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| Plot Summary of Einstein's Luck |
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"Written with considerable sympathy for the characters it portrays, this book is nonetheless a trial of the great names of scientific discovery. The first part deals with scientists who manipulated scientific data to prove preconceived theories which happened to be correct. Robert Millikan sought to prove that electricity resides in basic particles or electrons, rather than being an immaterial pulse or force as most physicists of his time believed. In "Einstein's Luck" this proof is shown to be based on inclusive experiments from which Millikan excluded any aberrant results which did not fit the theory. Arthur Eddington "proved' Einstein's theory of relativity, and was fortunate enought to be later found correct, even though he suppressed more than two-thirds of the eclipse photographs on which his proof was based. Even the great Pasteur is shown to have been right for the wrong reasons in this section of the book.
In the second part, John Waller recounts the stories of scientists to whom history attributes greater perception than their beliefs justified. Gregor Mendel, for example,the father of genetics had no concept of the significance of Mendelian theory, believing instead in a theory much closer to "intelligent design." Charles Darwin followed the tradition of his age in believing in the inheritability of acquired characteristics, something which we do not today consider part of the theory of evolution. The death toll of patients in the hospital wards managed by Dr. Joseph Lister, whose name is eponymous with antiseptic (as in "Listerine"), exceeded that of any of his colleagues because of his own lack of sanitary standards.
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Richard Graham-Yooll, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Einstein's Luck |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Kind Of History
Time of history:
- 19th century
Nationality?
- British
History of a science?
Yes
Kind of science
- Physics
Subjects of this Historical Account
Is the portrayal sympathetic?
- Somewhat sympathetic
Intelligence of subject of
history:
- Smart
Main Adversary
From a certain profession/group?
- scientists
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Is the portrayal sympathetic?
- Somewhat Sympathetic
Setting
United States
Yes
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Switzerland
- Germany
- England/UK
- France
If applicable, liberal/conservative?
- Historian is moderately liberal
Style
How much gore?
- 1 ()
How fast-paced is the book?
- 6 ()
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Book makes you feel...
- challenged
How much focus on stories of individuals?
- Focuses on brief history of a lot of players
How much romance?
- 1 ()
Minor characters feature lots of:
- scientists
Is this a kid's book?
- Ages 16-Adult
Pictures/Illustrations?
- A handful
How much emphasis on small details?
- 8 ()
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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