Ideas and Opinions

A survey of Einstein's scientific achievements follows excerpts from letters, speeches, and interviews that reveal his thoughts on religious, political, cultural, social, and economic issues.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955), one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century, was born in Ulm, Germany, to German-Jewish parents. He published his first great theories in Switzerland in the early 1900s while working as a patent clerk.

Alan Lightman?is the author of six novels, including?Einstein’s Dreams, which was an international bestseller, and?The Diagnosis, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the author of three collections of essays and several books on science. His latest work is the memoir of his family,?Screening Room.?His work has appeared in?The Atlantic, Granta, Harper’s, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books,?and?Nature,?among other publications. Since beginning his career as a theoretical physicist, Lightman has taught at Harvard and at MIT, where he was the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in science and in the humanities. He lives in the Boston area.