RRS Reads: Please, Mr. Einstein

While you may not normally turn to Really Rocket Science for book recommendations, we’ve always believed that even the best engineers (and enthusiasts) could use a little literature in their life.  Still, if you’re going to indulge in the good stuff, its always a good idea to start with some work that has some applicability to your every day life, which is why we’re recommending a work written by a French playwright chronicle the afterlife of the 20th century’s most preeminent scientist… errr… ummm… Well, now that I think about it, it probably isn’t even close to applicable to your everyday life, but it does sound pretty cool, right?

While the review NYT Science Editor Dennis Overbye gave Jean-Claude Carrière’s Please, Mr. Einstein (Amazon, Powells) was a little ho-hum, the topic of the book, the musings and travails of Albert Einstein from beyond the grave, was interesting enough that it might be worth a look. Written as a play, it appears a little heavy on the monologue, but seems to work, overall, as a novel that "isn’t so much[…] about physics as it is[…] about how people feel about physics."

Sure, we may be more inclined to cosy up to a copy of Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Amazon, Powells) but, come on, how often do you find a play/novel that work in discussions of spacetime between the cameos of Picasso, Newton, and Elvis?