What really surprises me is that Mr. Isaacson has made some of Einstein's concepts very clear to me. Apparently Einstein himself wrote several books aimed at the layman to explain his theories, and just the few quotes in this book really helped me. I was exposed to these theories in Physics classes at Engineering School, but I had a difficult time grasping their meaning. I only wish our teachers had taken just a few minutes to put these discoveries in their historical context, and present some of the very simple thought experiments that Einstein himself employed to explain these things. If my crusty and stubborn 45-year-old brain can still understand the theory of relativity, imagine how much more so my 20-year-old brain could have understood it.
Speaking of the aging process, I am embarassed to show my other reading material these days. I'm not embarassed about the book, but about the reading glasses that I must wear! Somehow I ended up with this very old book from my parents home MANY years ago, and decided to start reading it. The problem is, the print is SO SMALL! With great embarassment, I found a pair of cleap reading glasses and I must use them to read this book. In my defense, I don't use reading glasses for any other reading. For some reason, this particular edition has REALLY tiny printing.
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Speaking of the aging process from a different angle... I too wear reading glasses. But I am absolutely thrilled with my dime store reading glasses. I used to have to wear prescription glasses for everything - driving, reading, and everything in between. I have just had my cataracts fixed, and I am seeing 20/20 out of eac eye, something that I haven't been able to do for eons. I like my dime store reading glasses. I'm not embarrassed by them in the least. I am PROUD to have them. If they break, it's only a few dollars to replace them, not a few hundred. I LIKE my dime store reading glasses. I guess it all depends on what side of that aging process one happens to be. ;>)
I must report that I brought the M*A*S*H book on the airplane with me, along with the reading glasses. Alas, I didn't need them! I think the problem is the light. I was trying to read the book in bed, and my bedside lamp is not very bright. But on the airplane, there was a very strong overhead reading light. I finished the book without any eyestrain.
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