Jimena Canales is one of the very best contemporary science writers, and no one could have written a clearer, more empathetic or appealing short life of the twentieth century's quintessential scientific genius. — John Banville, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea

Einstein is famous for being an unconventional figure—the hair, the (absence of) socks, sticking out his tongue to photographers—but he is often presented to the public by biographers in a very conventional manner. Jimena Canales’s ‘Simply Einstein’ is not conventional. This is an original interpretation of Einstein, studded with quotations and episodes that you will not find in other accounts.— Michael D. Gordin, author of Einstein in Bohemia and Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Princeton University

Simply Einstein’ offers a succinct and fascinating look at the phenomenal work that made Albert Einstein world-famous. It shows how Einstein’s reputation was built on bold theories that were splendidly tested by experiments such as the eclipse expeditions of 1919 and amplified by the media in riveting stories about their revolutionary implications. It offers a great read for those wondering how Einstein vaulted into international fame in the early 20th century and has remained synonymous with genius. —Paul Halpern, author of Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect

This stimulating book by a distinguished historian of science looks at Einstein from several angles. We see him as the author of the special and general theories of relativity, as an ambitious professor in competition with others, as the exemplar of the brilliant scientist, and as a political figure. We see him as a child, a student, and as a husband and father. Jimena Canales animates the debates about the validity of Einstein’s most famous ideas and how they changed our ideas about time and space forever, at their implications for quantum mechanics and the building of the atomic bomb, and at the significance of his legacy today. The book draws on a wide variety of sources to illuminate the impact and the controversies Einstein’s work caused and is written throughout in clear and sparkling prose. —Jeremy Gray, Emeritus Professor, the Open University, U.K. and Honorary Professor of Mathematics, The University of Warwick, U.K.

Einstein has become, and still is, the worldwide icon of the solitary scientific genius. How did it happen? Award-winning author Jimena Canales succeeds in succinctly conveying to a large readership a de-mythologized image of the man behind the public image Einstein himself endeavored to construct. Wonderfully written and carefully crafted, Canales’ succinct biographical sketch not only reveals the humanity, the science, and the mythologizing process of one of last century’s most influential scientists, but also invites deep reflection on the changing public and social role of science through the 20th century.— Roberto Lalli, Research Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

By humanizing and situating this larger-than-life figure within the holistic context of physics in the 20th Century, Jimena Canales provides a unique and intriguing understanding of Einstein. She does this by interrogating how we know Einstein with how we should know Einstein. This is amplified by her gift of writing about the history of science in an engaging manner that serves as a gateway for new entrants into the fascinating subfield of Einstein historians.— Tiffany Nichols, Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University

Jimena Canales’ ‘Simply Einstein’ is a short and quickly paced story that moves through the history of the twentieth century as observed through the lens of Einstein’s biography. You get to know Einstein in his place and time as fully part of the cultural and political turmoil of his period.— Jeroen van Dongen, Professor of the History of Science, University of Amsterdam

In recent years the extraordinary flowering of Einstein scholarship and the new information uncovered about the great man has not necessarily reached the ordinary reader. Jimena Canales’ book accessibly introduces a great deal of these exciting historical discoveries to those interested in the man but daunted by the often highly technical aspects of his science. What is particularly good to see is that so much of the story is told through the words of Einstein, his friends and colleagues, and the newspapers and other commentators of the day. The author's great familiarity with the man's life and times shines through in a way which is engaging and engrossing.— Daniel Kennefick, author of No Shadow of a Doubt: The 1919 Eclipse That Confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity

Jimena Canales captures the sweep of Einstein’s unparalleled career in this engaging biography, revealing how Einstein became an icon. ‘Simply Einstein’ is a captivating introduction to Einstein’s most consequential ideas that also invites us to think about scientists’ public roles in society today.— David Kaiser, Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Jimena Canales captivates us with the tale of how Einstein became ‘Einstein’—and it’s not the story you think. Simply Einstein reveals the family, mentors, colleagues, rivals, and lovers who made him into our icon of science. Instead of a lone genius revolutionizing the world, we see him struggling, leaning on his friends, and worrying deeply about how he would be remembered by history. This is the real Einstein—full-blooded and fascinating.— Matthew Stanley, Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science, New York University

Like a lotus flower growing in a bog, Einstein’s ideas arose, pure and strong as diamond, out of the muck of his personal life and the chaos of his times. The miracle can be neither explained nor emulated; we can only observe it and allow it to inspire us. In this brief biography, Jimena Canales sets out to sketch a fascinating glimpse of Einstein, the man and his legacy, in the hindsight of our own era. Using an expression Einstein used in the title of one of the most consequential papers in the history of science, I am confident that her effort will succeed in its ‘heuristic’ goal in stimulating people to learn and discover on their own.— Hans Christian von Baeyer, author of QBism: The Future of Quantum Physics and Emeritus Chancellor Professor of Physics, College of William & Mary