Bite-Size Einstein

Book excerpt: The kindly, white-heaired old fellow with the bushy mustache once called "the world's grandfather," Albert Einstein was easily the twentieth century's most remarkable and revered man of science. His leaps of imagination changed forever the way we look at the universe. He gained international celebrity by the very force of his personality, his wry sense of humor (often at the expense of himself), and his limitless humanity. The mind of Albert Einstein bulged at the seams not only with mathematics and physics but also with an insatiable curiosity about life itself. His wide-ranging observations and opinions about the nature of life and the world--not to mention the life and world of nature--are rich in insight, wit, and wisdom. His vision also us a unique opportunity to see ourselves. His thoughts are treasures in small packages; taken as a whole, they offer images and ideas of what we are and what it is possible to be.