Interview With Walter Isaacson, Author of Einstein: His Life And Universe

I had the great pleasure recently to interview Walter Isaacson, a former editor of Time, about his biography of Einstein. Isaacson previously wrote biographies of Ben Franklin and Henry Kissinger.  I will follow this interview in a few weeks with a review of this excellent tome. I am still collecting my thoughts about it, which speaks volumes about the weight of the topics covered as well as how they affected me.

Isaacson even said, "I love BlogCritics," and "I'm happy to help."  The downside was I was only allowed to ask five questions.

Scott: Like Benjamin Franklin, there is an enormous body of work about Albert Einstein already.  What inspired you to write this book? Did you have a particular curiosity about what made him such a fascinating and iconic figure to so many people?

Walter: I became interested in Einstein when I was editor of Time, and we were choosing the Person of the Century.  Some of my colleagues argued for other candidates, such as Franklin Roosevelt or Churchill or Gandhi. But to me, it seemed that the 20th century will be remembered for its breakthroughs in science and technology: splitting the atom, going into space, inventing the microchip, etc. Einstein was primarily responsible for the two great scientific pillars of our time: relativity and quantum theory.  

His fingerprints are on much of the technology: lasers and photoelectric cells, atomic power and weaponry, space travel and even microchips. And he was an exemplar of a century in which refugees fled oppression to seek more freedom. His life is a testament to the connection between freedom and creativity. As I was researching him, I realized that the final and most personal batch of his private papers was scheduled to be released in 2006.

I worked with the folks at the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech. That allowed me the opportunity to write a narrative biography that seeks to weave together his scientific thinking, political ideas, personality, and private life. I attempted to show how they were all related. I was attracted to Einstein because of his creativity, which was based on a rebellious willingness to question authority and defy convention. You see that in all aspects of his life.

Scott: Do you feel that the events of WWII, especially the dropping of atomic bombs, overshadowed the scientific achievements of Einstein and his peers?

Walter: No, I think the dropping of the bomb dramatically brought into focus that e=mc2 was more than an abstraction. The Time issue after the dropping of the bomb has a painting of Einstein on the cover with that equation emblazoned on the mushroom cloud behind him. Because Einstein had signed the letter urging Franklin Roosevelt to launch a bomb project, Einstein felt responsible and worried. He dedicated the last decade of his life largely to pushing for arms control and world peace. The connection between science and politics fascinates me, and it's a theme of the book.

Scott: How do you suggest readers like me reconcile Einstein's morally questionable actions in his private life with some of his positive scientific feats? Do you think Einstein's private problems actually contributed to his successes indirectly? They say, for example, that most/many great writers have had unhappy lives—the theory being that they compensate for this by creating their own worlds. Psychologically, how would this play out for Einstein’s creation of another "universe"—literally and figuratively?

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog