Description: The story of the conflict between Albert Einstein and chief Nazi physicist Philipp Lenard, who spent a lifetime trying to discredit him.
Review Quotes: In this title, the differences between theoretical and experimental physics are embodied respectively by Einstein and Philipp Lenard, a virulently anti-Semitic German physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905. Hillman describes how, unable to prove the existence of the long-popular notion of 'ether, ' in debt, and jealous of the attention paid Einstein, Lenard abandoned his early admiration of the younger man and escalated his ad hominem attacks on his fellow Nobel winner for more than 20 years. The book relies in part on original works in German, thanks to Birgit Ertl-Wagner and Bernd C. Wagner's translations for Hillman, adding a new perspective to the study of Einstein. It includes fascinating biographical information on both men. . . .Hillman has succeeded in his goal to 'write a history...that read(s) like a novel, ' opening at the scene of a Nazi book burning. This very accessible popular science book will engage readers interested in physics, World War II, history, and biography.-- "Library Journal"