I love science. I also love learning about scientific theories and the scientists who brought them to light. Initially, I thought Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman was a true account of how Einstein came up with his theory of time (relativity). Instead this collection contains fictionalized diary entries (dream journal style) from 1905. Each dream accounts for a different way to view time and is set up almost as if they take place in alternate realities. Maybe all events are fixed and predetermined so time is meaningless. Or perhaps there's a world where the closer you get to the center of a location the slower you move until you are arrested completely. Do you think there's a place where those living in higher altitudes age slower than those below? I don't even know if I could handle the world where immortality is a given and so you are forced to live and live and live. In between each of the 'diary' entries, Lightman writes about Einstein processing each of these dreams and honing his eventual theory of relativity. [Bonus: Beautiful pen and ink drawings of Berne scattered throughout.] As I said at the beginning, I started off thinking this was going to be a non-fiction biography of sorts but I think I like this even better. If you're looking for a short little dip into the dimensions of time and how they might look based on your reality then you've hit the jackpot. This is the best kind of sci-fi surprise! 9/10

What I'm Currently Reading: Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

― Albert Einstein

If one respects the fact that this series is aimed at young people (young enough to need things like "geometry" and "Fascism" defined for them) then I think this is quite a good little book. It's short and inevitably superficial but I'm not sure how it could be anything else considering the intended audience. Nevertheless it gives an insight into Einstein's character and at least an indication of the significance of some of his work.

Einstein knew Franz Kafka when they were contemporaries in Prague!

I was a startled to discover that this book is aimed at young people - I should really research biographies a little more before purchasing! If that is borne in mind, then this seems quite good and even includes some stories not in Isaacson's mammoth book. The trouble is, they aren't referenced (kids' book, remember!) which means checking them requires ploughing through the works in the list of of sources...