Non-conformist

This book was quite similar to Steve Jobs. Probably, the author Walter has re-used a lot of words when writing Steve Jobs's biography. But, Einstein did have a lot in common with Jobs as both of them were typical non-conformists.

The structure of the book details from Einstein's childhood to his death. One intriguing thing in his childhood was that he had always been a very good student, especially his extraordinary mathematical skills. Unfortunately, the book has not told a lot about how he was educated in family and how his family had influenced him and made him a non-conformist. This may disappoint people who have certain belief in Freud's psychoanalysis.

Among many people who had influenced Einstein, David Hume stood out. Einstein had been deeply influenced by Hume since his teenager. It appears to me that the author tried to correlate Einstein's pursuit of Unified Theory and ignorance of quantum mechanics with Hume's emphasis on direct experience. As far as I see, this correlation seems to be very weak and is hardly explored deeply enough for readers to understand. Put it another way, the author has tried to find some giants who Einstein stood upon, but the trial is not very successful.

As in Steve Jobs, the author criticized Einstein's life in dealing with wives and children. His extraordinary achievement in theoretical physics was strikingly contrasted with his schizophrenic son. Probably it is the feature of non-conformists to break out of control from family affairs.

Overall, the book is a very good description of Einstein's life.