God's Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Expanding Universe

This is a review of the AUDIBLE.COM version of this book. Although I enjoy books on science, I was hesitant to purchase this one. I am not very interested in mathematics and was unsure how interesting the book would be. I was surprised to discover that this is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Aczel is able to take topics that many people would consider to be dry and uninteresting (unless you're a mathematician) and weave them in a captivating tale. Through Einstein's writings and those of others, we follow Einstein along his life's journey as he developed his theory general relatively and ultimately to his search for the structure of the universe. Along the way we meet many interesting physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers - each of which adds another piece to the puzzle or provides real-world proof of Einstein's theories.Even if you have a mild interest in Einstein and theoretical physics I think that you will enjoy this book.

Amir Aczel describes Einstein's equation of general relativity that governs the behavior of the universe from its birth to a possible role in the near future. The story is beautifully woven together with the latest finding in cosmology and the riddle of creation. While a few lines of equations are shown, their meaning is explained by simple terms that can be understood by lay readers.On the basis of Einstein's letters that became accessible recently, Aczel tells for the first time the great physicist's efforts to get a prediction of his theory experimentally proved. Thus the author well succeeds in revealing a human side of the person who discovered God's Equation. This is quite a readable and absorbing book.

Aczel, whose book about Fermat's last theorem was an enjoyable romp through the history of mathematics, now turns his attention to Einstein's theory of general relativity and its implications for cosmology. Based on his work with some historians who are taking a fresh look at Einstein's life and work through recently discovered notebooks and correspondence (Renn, Stachel, et.al), Aczel is able to reveal some previously unknown factoids about the 20th century's greatest scientist. For example, a previously unknown notebook from about 1912 reveals that Einstein had produced his field equation for gravitation nearly 3 years earlier than its final publication in 1915. Apparently Einstein was not convinced of the accuracy of this equation, for he abandoned it, only to rederive it 3 years later with apparently no recollection that he'd been there before. Aczel also spends some effort refuting the popular myth that Einstein was no good at mathematics. He was a superb mathematician, says Aczel, and largely self-taught, which speaks to his agile intellect and intuitive sense for fruitful areas of research.Unlike any other biographies of Einstein or expositions of relativity that I've read, Aczel takes a "mathematician's eye view" of general relativity, and spends considerable time tracing the development of the geometry of curved space through Gauss, Reimann, and several other lessor known contributors. He also reveals, which I had not known previously, that Einstein kept up an ongoing correspondence with the legendary British mathematician David Hilbert, and that Hilbert published some work of his own based on early copies of Einstein's field equations. This incident has apparently been fodder for considerable historiagraphical debate, and was only recently settled that there was no plagarism or other funny business occurring on the part of either man.God's Equation is not all Einstein, however. Aczel also introduces us to many of the nagging questions in modern cosmology, and astronomers' attempts to reconcile the recently discovered accelerating expansion of the universe with current theories. Astronomer Saul Perlmutter is central to the story's recent developments, whose supernova observing program lent considerable weight to the accelerating expansion scenario. Taking center stage for this discussion is the resurrection of the cosmological constant, Einstein's famous "blunder," which Aczel argues, has never really left cosmology. As modern astronomers have looked further and further into the universe and back in time, the cosmological constant seems more and more necessary to some theorists, as a repulsive force to counteract the attractive force of gravity (which is itself a brute simplification, since anybody familiar with general relativity knows that gravity is not a force at all, but rather a result of curved spacetime).Overall, I do recommend this book, though I'm frustrated that Aczel didn't do much more

In the Preface, Aczel observes: "I was determined to explain to myself [italics] the exact relationship between an ever-expanding universe, Einstein's ingenious field equation of general relativity, and the enigmatically curved universe in which we live." After extensive and intensive research, "I was able to tie together the cosmological theories, the astronomical discoveries, the physics of gravity and spacetime, and Einstein's personal odyssey of discovery." The reader accompanies Aczel every step of the way to reaching this synthesis.Along the way, he discusses the contributions of Saul Perlmutter, Albert Einstein's early years, his solution of the "Euclid Riddle", his relationship with Marcel Grossman, his years in Berlin, Arthur Eddington's verification of several of Einstein's theories, explications of Einstein's equations of general relativity by Steven Weinberg, Alexander Friedman, and Alan Guth, the quantum theory's relationship to the discovery of previously-unknown particles of matter, the "geometry of the universe", Neta Bahcall's research on the density of mass, and the incorporation of quantum considerations into the theory of relativity. In the final chapter, Aczel suggests that "Mathematicians will develop the tools, physicists will apply them, astronomers will verify the theories and provide data, and cosmologists will generate the big picture of the universe." Although "Euclid's Riddle" may have been solved, the formulation of "God's Equation" continues. Aczel then goes on to say: "Once each discipline is supported by developments in the others, we may begin to understand the ultimate laws of nature and to formulate our human estimate of God's Equation. When the final equation is constructed, we should be able to use it to solve the wonderful riddle of creation. And perhaps that's why God sent us here in the first place."God's Equation offers intellectual stimulation and nutrition of the very highest quality. It is a pleasure as well as a privilege to accompany Aczel on his own "personal odyssey of discovery."

It's not Aczel who first brings up God, it's Einstein. One of the most thought-provoking things about this book is that for all our research and increasingly detailed knowledge of the way things work, most physicists are convinced that some sort of Creative Power underlies the workings of the universe. As a physicist and professor myself, I am impressed at the way Aczel clearly -- poetically, even -- lays out some of the more complicated cutting-edge concepts of contemporary science. He's extensively interviewed some of the most prominent figures in the field, and his good research (except for a couple of what I presume are typos regarding historical dates) shows. The previous reviewer must have some personal bone to pick with the author, because he/she and I didn't read the same book. Do read it; it will give you a glimpse -- however fleeting -- into the mind of one of humanity's greatest (Einstein): and therefore, perhaps, a glimpse at the awe-inspiring workings of the cosmos.