time to examine each of the elements in Einstein's equation in turn, starting with energy, followed by the equals sign, then mass, and then the speed of light (where I learned that the "c" is for "celeritas," from the Latin for "swiftness" and not for centimeters--silly me, I always thought "c" represented the speed of light in centimeters!) and finally, squared.

There are a number of stories woven into the narrative beginning with the story of Michael Faraday, who demonstrated the link between electricity and magnetism, and his mentor Humphrey Davy who tried to steal the priority from him. Other stories include that of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier whose fanatical insistence on exacting measurements led the world to the realization of the conservation of energy, a man who received his thanks by being beheaded during the French Revolution. And there is that of Ole Roemer, who with the help of Jupiter's satellite Io, was able to calculate the speed of light (despite denials from an embarrassed Jean-Dominique Cassini, who believed that light propagated instantaneously). There is the tale of Emilie du Chatelet, beloved of Voltaire, who persuaded everyone that Leibniz was right, that energy equals mass times velocity squared, not simply mass times velocity as Newton had it. Bodanis recalls how she became with child at age forty and feared for her life because the "Doctors of the time had no awareness that they should wash their hands or instruments." She gave birth but died of an infection a week later.

The biography reaches its climax in the Manhattan Project. Bodanis gives a short but compelling story about how J. Robert Oppenheimer guided the US project to success, and a corresponding story about how the German effort under the direction of Werner Heisenberg failed. Along the way we get glimpses of other scientists involved in nuclear energy and radioactivity, including Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, James Chadwick, Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, Arthur Stanley Eddington and others. Fred Hoyle makes an appearance as does Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Bodanis paints some of the scientists in a most unflattering light, especially Hahn and Heisenberg, while glorifying others, notably Meitner, Chandra and Fermi. His sketch of Oppenheimer is balanced and vivid.

Bodanis has the gift of making everything interesting, especially the personalities, but also the science itself. His description of the atomic bombs that were dropped on the Japanese cities and how they worked makes for compelling reading. In the Chapter "America's Turn" I learned that not everybody in the Allied Command agreed with Truman's decision to use the bomb: "Even Eisenhower, who'd had no qualms about killing thousands of opponents when it was necessary to safeguard his troops, was strongly hostile to it..." (p. 161).

Some of the most interesting writing is in the footnotes, beginning on page 237. Here I found a most elegant digression on the Uncertainty Principle (pp. 273-74). And on page 280, Bodanis makes a vivid distinction between the naked properties of U238 (fifty pounds together are warm to the touch) and U235 (fifty pounds together leave a crater). And on page 275 he recalls the use of female slaves by the Germans during WWII: "...the I. G. Farben combine purchased 150 women from the Oswiecim [Auschwitz:] concentration camp, after complaining about a price of 200 marks (then $80.00) each, and killed all of them in experiments with a soporific drug."

A number of black and white prints complement and enhance the text; an appendix, "Follow-up of Other Key Participants" shines more light on the scientists; and there is a useful 18-page "Guide to Further Reading" following the notes This is an highly informative excursion into the history of science made truly delectable by a gifted writer.

[VijayaRaghavan S N · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all have heard of the phrase "match made in heaven". But we limit its use mainly to couples. That very same phrase is applicable for this book too. Yes... Mr. Bodanis made a match out of 'History' and 'Science'.

History has always been a constant thorn in my life. There isn't any other subject that I have hated more than History (Civics is not too far away in the second spot). But I was relieved from the daily nightmares of History classes once I passed my secondary education. Phewww.... sigh of relief. Right? No... Then came another headache in the form of Physics in my junior college. I could say I have spent a considerable chunk of time on deciding which subject I hated most. Physics or History? I am still searching for an answer.

And then, years later (7 years to be precise), came a normal day in my PG course (a week or so back). My professor (who also happens to be my mentor) walked into the classroom and started talking about his struggles and how he hated thermodynamics and then the topic took a turn on to his PhD thesis. One thing lead to another which lead him to asking all of us if we have read the book E=mc2. Of the 13 students in my class, I can say I would be among the precious few who read books (mostly fiction, but a book is a book). No one raised their hands (not at all a surprise). Then he pointed at a few of us and made us sweat in shame by asking if we have ever gone through his library collection (which, btw, can be accessed by anyone of his students). I am not new to being shamed in class (for the right or the wrong reasons). But this hit me where it was supposed to hit not because he opened my eyes on how precious little I have read. But because there was a person of interest (for me) in the class and being mocked in front of that person was a dent in the mischievous plan that I am weaving. And that's how I took this book from his library at the very next week.

