George's+Book+Review

George Venizelos Book Review Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty that Causes Havoc

Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty that Causes Havoc by Arthur Miller, delves into the life of two men, Einstein and Picasso, who brought the world into the 20th century and looks at what drove them to greatness. Einstein brought the world out of 19th century physics with his theory of special relativity, whereas Picasso brought art into the cubism movement with //Les Demoiselles D’Avignon//. Miller explores the lives of these two revolutionaries leading up to their masterpieces and explores the significance Henri Poincare played both Einstein’s and Picasso’s breakthrough. Picasso Picasso had always been a gifted child when it came to art. His father had always loved art as well and had the passion to become an artist, but did not have the skill required. When his father realized his son’s potential, it made him simultaneously ecstatic and frustrated. Picasso was admitted into San Fernando, a prestigious art school. Picasso hated his time there and gained nothing from his time there. Picasso flourished when he joined a much less structured school in 1899 and basically self taught himself art. While at an exhibit in Paris in 1900, Picasso awareness of new technology blossomed. X rays may have influenced Picasso in his work towards cubism. The idea that there are things in the world that are beyond human perception, yet are still there is one of the main focuses of //Les Demoiselles D’Avignon//. In Paris, Picasso founded a group of intellectuals called “//La Bande a Picasso// [which] was Picasso’s think tank”(Miller 173). The group originally consisted of writers and poets and other artists, but Picasso invited a mathematician by the name of Maurice Princet. Princet brought the group ideas of mathematics and science that nobody else in the group could have. He was well informed on the forth dimensional ideas and through his contribution to //La Bande a Picasso// cubism was born. Einstein While Picasso’s masterpiece was //Les Demoiselles D’Avignon//, Einstein had his theory of relativity in conjunction with this two other papers written in 1905. Einstein’s early schooling years share a similar resemblance to Picassos early years at San Fernando. Einstein hated every aspect of his years at the Luitpold Gymnasium. He disagreed with many of the professors and because of that his grades struggled. He despised the teachers’ strict militant teaching style and disliked the way courses were run. Many of his classes required memorization and Einstein did not have the greatest of memories which made him seem like a bad student. Einstein hated his time at the Gymnasium he left six months before he was to graduate. Despite not graduating from the Gymnasium he was able to get into Swiss Polytechnic because of his extremely high grades on his entrance exams in math and science. Einstein’s time at the Swiss Polytechnic was much better. He felt liberated and began doing much better in science and mathematics. Einstein was not offered an assistant position at the Swiss Polytechnic after graduating, so he was forced to find a job elsewhere. A family friend was able to get him a job at the Patent office in Bern, Switzerland. While at Bern, Einstein joined a group named the Olympia Academy which, similar to Picasso’s //la bande a Picasso//, discussed a wide range of topics, including science and philosophy. Einstein’s paper on special relativity came from a combination of the patents he saw while working and at discussions with the Olympia Academy.

Poincare Miller looks at the role that Henri Poincare played in the lives of Einstein and Picasso. Picasso might not have ever read Poincare’s book, but he learned about it through Princet. Princet frequently discussed the book at meetings. The idea of a fourth physical dimension other than time was difficult to comprehend, but Picasso’s ability to visualize it and portray it in his paintings is what made him a genius. Mathematics played a major role in the birth of cubism. Although neither Einstein nor Poincare directly referenced the other in any of their work, it is impossible for them to have not been familiar with the others work. Both were working on relativity and trying to fix the problem of describing time dilation. Poincare built off of Lorentz’s work which was also used the same mathematics that Einstein used in his paper. Poincare’s work was discussed thoroughly at the Olympia Academy and Einstein corrected some mistakes that Poincare had in his work. Both Picasso and Einstein knowledge of Poincare’s idea helped them in the work that made them famous.

Final Section In Millers final chapters he discussed what it meant to be a genius and how Einstein and Picasso were able to revolutionize the world. The reason why Picasso and Einstein were so ahead of the rest is because “…both men were opportunists, willing to take advantage of every hint offered by the intellectual currents…” (240). Although with enough time, Poincare could have possibly discovered special relativity, he was not thinking to revolutionize physics, whereas Einstein was. Another thing that both men shared which gave them passion for their work was their egos. Their egos are evident in the way they both treated women later in life. Picasso had many mistresses throughout his life. Many women would come and go in his life and he began treating them as objects. Einstein was a little more restrained, but not much better. He married Mileva, who was a student at Swiss Polytechnic, and stayed with her until 1919 when they divorced. Although Einstein got remarried later, he constantly would have other women around and would leave with them for days at a time. The final idea that Miller leaves us with is the mental process in which these great men went through for their work. The creativity cycle goes through “conscious thought, unconscious thought, illumination…and verification” (245). After working consciously on a problem, the mind will begin to create unconscious connections which play a key role in the illumination factor of their ideas.

Personal Opinion //Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc// was an interesting book that took two people from different spectrums of human progress and showed how they were not as different as one might assume. The book itself was a great way to learn about these two titans in history. For me, I was able to connect more with the Einstein section of the book than with the Picasso section. This could be because I am much less familiar with art history and how art is done. The way Miller was able to tie these two men and isolate what made them special is engaging. All in all, book has not only widened my knowledge of science and art, but also increased my interest in art and science.