''Einstein for Beginners'', republished as ''Introducing Einstein'', is a 1979

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

study guide to

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and the

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

written by Joseph Schwartz and illustrated by Michael McGuinness. '' Leonardo'' reviewer Nan Conklin stated that the work is "not simply a book explaining Einstein's scientific work, but a mixture of history, politics and science." According to ''

Science for the People Science for the People (SftP) is an organization that emerged from the antiwar culture of the United States in the late 1960s. Since 2014 it has experienced a revival focusing primarily on the dual nature of science. The organization advocates ...

'' reviewer

Paul Thagard Paul Richard Thagard (; born 1950) is a Canadian philosopher who specializes in cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science and medicine. Thagard is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Waterloo. He i ...

, "Einstein's work is related," in this book, "to the rise of electrical industries and the later development of the atomic bomb."

Publication history

This volume was originally published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative For Beginners LLC is a publishing company based in Danbury, Connecticut, that publishes the ''For Beginners'' graphic nonfiction series of documentary comic books on complex topics, covering an array of subjects on the college level. Meant to ap ...

in 1979. It was republished in the US by Pantheon Books and in the UK by

Icon Books Richard Appignanesi (born December 20, 1940) is a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated '' For Beginners'' book series (since 1991 called the '' Introducing...'' series), as well ...

. Selected editions: * * * * * * * Related volumes in the '' For Beginners'' series: * Related volumes in the '' Introducing...'' series: * * * * * * * *

Reception

, writing in ''

'', describes the book as "intelligible and entertaining," while Henry McDonald, writing in ''

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'', describes it as "well illustrated and thoroughly researched." "Almost half the book," according to Nan Conklin, writing in '' Leonardo'', "is devoted to recounting Einstein's early life and the influences on him." "Its discussion of the political environment in which Einstein's discoveries were made is," according to McDonald, "informative." "The drawing and the words have a distinctly comic-book flavor," according to Conklin, but it is "only when the authors set out to explain Einstein's theories that the use of the peculiar mode of presentation seems justified." McDonald says that "the presentation of the discoveries themselves is little short of inspired," while Thagard too commends the authors as "highly inventive in using amusing illustrations and humorous asides to lead the beginners through difficult concepts." While Conklin speculates that the publishers may have included a volume on Einstein in this series due to his belief in "the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals," and McDonald confirms that the authors "go out of their way to emphasize ..Einstein's socialism," Thagard is critical of the failure to "develop the social connections in a substantial way," and concludes that the volume does not provide a "basis for discussion of the role of science in society."

References

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