Going by the cover I was taken back to my nightmares during secondary education and junior college. History and Science? That too together? Double nightmare time. But I still wanted to see what was so special about this. I read one page...Hmm...Interesting. Read the second page...Hmm...looks good. Then I kept on reading and turning pages. Before long I read half of the book. I didn't want to finish the book in a day. So I kept it aside and did ration reading (a phrase coined by me which means reading only a particular number of pages per day). I finished it within three days and I was left wondering why the author had to bring the book to an end.

The word 'Biography' is truly made meaningful in this book. This books gives a detailed account on the birth, ancestry and adulthood of the equation. Are you wondering what BS am I talking? Why don't you find it out for yourself?

Another book which blended History with science was 'Cosmos'. But that dealt with astrophysics mainly. And that branch of physics is something that I wish that I majored in. So, even if the book would have been a drab (which is far from the truth) I would still have enjoyed it. That makes this one all the more spectacular. Bringing two different areas, which I hate from head till toe, together.

The only science book that I have read so far which didn't have any pictures and yet made sense to me what the author was saying. The way of writing followed in this book by linking scientists and different timelines together is something of a marvel.

P.S. I have to thank Cameroon Diaz from the bottom of my heart. Once you read the first paragraph from the book, you would understand why.

[Philip Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well written and the information is presented in an easily understandable manner. It felt like a kindly uncle was explaining physics to his not so bright nephew. I enjoyed it a great deal and felt I achieved a better understanding of the complex equation.

[rabbitprincess · Rating 4 out of 5]

* * * 1/2

How does one write the "biography" of an equation? Sure, it's "born" whenever the person invents it, but equations can't exactly grow up, marry and die, at least not in the way living things can. David Bodanis's approach to biography is to first explain each part of the equation (E, =, m, c2) and the scientific developments that led to these elements being used in common scientific parlance, and then to trace the history of the whole equation, from when Einstein first developed it to how the universe will eventually end, in keeping with the principles of the equation.

This was a very satisfactory book. I learned a lot about some of the early French scientists, like Lavoisier, Emilie du Châtelet (who was great! people need to know about her) and Henri Poincaré, as well as some other unsung female scientists such as Cecilia Payne, whose sexist thesis advisor made me want to go back in time and smack him. There was even a WW2 commando raid! I love when those show up in unexpected places in my reading. In this case it was on a heavy water plant in Norway, which was part of the Germans' effort to build an atom bomb.

From a scientific standpoint, the most memorable chapters were the one where Bodanis explains in subatomic detail exactly how the bomb dropped on Hiroshima wrought its horrific damage, and the one where he explains how the universe will end. The latter is probably not the best thing to read right before bed, because it's kind of depressing.

So the question is, how much scientific background do you need to appreciate this book? Well, there is a certain amount of detail when he explains the physics behind the equation, but overall I'd say if you were fine with the physics/Big Bang part of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, this would be a good follow-up.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure why I keep going back to these history of science books, but I enjoy them. E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation is pretty much what it says. But if you're looking for just another Albert Einstein biography, author David Bodanis is mostly going to disappoint you here. It's more like a biography of the eponymous equation, examining each term (heck, even the equal sign) in great detail and giving a thorough accounts of the history of each piece and the impact it has had on modern living.

The book strikes just the right balance between physics lessons (don't worry, there's no math) and explaining the scientific achievements leading up to and following in the wake of the equation's discovery. I'm hard pressed to think of a subject that would include French aristocrats getting beheaded over the construction of a wall, Madam Curie's radioactive cookbooks, high-brow academic bickering, and detailed discussions of how make uranium atoms asplode real good. My favorite part was something that actually sounds more like the final level in some World War II video game than a physics textbook: a small group of Norwegian commandos (actually mostly former plumbers and machinists) creeping into a heavy water factory in order to sabotage it and derail the Nazis' 1942 atomic weapon program.

