Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein's Letters to and from Children

The fact that Albert Einstein received letters from children does not surprise me; in my youth I wrote a few letters to famous scientists and begged my mother for the postage to send them. What is surprising is that in a few selected cases, Einstein wrote a reply. This book begins with a brief biography of Einstein and then contains a collection of letters written by children to Einstein as well as some of his responses. The letters from the children are generally what you would expect a child to write, grammatically and in content. Many ask for his help in explaining topics and others simply want his autograph. What is touching is that he sometimes took time to respond and he deliberately made his answers short and at a level that the child could understand. The thought that this man, an incredible celebrity and the equivalent of a rock star would take the time to answer letters from children speaks volumes to his fundamental humility and kindness.

This is a beautiful and touching book. The letters from children are printed exactly as they are written, spelling errors and all--some letters are even printed in their handwritten form. It is amazing how insightful some of the questions from the children are. Einstein's responses are written on the level of the original letter-writer, and are always well thought-out. I'm a big Einstein fan, and this was a gift that I greatly enjoyed. There were also some very interesting pictures of Einstein included in this book.