The descriptions of Einstein's two marriages will undoubtedly offend many of today's readers. Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maritsch, is an ambitious student from Hungary whom Einstein meets at the Polytechnic in Zurich.

Levinger illustrates Mileva's dissatisfaction with the woman's role in German society: "Why devote one's life to the three K's (Kueche, Kirche, Kinder— kitchen, church, and children) which the silly old kaiser had declared should be the only interest of women? She had a man's brain and might someday make real contributions to science." Levinger does not explain why one needs a "man's brain" to make scientific contributions, and most readers will find this statement perplexing at best.

Einstein's marriage to Mileva breaks up after several years because it contains nothing for her but the "three K's."

He later marries his cousin Elsa, a widow with two children. She is much more compatible with...