The life of Albert Einstein has a dramatic quality that does not rest exclusively on
his “Theory of Relativity.” For the extravagant timing of history linked him with three
shattering developments of the Twentieth Century: the rise of modern Germany;
the birth of nuclear weapons; and the growth of Zionism. Their impact on his simple genius
combined to drive him into contact with the affairs of the world, for which he had little taste.
The result would have made him a unique historical figure, even if he had not altered
man’s ideas of the physial world.
