Two new titles

E=Einstein: His Life, His Thought, and His Influence on Our Culture

Edited by Donald Goldsmith and Marcia Bartusiak

Published by Sterling

Available at Asia Books, Bt525

 A collection of thought-provoking essays by the world's leading scientists (from British physicist Stephen Hawking to Superstring-theory guru Steven Weinberg), "Einstein's Life" unveils new and interesting facets of the great physicist's life. More digestible and accessible than the doorstep-thick biographies, this book allows readers to pick out favourite chapters and leave less appealing ones aside.

 Despite covering a lot of ground, the book is essentially broken into four parts: his private life, his early science, his quantum years and his enduring influence. Those trying to grasp his special theory of relativity will find much to feed their minds as 90 per cent of this book is taken up by explanations of Einstein's puzzling notions by the world's leading authorities in physics and mathematics. Others looking for a clear-cut portrait of him as a human being will find the drama of his private life well laid out.

 Comparisons are drawn between the great man of 20th-century physics and Spinoza, the brightest mind of the 17th-century: both were devoted opponents of attempts to enforce conventional thinking and behaviour. Amidst the barrage of kudos - "the towering figure in science", "the greatest physicist", "a shaggy-haired genius" - Einstein sometimes comes across like any present-day rock star, a reputation backed up by the ease with which he dumped one girl after another. He described his first wife, Mileva Maric, as "the sourest of the sourpot", and his relationship with her as that of a man and an "employee". Perhaps we can put that down to his reported misogyny (she was a brilliant mathematician, a very unladylike career at the time).

 But then he made many more friends than he lost. And it's through his lectures, intellectual discussions and manuscripts that we get to learn that Einstein was a self-contained, self-confident, charming and complex man. Though the book's accessible, its subject was obviously a little harder to get to know.

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs

By Zahi Hawass with photography by Sandro Vannini

Published by National Geographic

Available at Kinokuniya Books, Bt1,413

 Accompanying a marvellous exhibition of the same name that toured European cities and the United States last year, "Tutankhamun" brings to life a New Kingdom pharaoh best known for his 14-kilogram gold mask on display at the Cairo Museum. But this book digs beneath King Tut and into the New Kingdom to uncover the deeper riches of ancient Egypt and shine a broad beam on this great civilisation.

 Written by key Egyptologists like Zahi Hawass (the man in charge of all digs in Egypt), David O'Connor, Donald Redford and Betsy M Bryan, the book whets the archaeological appetite by exploring crucial subjects, beginning with an outline of Egyptian history that follows the rise and fall of dynasties and the "golden age" (the New Kingdom). A single chapter is devoted to the life of Tutankhamun and the famous discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings by English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

 Dubbed the "golden boy king", Tutankhamun is famous not because he was among the greatest pharaohs, but for the miraculous preservation of his tomb and its contents, which remained intact for 3,000 years before Carter's discovery. We learn that a recent CT scan at Hawass's own lab showed that Tutankhamun died at about the age of 19. People had speculated that he was murdered by a blow to the back of the head, but the scan revealed no such injury. Hawass believes that the king died of an infection following a broken leg, pointing to the possibility of a fall from his chariot accident or a wound from a battle. Most of the artefacts found in his tomb are now on display at the Cairo Museum, but readers will be pleased to know that many items are on show in this volume too.

 The photo section is divided into seven galleries, depicting statues of pharaohs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, their queens, the royal court, pharaohs' religion, their gold and jewellery and the secrets of the pharaohs. 

 The world has Hawass to thank for the fact that these artefacts can nowadays be taken overseas for public display. As the secretary general of the Supreme Antiquities Council, Hawass seems more powerful than any government minister. Anyone wishing to work at any archaeological site in Egypt needs to get his permission. As this book shows, Hawass has done his country proud, all the while bringing ancient Egypt to the attention of the world.

Reviewed by Manote Tripathi, The Nation