The authors discuss “Einstein: The Man and His Mind,” their visual biography of Albert Einstein, as part of the observance of Pi Day.
From the publisher:
With no technical jargon, and in a way both scientists and general readers can appreciate, this one-of-a-kind visual biography tells the story of Albert Einstein’s life and work.
With 150 high-resolution images, ‘Einstein. The Man and His Mind’ features rarely-seen photos of Albert Einstein, his private letters, ground-breaking manuscripts, journals, and equations written in his hand. General readers will be fascinated. Scientists, historians, and scholars will be, too. ‘Einstein. The Man and His Mind’ is a book that captures the imagination and that anyone can gaze at intently time and time again.
Written by a world-class rare book dealer in concert with the owner of what is likely the world’s largest private collection of Einstein photos and memorabilia, the brief annotations and commentary help make historical sense of a life fully lived. The book’s Foreword is by eminent physicist Hanoch Gutfreund, the Einstein Archives academic director at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
‘Einstein. The Man and His Mind’ belongs in family rooms as well as in public and academic libraries. The book’s astonishing images will prove enthralling for anyone interested in Einstein as an approachable human or as the genius who explored time, space, light, gravity, quantum theory, and cosmology in ways no other scientist had before.
About the Authors:
A retired physician, Gary S. Berger’s introduction to relativity theory was in 1962 during a college course on the history of science. Several decades later, after reading a book about Albert Einstein, Berger developed a deeper desire to understand Einstein’s theory. Overtime he began to collect original writings and photographs of Einstein. His co-author on this book, Michael DiRuggiero, owner of Manhattan Rare Book Company, helped him with this endeavor and helped to organize his expanding collections. In time, he began to get the feeling of familiarity with Albert Einstein as a real person (largely through the photos), while gaining a basic understanding of his contributions. It is his hope that “Einstein: The Man and His Mind” will give readers a similar sense of familiarity with this amazing man and his creative mind.
Michael DiRuggiero owns The Manhattan Rare Book Company. He specializes in the history of science with an emphasis on original material relating to Albert Einstein. DiRuggiero was instrumental in the development of Dr. Berger’s collection.
This event was recorded on March 14, 2024