David Bodanis – författare

Albert Einstein betraktas som en av de smartaste människorna i historien. Med relativitetsteorin revolutionerade han vår syn på kosmos, och hjälpte oss att ta steget in i atomåldern.

Trots detta var han i slutet av sitt liv i princip isolerad från den vetenskapliga världen och hans idéer ifrågasattes till och med av hans närmaste vänner. Hur blev det så?

Einsteins största misstag är en närgången biografi som berättar om Einstein både som privatperson och fysiker. Den får oss att inse hur mycket världen har Einstein att tacka för, men också hur mycket mer han hade kunnat åstadkomma om det inte hade varit för hans mycket mänskliga svagheter.

''David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human'' Tim HarfordCan you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising that, as the old saying has it, ''nice guys finish last''. But does that mean you have to go to the other extreme, and be a bully or Machiavellian to get anything done?In THE ART OF FAIRNESS, David Bodanis uses thrilling historical case studies to show there''s a better path, leading neatly in between. He reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year - and how the same techniques brought a quiet English debutante to become an acclaimed jungle guerrilla fighter. In ten vivid profiles - featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of Game of Thrones - we see that the path to greatness doesn''t require crushing displays of power or tyrannical ego. Simple fair decency can prevail.With surprising insights from across history - including the downfall of the very man who popularised the phrase ''nice guys finish last'' - THE ART OF FAIRNESS charts a refreshing and sustainable new approach to cultivating integrity and influence.

Widely considered the greatest genius of all time, Albert Einstein revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos with his general theory of relativity and helped to lead us into the atomic age. Yet in the final decades of his life he was also ignored by most working scientists, his ideas opposed by even his closest friends. This stunning downfall can be traced to Einstein''s earliest successes and to personal qualities that were at first his best assets. Einstein''s imagination and self-confidence served him well as he sought to reveal the universe''s structure, but when it came to newer revelations in the field of quantum mechanics, these same traits undermined his quest for the ultimate truth. David Bodanis traces the arc of Einstein''s intellectual development across his professional and personal life, showing how Einstein''s confidence in his own powers of intuition proved to be both his greatest strength and his ultimate undoing. He was a fallible genius. An intimate and enlightening biography of the celebrated physicist, Einstein''s Greatest Mistake reveals how much we owe Einstein today - and how much more he might have achieved if not for his all-too-human flaws.

Albert Einstein betraktas som en av de smartaste människorna i historien. Med relativitetsteorin revolutionerade han vår syn på kosmos, och hjälpte oss att ta steget in i atomåldern. Trots detta var han i slutet av sitt liv i princip isolerad från den vetenskapliga världen och hans idéer ifrågasattes till och med av hans närmaste vänner. Hur blev det så?Einsteins största misstag är en närgången biografi som berättar om Einstein både som privatperson och fysiker. Den får oss att inse hur mycket världen har Einstein att tacka för, men också hur mycket mer han hade kunnat åstadkomma om det inte hade varit för hans mycket mänskliga svagheter.