Einstein's dreams (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1989; vuoden 2004 painos)

This one to me was more about the idea than about the particulars. I liked the idea a lot, but the particulars were less interesting, and because it was a series of little vignettes within a short book, I had trouble really committing to it. So in the end, I gave it kind of a cursory read. I'm sure it's a much better book than the attention I gave it suggests.

I picked this one up after reading a Lightman piece in the latest Harper's that balanced science writing with lyrical writing and really conveyed a great sense of wonder that appealed to me. ( )

This was an interesting little book, an easy read.

In the premise of this book, Einstein is dreaming about time. He is developing a theory about time and each chapter represents one idea that he ostensibly dreams while he is working in a patent office.

Each small chapter takes place in a village by the Alps. Time runs differently in each chapter. Sometimes time runs backwards, other times people are caught in one moment forever. In some timelines, the past is constantly changing or the future is engraved in stone. In others, people are hurrying toward the future or living forever and dealing with the repercussions. Sometimes people worship time, are slaves to time; in other times, people live in endless loops where time is constantly repeating itself.

And, of course, each chapter makes us think of how we view time and how we adapt ourselves to our own version of time and become who we are because of it.

( )

A modern classic, Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar.

Now translated into thirty languages, Einstein’s Dreams has inspired playwrights, dancers, musicians, and painters all over the world. In poetic vignettes, it explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.

I can’t say this really felt like fiction to me. It is a series of dreams that a young Einstein was having as he developed his theory of relativity. As such, it felt more like a set of short essays. Each essay, or dream presents a different view of time. I found it entertaining and definitely thought-provoking. You could use a number of these small essays to generate some interesting conversation with guests after dinner. It also makes me interested in reading a biography of Einstein, which I have not ever done. But it never grabbed me and pulled me into a different world the way I hope fiction will do. ( )

What a fascinating book! It's one to reopen and re-read little pieces of through the years. I imagine the meaning will shift as much as time itself. I highly recommend. ( )