A modern classic, Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, about time, relativity and physics. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar. Now translated into thirty languages, Einstein's Dreams has inspired playwrights, dancers, musicians, and painters all over the world. In poetic vignettes, it explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.
作者简介
艾伦‧莱特曼(Alan Lightman)
一九四八年生于美国田纳西州的孟斐斯。普林斯顿大学物理学士,加州理工学院物理博士。曾替美国《哈泼》、《纽约客》、《纽约书评》等杂志、报刊写诗与书评。拥有物理学博士学位艾伦.莱特曼既是理论物理学家,也是小说家。过去曾在哈佛大学与麻省理工学院教授天文学与物理学,目前在麻省理工学院担任人文学科的助理教授,是该学院第一位荣获双教职合约的人。莱特曼创作了六部小说。第一部小说《爱因斯坦的梦》在1993年发表,是一本全球畅销书,并获得台湾2000年的「世纪之书」;1994年的作品《好小子贝尼特》(Good Benito),主角是一位爱好科学的业馀研究者,却不甘于平凡,希望成名;2000年出版的小说《诊断》(The Diagnosis)则进入美国国家书捲奖决选名单。此外,还有散文与寓言选集《时间旅行和老爸乔的烟斗》(Dance for Two),以及多本阐论科学的书籍。他发表的文章散见于《纽约时报书评》、《纽约客》、《大西洋月刊》(The Atlantic monthly)、《哈泼》、《自然》,以及其他刊物。
ALAN LIGHTMAN is the author of six novels, including Einstein's Dreams, which was an international bestseller, and The Diagnosis, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the author of three collections of essays and several books on science. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Granta, Harper's, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and Nature, among other publications. Since beginning his career as a theoretical physicist, Lightman has taught at Harvard and at MIT, where he was the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in science and in the humanities. He lives in the Boston area.
以下为对购买帮助不大的评价