Einstein for Beginners

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Einstein for Beginners
EinsteinBeginners.jpg
First edition cover
AuthorJoseph Schwartz
IllustratorMichael McGuinness
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series For Beginners
Introducing...
Subjects Albert Einstein
Relativity
Publisher Writers & Readers
Pantheon Books
Icon Books
Media typePrint (Paperback)

Einstein for Beginners, republished as Introducing Einstein, is a 1979 graphic study guide to Albert Einstein and the theory of relativity written by Joseph Schwartz and illustrated by Michael McGuinness.

Contents

Leonardo reviewer Nan Conklin stated that the work is "not simply a book explaining Einstein's scientific work, but a mixture of history, politics and science." [1] According to Science for the People reviewer Paul Thagard, "Einstein's work is related," in this book, "to the rise of electrical industries and the later development of the atomic bomb." [2]

Publication history

This volume was originally published in the United Kingdom by Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative in 1979. It was republished in the US by Pantheon Books and in the UK by Icon Books.

Selected editions:

Related volumes in the For Beginners series:

Related volumes in the Introducing... series:

Reception

Paul Thagard, writing in Science for the People , describes the book as "intelligible and entertaining," [2] while Henry McDonald, writing in The Washington Post , describes it as "well illustrated and thoroughly researched." [3]

"Almost half the book," according to Nan Conklin, writing in Leonardo , "is devoted to recounting Einstein's early life and the influences on him." [1] "Its discussion of the political environment in which Einstein's discoveries were made is," according to McDonald, "informative." [3]

"The drawing and the words have a distinctly comic-book flavor," according to Conklin, but it is "only when the authors set out to explain Einstein's theories that the use of the peculiar mode of presentation seems justified." [1] McDonald says that "the presentation of the discoveries themselves is little short of inspired," [3] while Thagard too commends the authors as "highly inventive in using amusing illustrations and humorous asides to lead the beginners through difficult concepts." [2]

While Conklin speculates that the publishers may have included a volume on Einstein in this series due to his belief in "the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals," [1] and McDonald confirms that the authors "go out of their way to emphasize [...] Einstein's socialism," Thagard is critical of the failure to "develop the social connections in a substantial way," and concludes that the volume does not provide a "basis for discussion of the role of science in society." [2]

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Oscar Zárate is an Argentine comic book artist and illustrator. Zarate studied architecture and had a successful career in advertising in Argentina. He moved to Europe in 1971 and began to work in earnest as an illustrator. He has drawn for the UK comics magazine Crisis. In the Introducing... and ...For Beginners book series he illustrated texts written by Richard Appignanesi, Alexei Sayle, Dylan Evans, J P McEvoy, Angus Gellatly, Rupert Woodfin and Christopher Marlowe. He is perhaps best known in the United States as the artist for the graphic novel A Small Killing written by Alan Moore, the a full length story about a once idealistic advertising executive haunted by his boyhood self.

For Beginners LLC is a publishing company based in Danbury, Connecticut, that publishes the For Beginners graphic nonfiction series of documentary comic books on complex topics, covering an array of subjects on the college level. Meant to appeal to students and “non-readers,” as well as people who wish to broaden their knowledge without attending a university, the series has sold more than a million copies.

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Richard Appignanesi Canadian writer and editor

Richard Appignanesi is a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated For Beginners book series, as well as the author of several of the series' texts. He is a founding publisher and editor of Icon Books. He was founding editor of the Manga Shakespeare series. He is a former executive editor of the journal Third Text, and reviews editor of the policy studies journal Futures.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Albert Einstein:

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Conklin, Nan (January 1983). "Einstein for Beginners by Joseph Schwartz and Michael McGuinness (review)". Leonardo . 16 (1): 63. doi:10.2307/1575052. JSTOR   1575052.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Thagard, Paul (May–June 1981). "Ideas for Beginners" (PDF). Science for the People . 13 (3): 30–32. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  3. 1 2 3 McDonald, Henry (1979-10-07). "Modern Thought Made Easy". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2017-01-15.