🚀 go-pugleaf

Andrew Palfreyman begs for a review of _Who Got Einstein's Office?_.

I received this book for Christmas and just finished reading it.

The book is really about The Institute for Advanced Study and
the people who worked and studied there.  Only the first chapter
is about Einstein and the fate of his office.  I was surprised
to learn that Kurt Goedel died a paranoid old man while at the
Institute.  He thought his doctors were trying to poison him.

There are good stories about John Von Neumann and Oppenheimer here.
Many of the stories are sad, reflecting politics and human failings. 
But by and large it is an interesting book to read.  It includes a
layman's introduction to superstrings and cellular automata, and
some charming tidbits from the astrophysics seminars.

All in all, I would recommend it as good light reading for anyone
interested in the human side of science and the lives of famous
theoreticians.

--Barry Kort