The subject of God's Equation is Einstein's field equation, at the centre of general relativity and hence of our understanding of the universe. Aczel is writing for a general audience, however, so he doesn't go into technical details (one or two equations make walk-on appearances, but no attempt is made to explain tensor analysis). Instead he looks at the history of the equation and at some of its cosmological implications. While none of the science will be novel to those who have done any kind of reading in the area, some of the historical detail is likely to be.

God's Equation contains a very brief introduction to basic cosmology, highlighting recent evidence for accelerating expansion of the universe and the resulting revival of the cosmological constant. But most of it is historical and biographical, concentrating on Einstein's life and work (as it connects to general relativity). One topic treated in detail is Einstein's relationship with the astronomer Freundlich and the latter's abortive attempt to verify General Relativity by observations during a total solar eclipse in the Crimea in 1914 (the outbreak of war resulted in the participants being imprisoned); another is Eddington's successful expedition with the same goal to Principe Island in 1919. Also included are a brief history of non-Euclidean geometry and a biographical sketch of Riemann.

December 1999

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Related reviews:

- Amir D. Aczel - The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity
- more biography
- more history of science
- more popular science
- books published by Four Walls Eight Windows