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The Soul of Genius: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and the Meeting that Changed the Course of Science
Bottom of the pile
5
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
7/100Critics
4/100Scholars
Author:
Jeffrey Orens
Publisher:
Pegasus Books
Date:
July 6, 2021
A look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil.
What The Reviewers Say
The Soul of Genius tells three stories—those of Curie, Einstein and the Solvay Conference—and makes connections that sometimes feel forced..
The narrative teaches readers a great deal about the scientific research of Einstein and Curie; however, it also probes the tangled romantic lives of both scientists: we see the widowed Curie’s affair with a married French scientist, an affair exposing Curie to public scandal and eliciting from Einstein a spirited defense. A compelling portrait of two geniuses, remarkable for their conceptual daring and emotional complexity..
Orens’s approach to the lives and work of the attendees, through the story of this conference, is unusual and well conceived. His account revisits what is certainly one of the most exciting, turbulent periods in the history of science and better acquaints us with people who played significant roles in this drama.
[Orens] spends dozens of pages on relatively peripheral matters.
