These were Albert Einstein's 5 favourite books | Education, Gender and Work - World Economic Forum

This article was originally published by Big Think.

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Take a look at 5 of Albert Einstein's favourite books, from Ernst Mach to Johann von Goethe below, recommends Paul Ratner, writer and filmmaker.

A glimpse into the mind of a genius.
Photo: REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Undoubtedly considered one of the brightest individuals who ever lived, Albert Einstein did not become so accomplished in a vacuum. The physicist learned from the best minds of history, as is evidenced by his voracious appetite for reading and his extensive personal book collection.

In "Einstein for the 21st Century," the authors describe the famous scientist's library. It contained "much of the canon of the time," write the editors Peter Galison, Gerald J.Holton, and Silvan S. Schweber, referring to the great collection of German books. Among these were such names as Boltzmann, Buchner, Friedrich Hebbel, two editions of the works of Heine, Helmholtz and von Humboldt. There were also many books by the philosophers Immanuel Kant, Gotthold Lessing, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer.

But what were Einstein's favorite books? Perhaps there's no one simple answer to that but we do know which works the creator of the theory of general relativity seemed to come back to over and over.

Here are his 5 favorite books and writers, as we know it.
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Source: World Economic Forum