Einstein for Beginners
{{short description|1979 graphic study guide to Einstein by Joseph Schwartz}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Einstein for Beginners
| image = EinsteinBeginners.jpg
| caption = First edition cover
| author = Joseph Schwartz
| illustrator = Michael McGuinness
| cover_artist =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series = For Beginners
Introducing...
| subjects = Albert Einstein
Relativity
| publisher = Writers & Readers
Pantheon Books
Icon Books
| media_type = Print (Paperback)
| pages =
| isbn =
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
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.
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."{{cite journal |last=Conklin |first=Nan |date=January 1983 |title=Einstein for Beginners by Joseph Schwartz and Michael McGuinness (review) |journal=Leonardo |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=63 |doi=10.2307/1575052 |jstor=1575052 }} 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."{{cite journal |last=Thagard |first=Paul |date=May–June 1981 |title=Ideas for Beginners |url=http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~schwrtz/SftP/MagazineArchive/SftPv13n3s.pdf |journal=Science for the People |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=30–32|access-date=2017-01-15 }}
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 =
- {{cite book|year=1979|title=Einstein for Beginners|publisher=Writers & Readers|isbn=0906386055}}
- {{cite book|year=1990|title=Einstein for Beginners|publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=0375714596|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/einsteinforbegin00mich}}
- {{cite book|year=1992|title=Einstein for Beginners|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1874166021}}
- {{cite book|year=1999|title=Introducing Einstein|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1840460601}}
- {{cite book|year=1990|title=Einstein for Beginners|publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=1874166021}}
- {{cite book|year=2005|title=Introducing Einstein|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1840466677|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/introducingeinst0000schw}}
- {{cite book|year=2012|title=Introducing Einstein: A Graphic Guide|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=978-1848314085}}
= Related volumes in the ''[[For Beginners, LLC|For Beginners]]'' series =
- {{cite book|first1=Steven L.|last1=Manly|first2=Steven|last2=Fournier|year=2009|title=Relativity and Quantum Physics|publisher=Readers & Writers}}
= Related volumes in the ''[[Introducing... (book series)|Introducing...]]'' series =
- {{cite book|first1=William|last1=Rankin|year=1993|title=Newton for Beginners|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1863734953}}
- {{cite book|first1=Pirani|last1=Felix|first2=Roche|last2=Christina|year=1993|title=The Universe for Beginners|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1874166064}}
- {{cite book|first1=J.P.|last1=McEvoy|first2=Oscar|last2=Zárate|year=1995|title=Stephen Hawking for Beginners|publisher=Icon Books}}
- {{cite book|first1=J.P.|last1=McEvoy|first2=Oscar|last2=Zárate|year=1996|title=Quantum Theory for Beginners|publisher=Icon Books}}
- {{cite book|first1=Craig|last1=Callender|first2=Ralph|last2=Edney|year=2001|title=Introducing Time|publisher=Icon Books}}
- {{cite book|first1=Bruce|last1=Bassett|first2=Ralph|last2=Edney|year=2002|title=Introducing Relativity|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=1840463724}}
- {{cite book|first1=Brian|last1=Clegg|first2=Oliver|last2=Pugh|year=2012|title=Introducing Infinity|publisher=Icon Books}}
- {{cite book|first1=Tom|last1=Whyntie|first2=Oliver|last2=Pugh|year=2013|title=Introducing Particle Physics|publisher=Icon Books}}
Reception
Paul Thagard, writing in Science for the People, describes the book as "intelligible and entertaining," while Henry McDonald, writing in The Washington Post, describes it as "well illustrated and thoroughly researched."{{cite web |title=Modern Thought Made Easy |first=Henry |last=McDonald |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1979/10/07/modern-thought-made-easy/cc43140d-dc10-47cf-aaa0-a4423783c24d/ |work=The Washington Post |date=1979-10-07 |access-date=2017-01-15 }}
"Almost half the book," according to Nan Conklin, writing in Leonardo, "is devoted to recounting Einstein's early life and the influences on him." "Its discussion of the political environment in which Einstein's discoveries were made is," according to McDonald, "informative."
"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." McDonald says that "the presentation of the discoveries themselves is little short of inspired," while Thagard too commends the authors as "highly inventive in using amusing illustrations and humorous asides to lead the beginners through difficult concepts."
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," 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."
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Albert Einstein}}
Category:Non-fiction graphic novels
Category:Comics based on real people
Category:Books about Albert Einstein
Category:Popular physics books
Category:Cultural depictions of Albert Einstein
Category:Comics set in the 1900s
Category:Comics set in the 1910s
Category:Comics set in the 1920s
Category:Comics set in the 1930s
Category:Comics set in the 1940s
Category:Comics set in the 1950s