Einstein and Books

Abstract

Albert Einstein loved books. A photograph taken of him in his study at Princeton toward the end of his life (Figure 1) shows him at a desk placed in such a way that, sitting in his comfortable chair, he would be practically surrounded by books of all kinds. His was clearly not a library devoted only to physics books. One can make out the spine of copy of Ghandi’s Autobiography and a copy of the Bible, on shelves that are deep enough to have one row of books behind the other. As is clear from Einstein’s published writings and his correspondence, his interests went far beyond science and the philosophy of science; he also thought and wrote knowledgeably about religion and politics, literature and music, education and human rights, pacifism and anti-Semitism, and the plight of the oppressed.