Einstein's Boss


Book Description

This book filters Flexner's practices through the lens of modern business, where industries from computing to engineering to biotechnology compete for top talent and cutting-edge innovations. In 1933, Albert Einstein fled Nazi Germany for the leafy streets of Princeton, NJ. Einstein joined the Institute for Advanced Study, bestowing instant credibility on the fledgling research center. Abraham Flexner, the institute's founder, wasn't a physicist or mathematician but he was a gifted administrator. Under his leadership, IAS became a global powerhouse, home to 33 Nobel Laureates, 38 Field Medalists, and myriad winners of the Wolf and MacArthur prizes. The man had a knack for leading genius. Original and insightful, Einstein's Boss explains how to spot the deep thinkers who will transform your business-and reveals 10 rules for guiding them to greatness, including: Get out of the way: Allow brilliant people ownership of their projects Shut up and listen: Consider their input openly before reaching conclusions Turn over the rocks: Be completely transparent-a genius will figure out what you're hiding anyway Practice alchemy: Mix complementary minds together for maximum effect Let the problem seduce: Frame challenges in a way that captures the imagination and draws them toward the goal Quit chasing squirrels: Guide innovation towards the core mission. When employees are exceptional, everyday rules no longer apply. Leading people who are smarter than you is no easy task. But for managers who learn to channel brainpower into breakthroughs, the rewards are boundless.




Einstein and Oppenheimer


Book Description

Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, two iconic scientists of the twentieth century, belonged to different generations, with the boundary marked by the advent of quantum mechanics. By exploring how these men differed—in their worldview, in their work, and in their day—this book provides powerful insights into the lives of two critical figures and into the scientific culture of their times. In Einstein’s and Oppenheimer’s philosophical and ethical positions, their views of nuclear weapons, their ethnic and cultural commitments, their opinions on the unification of physics, even the role of Buddhist detachment in their thinking, the book traces the broader issues that have shaped science and the world. Einstein is invariably seen as a lone and singular genius, while Oppenheimer is generally viewed in a particular scientific, political, and historical context. Silvan Schweber considers the circumstances behind this perception, in Einstein’s coherent and consistent self-image, and its relation to his singular vision of the world, and in Oppenheimer’s contrasting lack of certainty and related non-belief in a unitary, ultimate theory. Of greater importance, perhaps, is the role that timing and chance seem to have played in the two scientists’ contrasting characters and accomplishments—with Einstein’s having the advantage of maturing at a propitious time for theoretical physics, when the Newtonian framework was showing weaknesses. Bringing to light little-examined aspects of these lives, Schweber expands our understanding of two great figures of twentieth-century physics—but also our sense of what such greatness means, in personal, scientific, and cultural terms.




Einstein 1905


Book Description

For Albert Einstein, 1905 was a remarkable year. It was also a miraculous year for the history and future of science. In six short months, from March through September of that year, Einstein published five papers that would transform our understanding of nature. This unparalleled period is the subject of John Rigden's book, which deftly explains what distinguishes 1905 from all other years in the annals of science, and elevates Einstein above all other scientists of the twentieth century. Rigden chronicles the momentous theories that Einstein put forth beginning in March 1905: his particle theory of light, rejected for decades but now a staple of physics; his overlooked dissertation on molecular dimensions; his theory of Brownian motion; his theory of special relativity; and the work in which his famous equation, E = mc2, first appeared. Through his lucid exposition of these ideas, the context in which they were presented, and the impact they had--and still have--on society, Rigden makes the circumstances of Einstein's greatness thoroughly and captivatingly clear. To help readers understand how these ideas continued to develop, he briefly describes Einstein's post-1905 contributions, including the general theory of relativity. One hundred years after Einstein's prodigious accomplishment, this book invites us to learn about ideas that have influenced our lives in almost inconceivable ways, and to appreciate their author's status as the standard of greatness in twentieth-century science.




Managing Einsteins: Leading High-Tech Workers in the Digital Age


Book Description

Today's new breed of technologically skilled employees often acts and thinks differently than their counterparts. And while break-the-rules approaches and attitudes can be helpful and even necessary for innovative, out-of-the-box thinking, they can also be a nightmare for managers. Managing Einsteins walks managers through proven best methods to optimize the skills, abilities, and knowledge of the new economy workforce--without stifling the creativity and innovative spirit needed for success. Written by two of today's top high-tech management experts, this clear, easy-to-read guide combines strategies for managing and team building with tips and pointers for building better communication between techies and non-techies, coaching for better performance, and more. The helpful skills and effective guidelines in Managing Einsteins will help managers "bridge the gap," providing: Antidotes for correcting problems in the workplace "Knowledge tests" for each topic covered Insights from top tech leaders including Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, and Andy Grove




Einstein


Book Description

NOW A MAJOR SERIES 'GENIUS' ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PRODUCED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING GEOFFREY RUSH Einstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available -- a fully realised portrait of this extraordinary human being, and great genius. Praise for EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson:- 'YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS.' Sunday Times 'As pithy as Einstein himself.’ New Scientist ‘[A] brilliant biography, rich with newly available archival material.’ Literary Review ‘Beautifully written, it renders the physics understandable.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Isaacson is excellent at explaining the science. ' Daily Express




Einstein's Jury


Book Description

Einstein's Jury is the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research, Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today. The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong. A tale of international competition and intrigue, Einstein's Jury brims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.




China and Albert Einstein


Book Description

This is the first extensive study in English or Chinese of China’s reception of the celebrated physicist and his theory of relativity. In a series of biographical studies of Chinese physicists, Hu describes the Chinese assimilation of relativity and explains how Chinese physicists offered arguments and theories of their own.




Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause


Book Description

"A fast-paced, science-filled caper." --The Wall Street Journal Max Einstein is the first and only children's adventure series officially approved by the Albert Einstein Archives. Max Einstein's typical day is not your average 12-year-old's. She... - TEACHES classes at a New York college - Dodges KIDNAPPING attempts with her best friends - Goes on SECRET MISSIONS for her billionaire boss - Has a MYSTERIOUS CONNECTION to Albert Einstein Just a day in the life of the Change Makers Institute's top agent! What does an Irish town and a village in India have in common? A water crisis that only a group of kid geniuses can fix! Max and her CMI friends attempt to use their smarts to find solutions, but it's hard to save the world when you're trying not to be kidnapped! A greedy corporation with an eye on capturing Max seems to know their every move. It's almost like the bad guys have a spy inside the Change Makers...




Moonwalking with Einstein


Book Description

The blockbuster phenomenon that charts an amazing journey of the mind while revolutionizing our concept of memory “Highly entertaining.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker “Funny, curious, erudite, and full of useful details about ancient techniques of training memory.” —The Boston Globe An instant bestseller that has now become a classic, Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes." He draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of remembering, and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human memory. From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind, this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that, in every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories.




Einstein's Business


Book Description

At this threshold of our species' evolution there is an increasing recognition that new approaches are needed to create the radical changes necessary for humanity to survive on this planet. Business is not exempt-it's at the center of this radical change. Business can even be the lynchpin around which the rest of social transformation takes place, and can lead the way as we relinquish our addiction to control and to the extreme competitiveness that has paralyzed us and prevented us from uniting to address the urgency of the crisis at hand. In this anthology, some of the best-selling business authors of today infuse their visions, experiences, and insights into the ongoing conversation about how to find solutions to seemingly impossible challenges. The guiding principles for the book are derived from the inspiring, timeless wisdom of Albert Einstein, a man who modeled the ability to be a channel for intuitive, imaginative, and collective intelligence. From that realm we can draw on collective intelligence to re-invent ourselves and transform business.