It's all very thorough and very readable and I had no idea that there was so much that went into and came out of the fact that mass and energy are the same thing in two different forms. The end of the book even looks forward billions of years to show how the equation predicts the Earth will end (in flames as the Sun gives one final cosmic belch) and how the universe itself will eventually sputter to a stop. But don't worry, you'll be long dead.

[Susan from MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is definitely for non-physicists and it takes a new approach to describing the equation, the Theory of Relativity (General and Special), and how the equation is applied. The first section takes each of the components of the equation and gives a brief history, often by way of a scientist who worked on that particular component. The next sections follow the "life" of the equation from its early days through current applications - from discussions of space-time to the atomic bomb to black holes to a mention of the unifying theory.

Having read several books on similar topics, I found this to be a fun and interesting approach. Given that it focuses on the people as well as the equation, and does not get to into the tech-y aspects of the physics and math behind the equation, it has more of a gossipy quality to it. Now, if you are looking for a "popular" book on physics that really gets into describing complex things for the (somewhat informed) masses, this book may not be for you. But, it you would like something that takes a light-hearted approach to how the universe works, give it a try.

You may even get an evil chuckle out of seeing that Otto Hahn "lost" his element on the periodic table and Lise Meitner got one!

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

unique take on the memorable equation. do not know why some of the various stories seemed familiar, but then i do read a bit, i am interested in science, in cosmology, even if it is not like my math is good enough. easy read by focusing on biographical elements of each part of the equation, including some names i had heard before- du chatelet, voltaire, maxwell, hoyle etc- and some new, women mostly, who had been written out of scientific history. long sections to the end, future reading, notes, further adventures of this and that person or idea…

i was really enjoying this, thinking i understood, when my father said he felt he same until he noticed something wrong- or wrongly put- and this confused me, engaged me to wonder what it was, because… he could not remember what it was. i have to take father’s word for it. he is retired university prof in theoretical chemistry. he said he would get back to me next week, and that yes it is a good book anyway. sigh…

dad said it is missing the equation of the Lorentz Transformation, oh well. feel much better. stupid, but better.

review continues: http://www.michaelkamakana.com/favour...

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining read. The book is about some of the people and discoveries that made it possible for Einstein to come up with his famous equation. Then it discusses some of the ramifications of his famous formula. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not too clued up on WWII but this book touches on how close it came to a different result.

I like the way the book was written as a biography of the equation rather than Einstein. But I would have preferred the notes at the end of the book to have been footnotes, couldn't get through them all.

[Tonjo Wouters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heel leuk. Is ook in Nederlands. Makkelijk leesbaar, begrijpelijk. 384 blz in drie dagen uit!

[Gina Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this book was stuff I already knew/had read other places and other info was very new to me. It is definitely a “biography” in that it’s much more history than it is math or science. I thought maybe it would be a good math read for my high schoolers but it really wasn’t. I told my daughter who enjoys theoretical physics that she would probably enjoy it but I’m not going to require anyone to read it. He does have a section about how E=mc2 basically started the world so that could be skipped if desired.

[Katie Brogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won’t lie, it took me three tries to get through this book and I can’t say I understood even half of it.

HOWEVER, with that said, I appreciated the story in itself and while most of the theoretical dialogue went right over my head, I loved learning about the lives of those involved in the equation, the impacts on history and it’s practical application to every day life. I don’t quite understand how the world will end, but it was terrifying and exhilarating to say the least. As a social worker, who took ONLY grade eleven biology in high school, this was a cool read. But I will never read it again.

[Gilda Bonelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il titolo: E=mc² spiega un po’ da sé quello che l’autore con un romanzo ha voluto sottintendere. David Bodanis, docente all'Università di Oxford, nel libro raffigura la formula della relatività del fisico ebreo Einstein Alberto (1879 – 1955). La narrazione non è soltanto l’apice della storia biografica dello scienziato, premio Nobel per la fisica l’anno 1921. Tanto meno è un libro di fisica dove Bodanis si cimenta nel spiegare passo per passo la teoria della relatività, cosa che sicuramente moltissimi lettori stenterebbero nel capirla a causa della complessità. Ma nella maniera più semplice ha ripreso lettere e simboli matematici per mettere in luce quelle che furono le scoperte scientifiche più avvincenti; il racconto ai tempi del liceo sarebbe potuto essere noioso invece Bodanis nella stesura è riuscito a convertirlo in un avvenimento di facile comprensione.

