The Other Einstein
A Novel
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4.0 • 15 Ratings
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
From beloved New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Benedict comes the story of a not-so-famous scientist who not only loved Albert Einstein, but also shaped the theories that brought him lasting renown.
In the tradition of Beatriz Williams and Paula McClain, Marie Benedict's The Other Einstein offers us a window into a brilliant, fascinating woman whose light was lost in Einstein's enormous shadow. This novel resurrects Einstein's wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated. Was she simply Einstein's sounding board, an assistant performing complex mathematical equations? Or did she contribute something more?
Mitza Maric has always been a little different from other girls. Most twenty-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her clever calculations. But Mitza is smart enough to know that, for her, math is an easier path than marriage. Then fellow student Albert Einstein takes an interest in her, and the world turns sideways. Theirs becomes a partnership of the mind and of the heart, but there might not be room for more than one genius in a marriage.
Marie Benedict illuminates one pioneering woman in STEM, returning her to the forefront of history's most famous scientists.
"The Other Einstein takes you into Mileva's heart, mind, and study as she tries to forge a place for herself in a scientific world dominated by men."—Bustle
Recommended by PopSugar, Bustle, Booklist, Library Journal and more!
Other Bestselling Historical Fiction from Marie Benedict:
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
The Only Woman in the Room
Lady Clementine
Carnegie's Maid
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Albert Einstein is famous for his achievements in physics, but what does the world know about Mileva Einstein? Marie Benedict’s historical novel capitalizes on decades of speculation about how much the legendary scientist’s first wife contributed to his early research—and imagines what their fascinating marriage might have been like. Brilliant, headstrong Mileva “Mitza” Marić plans to forge a life for herself as a scientist, which is why in 1896, she’s the only woman studying physics at Zurich Polytechnic. But when Mitza meets Albert, the two classmates fall in love and begin collaborating on groundbreaking research. Benedict makes her heroine’s story compelling from the very beginning—we love how she focuses on Mitza’s friendships with like-minded young women fighting for a role in the scientific world and makes us feel the full weight of Mitza’s dejection when she realizes her brilliant husband isn’t the partner she’d hoped for. Albert Einstein may be the household name, but Mitza’s the character who stole our heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Albert Einstein may not have been the only mastermind behind his groundbreaking ideas about relativity; it turns out the renowned theoretical physicist collaborated a great deal with his first wife, Mileva Maric a Serbian woman of modest means who was one of the few women to study math and science at the Zurich Polytechnic School where the two meet. In her compelling novel, Benedict shows how Mileva transforms from a sheltered girl into a personally and professionally fulfilled young woman as she meets other educated women like her in the Swiss boarding house near her school and, through her new acquaintance Albert Einstein, engages in theoretical discussions with male colleagues during which her intelligence is both admired and supported. But Albert and Mileva are a product of their times; the turn of the century wasn't exactly a liberating time for women, and the self-centered Albert has no compunctions about deleting her name from papers they assiduously work on together. Their tenuous personal life (including a child he ignores), his affairs, and his insistence that his wife be more possession than spouse causes the marriage to implode. Did giving Mileva his Nobel Prize earnings assuage his guilt for her unacknowledged assistance and confirm her contribution to his work? Benedict makes a strong case that the brilliant woman behind him was integral to his success, and creates a rich historical portrait in the process.
Customer Reviews
The Other Einstein
Thought provoking, story of a woman who's brilliance is undermined by her husband. Finding her strength to return to a version of her former self, and courage to leave an abusive relationship.