Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Einstein  By  cover art

Einstein

By: Walter Isaacson
Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $28.60

Buy for $28.60

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

Why we think it's Essential: Isaacson is the modern master of the biography, so it was only natural that he turn his pen to Einstein. And more than any biography of the past, Isaacson's account unravels the life behind the brain and provides a full picture of the man who embodied the scientific spirit of the 20th century. Edward Herrmann is stirring and moves effortlessly from humorous anecdotes to scientific theories. — Chris Doheny

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2008 Audie Award for Biography/Memoir

How did Einstein's mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.

Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk, a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate, became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.

It's all relative: listen to more about Albert Einstein.
©2007 Walter Isaacson. All rights reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

  • Audie Award Winner, Biography/Memoir, 2008

"[A] lucid account." (Publishers Weekly)
"Isaacson has admirably succeeded in weaving together the complex threads of Einstein's personal and scientific life to paint a superb portrait." (Arthur I. Miller, author of Einstein, Picasso)
"Isaacson has written a crisp, engaging, and refreshing biography, one that beautifully masters the historical literature and offers many new insights into Einstein's work and life." (Diana Kormos Buchwald, General Editor of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein)

Featured Article: The Best Biography Audiobooks to Educate, Fascinate, and Inspire


The best biographies are ranked not only by the scale and skill of their writing, but also by the strength of their subjects. In the audiobook world, these selections are also judged for the quality of their narrative performances, making those that rise to the top all the more excellent. From lighthearted entertainment to inspirational origin stories, these titles represent the best biography audiobooks now ready for your listening pleasure.

What listeners say about Einstein

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,287
  • 4 Stars
    3,667
  • 3 Stars
    942
  • 2 Stars
    208
  • 1 Stars
    108
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9,020
  • 4 Stars
    2,172
  • 3 Stars
    461
  • 2 Stars
    79
  • 1 Stars
    42
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,430
  • 4 Stars
    2,548
  • 3 Stars
    645
  • 2 Stars
    115
  • 1 Stars
    60

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book

Inspiring story of not so much what Einstein knew about physics and math, but how he thought about them that made him so different from other geniuses. He went against the grain of science and often his teachers, resulting in a long wait to get his first "real" job. A humble, interesting men, who was adored by women. Never seemed to be without one, actually.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

A beautiful book on the life of Einstein, I can not do anything else but applaud this recording of what I Belive and hope will be read by generations to come

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

In depth

Love how in depth this book went on Einstein's Life negative and positive depiction of the man.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Isaccson's style is deep and coherent

Isaccson's style is deep and coherent.
One feels the efforts done to produce such an extensive account of a great thinker and physicist Einstein

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Einstein was a genius

And this book does an incredible job of challenging you as a reader to meet him halfway, to understand him as the genius he was, but also the human. Totally enlightening read on a man who helped to define the world and universe as we know it today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal Listen

I couldn't wait to find a reason to drive or plug in my headphones in order to listen to this. Complicated scientific theories are explained, to a degree, in a very comprehensible manner.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Finally paid personal homage to a great man

Before listening to this book I had only learned about Einstein indirectly during science classes. I am an engineer who was greatly tempted to pursue a degree in physics, so I enjoyed all the technical details the book had to offer. Though I found the 'physics' discussed truly enjoyable I was surprised that my greatest enjoyment came from learning about the human/personal aspects as Einstein.

I have always appreciated the scientific advancements birthed by relativity, but to learn of the gcurage of this man's public stance on key issues of the day was a true eye opener.

With such an ammasing subject I suppose it is hard to fail. However, it can easily be said that Mr. Hemman's supurb reading is only out done by the tremendous writing of Mr. Isaacson.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyable and inspiring story

for those committed to furthering their education in stem this book is great for inspiration and showcases one of the greatest professors that ever was

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging, personal recount of Einstein's life

This audiobook proved to be an inspirational and intimate insight into whom Einstein was as a scientist and human. His life: his romances, acquaintances and struggles; all are encapsulated in this outstanding audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How Einstein thought

The author provides a balanced view of Einstein as a passionate man, husband and father as well as one of the truly great scientists that ever lived. He also provides detailed descriptions of Einstein's thought process and the friends that influenced his thinking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful