Much has been written about Albert Einstein, technical and biographical, but very little remains as valuable as this unique hybrid of a book written by Einstein's colleague and contemporary. Both rich in personal insights and grounded in a deep knowledge of twentieth-century science, Phillip Frank's biography anchors the reader with a lucid overview of physics and draws an intimate portrait of the Nobel Prize-winner.

Einstein's youth and training -- Conceptions of the physical world before Einstein -- Beginning of a new era in physics -- Einstein at Prague -- Einstein at Berlin -- The general theory of relativity -- Einstein as a public figure -- Travels through Europe, America, and Asia -- Development of atomic physics -- Political turmoil in Germany -- Einstein's theories as political weapons and targets -- Einstein in the United States.