E=mc2. Just about everyone has at least heard of Albert Einstein's formulation of 1905, which came into the world as something of an afterthought. But far fewer can explain his insightful linkage of energy to mass. David Bodanis offers an easily grasped gloss on the equation. Mass, he writes, "is simply the ultimate type of condensed or concentrated energy," whereas energy "is what billows out as an alternate form of mass under the right circumstances."

Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are not as well known as Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the "dominion of matter" with "a great stillness"--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening.

Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well; namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--a view that would change the world. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Most people know this celebrated equation has something to do with Einstein's theory of relativity, but most nonscientists don't know what it means. This very approachable yet somewhat limited work of popular science explains, and adorns with anecdote and biography, the equation and its place in history. Oxford lecturer Bodanis (The Secret Family) shows what happened to Einstein on the way to the discovery, what other scientists did to bring it about and how the equation created the atom bomb. Part Two tackles separately the components of the equation (E, =, m, c and "squared"), which means that it covers 18th- and 19th-century physics. "'E' Is for Energy" opens with Michael Faraday, whose unusual religious beliefs helped him discover that electricity and magnetism were the same force. "'m' Is for Mass" brings in French chemist Lavoisier, who established the law of conservation of matter. Bodanis then turns to Einstein's life and work. The middle third of the book covers the exploration of the atom and the making of the atom bomb; the cast of characters here includes Marie Curie, Lise Meitner and Enrico Fermi. A concluding section considers how E=mc2 powers the sun, and how our sun and all others will eventually run out of gas. Capsule biographies here include one of the engaging English astronomer Cecilia Payne, who wouldn't let institutional sexism stop her from finding the hydrogen in the sun. Bodanis's writing is accessible to the point of chattiness: he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. They'll learn a handfulAmore important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way. 20 photos and drawings not seen by PW. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Any educated person might be intimidated by this title and miss out on a tasty concoction of education and entertainment. The author's knack for simplification, organization, and presentation of these fascinating stories about discoveries makes us feel as if we know an intimate part of the discoverers. Dan Cashman's slightly sandy voice keeps the perfect pace and inflection to make good nonfiction more interesting. When concepts become a little complicated, he goes slowly, sounding as comfortable with the scientific vocabulary as the author. A nice plus not usually found in audiobooks are references to a Web site for graphics and amplification of some deeper subjects. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
It's a well-known equation, yet who but physicists really understand E = 2? Bodanis rescues the masses from ignorance in an entertaining story about Einstein's formulation of the equation in 1905 and its association ever after with relativity and nuclear energy. Parallel with the science, Bodanis populates his tale with dramatic lives: Lavoisier mounts the scaffold; Faraday hauls himself up by his bootstraps; Einstein ponders light in his patent office; Lise Meitner gets no credit for discovering atomic fission; and Heisenberg works on a German atom bomb. Alhough Bodanis' elisions of their biographies adequately fill his popularization goal, they inevitably simplify historical complexities, as of Heisenberg's attitude toward Nazidom. On the brighter side, the science the author retells is wholly satisfying, from explaining the origin of each symbol in E = 2 to describing Faraday's unification of electricity and magnetism to Einstein's similar feat with matter, energy, and the weird war pages of time and space at light speeds. With anecdotes and illustrations, Bodanis effectively opens up E = 2 to the widest audience. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Book News, Inc.
The equation did not emerge fully grown from Einstein's head one day in 1905, says mathematician-turned-social scientist Bodanis. He takes it apart, explaining each element, and in the process introduces key figures who previously discovered the realms of energy and mass and how they operated. Among them are Voltaire's lover Emilie du Chtelet, and Michael Faraday.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR

Book Description
Already climbing the bestseller lists-and garnering rave reviews-this "little masterpiece"* sheds brilliant light on the equation that changed the world.

"This is not a physics book. It is a history of where the equation [E=mc2] came from and how it has changed the world. After a short chapter on the equation's birth, Bodanis presents its five symbolic ancestors in sequence, each with its own chapter and each with rich human stories of achievement and failure, encouragement and duplicity, love and rivalry, politics and revenge. Readers meet not only famous scientists at their best and worst but also such famous and infamous characters as Voltaire and Marat...Bodanis includes detailed, lively and fascinating back matter...His acknowledgements end, 'I loved writing this book.' It shows." (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"E=mc2, focusing on the 1905 theory of special relativity, is just what its subtitle says it is: a biography of the world's most famous equation, and it succeeds beautifully. For the first time, I really feel that I understand the meaning and implications of that equation, as Bodanis takes us through each symbol separately, including the = sign...there is a great 'aha!' awaiting the lay reader." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

"'The equation that changed everything' is familiar to even the most physics-challenged, but it remains a fuzzy abstraction to most. Science writer Bodanis makes it a lot more clear." (Discover)

"Excellent...With wit and style, he explains every factor in the world's most famous and least understood equation....Every page is rich with surprising anecdotes about everything from Einstein's youth to the behind-the-scenes workings of the Roosevelt administration. Here's a prediction: E=mc2 is one of those odd, original, and handsomely written books that will prove more popular than even its publisher suspects." (Nashville Scene)

"You'll learn more in these 300 pages about folks like Faraday, Lavoisier, Davy and Rutherford than you will in many a science course...a clearly written, astonishingly understandable book that celebrates human achievement and provides some idea of the underlying scientific orderliness and logic that guides the stars and rules the universe." (Parade )

"Bodanis truly has a gift for bringing his subject matter to life." (Library Journal [starred review] )

"Entertaining...With anecdotes and illustrations, Bodanis effectively opens up E=mc2 to the widest audience." (Booklist )

"Accessible...he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. They'll learn a handful-more important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way." (Publishers Weekly)



Book Info
A lucid, interesting, and concise explanation of Einstein's famous equation. The biography of an idea: a wonderful approach to a fascinating and important topic. Softcover.

