myconvolutedmind

Einstein, Picasso

Space, Time, and the Beauty that Causes Havoc by Arthur I. Miller

This interdisciplinary work travels back to the start of the twentieth century to analyze two men who seemingly single-handedly changed the path of their respective fields: Picasso, with painting through cubism, and Einstein with physics through relativity. Arthur Miller’s Einstein, Picasso is a detailed dual biography focusing in on the height of both these men’s careers.

Initially, I thought the connections between these two legends would be forged in the first few pages. To my surprise, and primary dissatisfaction, Miller instead decided to give a detailed description on the conception of both their lives. (This is the first biography I willingly am reading, so this is new territory for me…) When my mind caught up with the pace of the book, there was no reason for wanting to stop reading. The connections between Picasso and Einstein sprung up on their own.

Both Picasso and Einstein loathed public education; they enjoyed learning on their own where independent thought blossomed as opposed to being hushed. This lead to problems of course: Picasso was on his own in a run down apartment, and Einstein could not find a job. Miller fleshed out these archetypes of people. They weren’t kids who grew up earning straight A’s in a cozy home, but instead youth who captivated themselves with an idea, an idea to see beyond the reality of appearances and our perceptions, and would not stop until they solved the mystery or the puzzle. Miller shatters the misconception that these men where overnight, solitary geniuses. Instead, he pinpoints their hard work, and credits both their revolutionary time period and the people they were surrounded with.

I greatly admire Einstein and Picasso’s minds and their strength to keep swimming against the current to find the truth they were looking for. BUT, throughout the book their treatment of women ranged from upsetting to appalling. It was the 1900s, and they were not so bad, I just would have expected something more from such strong characters, especially someone part of the World Peace organization, y’know? But, I digress.

I do believe this book was just a tad bit unnecessarily lengthy, and at times, the comparisons seemed forced or over-emphasized. Also, I’ve taken an introductory course for art history, so understanding the art references wasn’t too bad. The constant French phrases aggravated my ignorance of the language, although I do understand the author was trying to catapult us into Paris. The physics on the other hand, oh god, the physics. It took a while, some google searches and flipping through physics textbooks, but I trudged through.

Regardless, Miller retains the essence of the duality of the book, and portrays his uncommon skill of picking out important details of a life to capture the fleeting image of creativity and innovation. And he brings life to two of the twentieth centuries most important men.