The Einstein Effect by Benyamin Cohen (Sourcebooks, July 2023) shows the ways in which Albert Einstein has influenced life and culture today, from the providing of refugee aid, to the creation of GPS and so much more. With the subtitle “How the World’s Favorite Genius Got into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds,” Cohen gives a somewhat amusing perspective on this genius that everyone around the world knows.
I read a biography of Einstein when I first started this blog, and so some of what I read about (such as the stealing of Einstein’s brain) were familiar to me. What The Einstein Effect does uniquely is take many aspects from Einstein’s life and extend them into today’s society. How would life today be different if Einstein had not produced the theories he did and been such a unique personality?
For me, some points of the book felt a bit too “trivial” to me: I felt the connection to Einstein was a tentative one at best. A few of the first chapters felt slow to develop. But the author’s tongue-in-cheek humor quickly brought up the pace of the book, and I found it quite enjoyable.
The Einstein Effect would be a great book especially for those who love trivia books and those who are fascinated by the first international celebrity scientist. It is a fascinating commentary on the ways society has changed because of this unique man.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
