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Albert through the ages

The Einstein Scrapbook by Ze’ev Rosenkranz, Johns Hopkins University Press, $22.50/£16.50, ISBN 0801872030 Reviewed by Roy Herbert

This is pure enjoyment. The Einstein Scrapbook contains, of course, a short and good biography and concise summaries of Einstein’s most famous work and his other contributions to science, as well as his involvement in world politics and peace, all of which have been covered thoroughly elsewhere and many times. But it’s the photographs that make the most impact. He could be solemn and dignified and also a clown. He was more than a little an actor and this is delightfully obvious in these pictures. On looks alone Einstein could have been a supporting player in Hollywood films at any stage of his life. The humanity demonstrated here is uplifting.

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