I Am a Part of Infinity

A spiritual biography of Albert Einstein that reveals for the first time the scientific and religious origins of his ethical philosophy

Nearly everyone is familiar with Einstein's scientific accomplishments-but few know the truth of how spiritual philosophies shaped his life and work. Scientists and biographers have treated Einstein's views on the eternal as vague and metaphorical. For Einstein, however, spirituality and science were a vital pairing.

In I Am a Part of Infinity, Kieran Fox examines for the first time the strength and the subtlety of Einstein's spirituality. Revealing the Greek philosophies and East Asian religious teachings that Einstein revered, Fox traces, for example, how Pythagoras and Democritus allowed Einstein to conceptualize mathematical simplicity and the power of the mind, and how the Upanishads and Jainism shaped his views on the nature of the universe and morality. Fox shows how Einstein melded those ideas with his science to create one all-encompassing philosophy, in which the cosmic oneness of his work in physics was inextricably linked to his pacificism and his moral commitments to all life.

Drawing on little-known conversations, recently published letters, and new archival research, I Am a Part of Infinity shows, for the first time, what Einstein really believed, and why his perspective still matters today.

"A thoughtful study of a brilliant mind's approach to the divine." --Kirkus Reviews
"I Am a Part of Infinity is a beautifully written exploration of Einstein's work and his most profound question: What power so deeply connects the human mind with the universe that we can grasp the very laws of nature? This essential work examines the intersections of science, spirituality, and philosophy, offering fresh and meaningful insights into one of history's greatest thinkers and the ideas that shaped his entire worldview."--David Fideler, PhD, editor of The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library and author of Breakfast with Seneca
"A groundbreaking and gripping account of Einstein as a visionary herald of a new scientific and post-religious spirituality for our times."--Evan Thompson, author of Waking, Dreaming, Being
"By digging deep into archival, epistolary, and biographical material, including Einstein's large personal library, Kieran Fox reveals the paradigmatic scientific genius to be a seeker whose lifelong appreciation of the beauty and mysteriousness of the cosmos made him an ardent believer in a rational universe comprehensible by mathematics. Einstein's unusual spiritual path ultimately led him to become a practitioner of pacifism and vegetarianism and to identify nature with a cosmic consciousness. Fox traces this triptych back to Einstein's extensive readings of the idealist Arthur Schopenhauer, the panpsychist Baruch Spinoza, and the Hindu Upanishads. I Am a Part of Infinity is a delight to read at a point in time when the limits of materialism are coming into clear and public view."--Christof Koch, PhD, author of Then I Am Myself the World
"In this meticulously researched book, Fox shows us a long-ignored and misunderstood side of Einstein: his spiritual conviction that we are entwined with the universe. Fox delves deep to reveal the hidden influences, from Pythagoras to Jainism, that inspired Einstein's epic quest to create a 'cosmic religion' in which mind and matter would be melded into one intricate, all-encompassing whole. I Am a Part of Infinity is gripping, inspiring, original--a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the mind of the great physicist."--Jo Marchant, PhD, author of The Human Cosmos
"Like Isaac Newton's alchemy or Johannes Kepler's astrology, most scholars have seen Einstein's writings on religion as a distraction from his scientific work. Yet Fox makes a bold argument that Einstein's effort to build a modern spirituality around curiosity and awe inspired his own science and also deserves a wider hearing among scientists today. Deeply researched and revelatory, I Am a Part of Infinity is essential reading for anyone interested in science and religion."--Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, PhD, author of Rest
"Science and spirituality often seem like contradictory approaches to existence. But Fox shows that, for Einstein, they were in fact complementary and convergent ways to explore reality. In this beautiful elaboration of the deeper levels of Einstein's scientific mind, Fox discovers the unexpected spiritual side of the most celebrated genius of modern times. Wonderfully written and easy to read, I Am a Part of Infinity is filled with surprises and 'Wow!' moments awaiting the reader."--Georg Northoff, MD PhD, author of Neurowaves
"We have long known that Spinoza was Einstein's favorite philosopher. With Fox's wonderfully readable book, we are finally treated to a clear and accessible explanation of why this was so, and how Einstein's own spirituality was inspired by the 'heretic' of Amsterdam."--Steven Nadler, PhD, author of Spinoza: A Life

Kieran Fox is a neuroscientist and doctor by training and is a psychiatry research track resident at the University of California, San Francisco, where his research centers higher-order cognition and spontaneous thought processes. He lives in San Francisco.

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