From the Publisher
5 1.5-hour cassettes

About the Author
David Bodanis taught for many years a survey of intellectual history at the University of Oxford. He is the author of several books, including The Secret Family and the bestseller The Secret Home.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Our Review
In his introduction, author David Bodanis relates the story of the genesis of this book. He was reading an interview with Cameron Diaz where the interviewer asked if there was anything else the actress wanted to know, and she said, "What does E=mc2 really mean?" Dubbed in the subtitle "The World's Most Famous Equation," E=mc2 falls into the larger category of things people feel they should comprehend. As Bodanis points out, it seems like Albert Einstein's little formula should be understandable -- after all, it only consists of five symbols! The first part of the book takes each of those five symbols in turn and explains its history. E stands for energy; = for equals; m for mass; c for the speed of light; and the superscript 2 for squared. There was a time before any of these symbols existed; even the = sign had a sputtering start. It is only in the past couple of hundred years that humanity has come to understand that energy is something to be measured and that it has the ability to change. These properties were discovered and refined by people like Michael Faraday, who in the 19th century made the connection between electricity and magnetism. Likewise, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier -- whom Bodanis characterizes as "an accountant with a soul that could soar" -- was instrumental in observing the conservation of mass. These discoveries laid the foundation for Einstein's astonishing insight that energy and mass can actually convert into each other. The speed of light (186,000 miles per second) multiplied by itself is a pretty hefty number, so it doesn't take very much mass to convert into a vast amount of energy. Bodanis continues with a concise chronology of how that knowledge was turned into history's most infamous weapon, the atomic bomb, recounting such exploits as the World War II raid to disable Germany's heavy-water plant. That same equation has been with us always, though. Long before the Manhattan Project, E=mc2 made the stars shine -- including our own star, the sun.

E=mc2 accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. By the end, readers know what the equation is and what it does, without having to swim through a lot of other theories and equations.

--Laura Wood, Science & Nature Editor

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Bodanis begins by devoting chapters to each of the equation's letters and symbols, introducing the science and scientists forming the backdrop to Einstein's discovery - from Ole Roemer's revelation that the speed of light could be measured to Michael Faraday's pioneering work on energy fields. Having demystified the equation, Bodanis explains its science and brings it to life historically, making clear the astonishing array of discoveries and consequences it made possible. It would prove to be a beacon throughout the twentieth century, important to Ernest Rutherford, who discovered the structure of the atom, Enrico Fermi, who probed the nucleus, and Lise Meitner, who finally understood how atoms could be split wide open. And it has come to inform our daily lives, governing everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode-ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Most people know this celebrated equation has something to do with Einstein's theory of relativity, but most nonscientists don't know what it means. This very approachable yet somewhat limited work of popular science explains, and adorns with anecdote and biography, the equation and its place in history. Oxford lecturer Bodanis (The Secret Family) shows what happened to Einstein on the way to the discovery, what other scientists did to bring it about and how the equation created the atom bomb. Part Two tackles separately the components of the equation (E, =, m, c and "squared"), which means that it covers 18th- and 19th-century physics. "`E' Is for Energy" opens with Michael Faraday, whose unusual religious beliefs helped him discover that electricity and magnetism were the same force. "`m' Is for Mass" brings in French chemist Lavoisier, who established the law of conservation of matter. Bodanis then turns to Einstein's life and work. The middle third of the book covers the exploration of the atom and the making of the atom bomb; the cast of characters here includes Marie Curie, Lise Meitner and Enrico Fermi. A concluding section considers how E=mc2 powers the sun, and how our sun and all others will eventually run out of gas. Capsule biographies here include one of the engaging English astronomer Cecilia Payne, who wouldn't let institutional sexism stop her from finding the hydrogen in the sun. Bodanis's writing is accessible to the point of chattiness: he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. They'll learn a handful--more important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way. 20 photos and drawings not seen by PW. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

As in his earlier books (The Secret Family; The Secret House), science writer and Oxford lecturer Bodanis truly has a gift for bringing his subject matter to life. Here he profiles the most famous equation in science history: E=mc. Each letter and symbol of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity is explained separately, with historical information about the development of each component. Bodanis provides interesting biographical tidbits about the scientists who influenced Einstein's discovery (Ole Roemer, Michael Faraday) and put his theory to use (Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, and Lise Meitner). Then he discusses the relationship between these elements (the = in this equation) and the birth of the Nuclear Age. Bodanis includes annotated notes and suggested readings, which in themselves make good reading. Surely one of the best books of the year, this is highly recommended for all libraries.--James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

The equation did not emerge fully grown from Einstein's head one day in 1905, says mathematician-turned-social scientist Bodanis. He takes it apart, explaining each element, and in the process introduces key figures who previously discovered the realms of energy and mass and how they operated. Among them are Voltaire's lover Emilie du Chtelet, and Michael Faraday. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

A readable history and explanation of the only physics equation that has taken on a life of its own in popular culture.