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Hans C. Ohanian’s Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius:
Almost all of Einstein’s seminal works contain mistakes. Sometimes small mistakes — mere lapses of attention — sometimes fundamental failures to understand the subtleties of his own creations, and sometimes fatal mistakes that undermined the logic of his arguments.
The book was reviewed positively in a recent Wall Street Journal article.
A theoretical physicist by training, Mr. Ohanian doesn’t write like one. He recounts his chronicle of errors in clear and engaging prose, giving us in the process a short course in the history of modern physics and a witty and provocative account of his subject’s life. Anyone who has read the recent biographies of Einstein by Walter Isaacson or Jürgen Neffe may find some of the material familiar, but on the whole “Einstein’s Mistakes” is original and fresh. Nor is Mr. Ohanian one of those petty biographers who delight only in turning up the failings — or turning out the dirty laundry — of great men. Rather he notes Einstein’s errors for a purpose, showing us why his achievement was all the greater for them.(Divided by zero)
