Albert Einstein by Albrecht Foelsing, Viking, $350 A few people's images almost define the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Picasso, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein.
Einstein's life created the image - whether true or not - of the harmless but eccentric genius professor, both brilliant in his chosen subject but hopeless at everyday life. It also created one of the simplest but most extraordinarily profound formulae in science. Most of us do not really understand the theory of relativity or the implications of quantum mechanics, but E=mc2 seems almost trivial. This formula has itself achieved the status of icon, representing the very act of intellectual thought or science: the idea of scientific discovery can now be encapsulated in a single logo and be as recognisable as Coca-Cola or Mercedes-Benz.
All this came from the ideas of a Grade III expert of the Swiss Patent Office, working almost in isolation and long before the Internet or even good telephone links.
Most of us are aware that Einstein's theories and formulae are not simple. We know he changed the world of physics and we know he refused to go along with possibly the greatest revolution in intellectual thought - quantum mechanics - but we may not understand why.
The iconography of Einstein gets in the way.
Albrecht Foelsing's biography, although only recently published in English, was published in German in 1994. This difference might not seem important, since Einstein has been dead for more than 40 years, but it means that Foelsing did not have access to many of his papers.