E=mc2 by David Bodanis

Friday 10 August 2001 00:00 BST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

After cod, longitude and phosphorus, the latest topic for non-human biography is an equation. Though initially given the brush-off by FDR, Einstein's proposal for a practical application of E=mc2 achieved terrible fruition in 1945. The glare would have been visible on Jupiter. In this miraculously accessible account, Bodanis takes the story back to Lavoisier, himself extinguished in an earlier Terror, and forward to Tom Stoppard, whose use of relativity to explore moral viewpoints is "all wrong".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

E=mc2 by David Bodanis

Join our commenting forum

Thank you for registering