Just Finished Reading: The World As I See It by Albert Einstein

With my long time interest in Quantum Mechanics it’s hard not continually coming across Einstein’s name or his views on the subject. Apart from that he’s probably the most recognisable scientific figure ever – much as he apparently hated the fact.  But there was more to the man than his scientific breakthroughs (and his blind-spots). He was also a tireless campaigner for world peace (even before his successful work on the Atom Bomb) and for the peaceful Jewish occupation of Palestine. These, and other views, are expressed throughout this slim volume comprising news paper articles, letters, and speeches over around 30 years. So far, so good.

Unfortunately despite probably the best of intentions this book was practically unreadable. If it had been much longer than the mere 125 pages it was I’d have abandoned it very early on. The problem was the lack of context – letter followed letter, article followed article without the most basic background of what was being discussed. Most of the entries where undated making their placement in world events impossible and the names of people long forgotten where referred to without any explanation of who they were or why they where being discussed. In other words this volume lacked context and without it was merely a random seeming mishmash of views and opinions that made little or no sense. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a book so badly constructed or edited. It’s as if Einstein’s thoughts on paper were thrown up into the air and then pasted together between a book cover and published moments later. I suppose that it could have been deliberate – there was some attempt to bunch his views together in broad categories – but it came across as a ‘stream of consciousness’ where almost random snippet of thought followed on from the previous seemingly random entry. I’m still astounded that such a volume could even be published! If you want to get inside the mind of Albert Einstein definitely look somewhere, anywhere, else.