In questo entusiasmante viaggio storico dal quale furono scritte intere enciclopedie al fine di spiegare la scoperta della relatività, tuttavia dovendo separare i capitoli fra loro in maniera da far comprendere gli stessi sottotitoli, il docente universitario ha rievocato alcuni dei personaggi storici e famosi che a seguito marciarono attorno alla formula. Con dimestichezza si è avvicinato al significato dell’equazione di Einstein e da una rappresentazione sintetica spiega il titolo del libro, E=mc²: la E ‘sta per energia; il segno = rimane invariato da quello della matematica; il segno M per la massa; la C attinge alla velocità della luce mentre il numero 2 finale lo dà come il processo di espansione, quello che poi rende l’effetto al prodotto tipo il risultato di una cosa vista con la lente d’ingrandimento. Da qui, una volta che l’equazione era ormai consolidata da eventuali variazioni l’autore rammenta che questa diede supporto a diverse persone per l’approfondimento di eventuali studi, ad esempio: Marie Curiese con i primi esperimenti della radioattività; la struttura dell’atomo scoperta da Ernest Rutherford e chi scavò poi all’interno del suo nucleo, ossia Enrico Fermi. Da questi ultimi due scienziati sino a Lise Meitnerr che intuì la scissione; tutte persone che conseguentemente hanno studiato e lavorarono intensamente per quello che sarebbe stato l’effetto violento di una bomba chimica.
Una volta narrata sinteticamente la rappresentazione della relatività e coloro che furono da supporto ci fu una lotta contro il tempo nei confronti di un’inarrestabile distruzione mondiale: con altre parole, ci fu una corsa per sviluppare la bomba atomica, atto che avrebbe cambiato il mondo irrevocabilmente poiché l’energia di massa quando condensata e concentrata sotto le giuste circostanze ondeggia come una forma alternativa di massa e distrugge tutto ciò che è in prossimità dell’influenza del suo raggio d’azione. L’ingegno dell’equazione dello scienziato in maniera pragmatica si dimostrò con la distruzione di Hiroshima. Inoltre, prima di giungere a l’effetto catastrofico della bomba, Bodanis soffermandosi su determinate circostanze era inevitabile che non rimembrasse i predecessori che furono d’appoggio alla formula che segnò il ventesimo secolo, come per esempio il nome di Maxwell, Faraday e quello del chimico francese Lorenzo Antonio Lavoisier. Magari queste prime persone non ottennero la popolarità che raggiunse Einstein ma al fisico sono ugualmente serviti per salire di gradino e stabilire definitivamente l’equazione: E=mc².

[Roshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes the history behind the theory proposed by Albert Einstein in his miracle year, 1905. The different transcripts and citations help us to draw a conclusion that E=mc^2 came into existence due to thorough contributions from Einstein's predecessors. It was a team work spread over a period of two and half centuries. Sir Isaac Newton was the first one to initiate research in the domain, which was later carried forward by the Faradays and the Rutherfords. Albert Einstein was instrumental not only in proposing a strong logic behind E=mc^2, but was also the pioneer of Quantum Physics. David Bodanis puts forth the ideas behind each of the symbols; E, =, m, c, and square in this book. A very different kind of biography which lays emphasis on derivation of an equation. Of course, t h e y s a i d i r o n a g a i e n is the most interesting part of the book. An excellent Science manuscript which evolves by itself chapter by chapter to give rise to the most powerful equation ever discovered by mankind. E=mc^2 is indeed a revelation in itself. David Bodanis deserves a high five for this compilation.

[Aleisha Zolman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am having a hard time not being impressed with myself because this is the second book in the "hard" scientific realm that I have just adored (the first being "A Short History of Everything"). It had such an impressively daunting title that I couldn't have explained except that it has something to do with Einstein. However, I am confident that I could explain the basics of this equation after reading this book. In addition, it has motivated me to find out more of how this equation influenced history of World War II. The fact that Einstein could relate mass and energy through the speed of light squared just by thinking about it and not doing any experiments, mostly makes him an interesting person. What also makes him an interesting person is also quoted as saying that if he had known his equation would have been used for such destruction as the atomic bomb that he would not have lifted one finger to write it.