Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Einstein: Relatively Speaking, a Complicated Life

Two on a Party: Recently unveiled letters reveal that Albert Einstein, with wife Elsa on a trip to Egypt circa 1935, wasn't shy about telling her about his extramarital affairs.
Topical Press Agency/Getty
Two on a Party: Recently unveiled letters reveal that Albert Einstein, with wife Elsa on a trip to Egypt circa 1935, wasn't shy about telling her about his extramarital affairs.

Walter Isaacson, former managing editor of Time magazine and author of best-selling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger, has turned his attention to the 20th century's scientific poster boy: Albert Einstein, whose family life was as difficult as his career was distinguished.

Isaacson's book Einstein: His Life and Universe represents the first complete history of the theoretical-physicist-turned- refugee to draw upon all of Einstein's papers, many of which were unsealed last summer.

In what Booklist calls an "extraordinarily encompassing and profoundly affecting biography," Isaacson creates a portrait of the private as well as the public Einstein; he talks to guest host Dave Davies about the man he discovered in the course of his research.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.