Real Genius

Old Einstein and young Einstein both get their close-ups in Genius. (Credit: National Geographic/Dusan Martincek) If you are going to create a television show called Genius, you had better grapple with the nature of genius. If you are going to do that kind of grappling, you might as well focus on the very first face that comes to mind when people say "genius." And if you are going to do a show about Albert Einstein--which is exactly where the creators of the new series Genius ended up--you'd better have some fresh things to say about the most famous figure in the history of science. I'm familiar with the challenges. In my book God in the Equation, I attempted a novel interpretation of Einstein's views on cosmology and theology--with mixed results, I'll confess. I've also written about Einstein's cultural impact in Discover magazine, and edited articles exploring everything from his family tree to his commercial impact. So I was relieved and intrigued to see that Genius (premiering tonight on National Geographic) does indeed add some new elements to the mix. Not to give too much away, but...the first ten minutes of the first episode contains distinctly more sex and death than I was expecting. Even after reading Einstein's much-publicized love letters, it is still startling to see the famous physicist (played by Geoffrey Rush) displaying messy, earthy human desires. Genius also digs deep into Albert's early years, showing him as a brash, impulsive, confrontational teen (Johnny Flynn handles Young Einstein duties). I initially assumed there was a lot of fictionalizing going on there, but many of the anchoring details come straight from Walter Isaacson's well-regarded biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe, which provided the spark for the whole series. At times, Genius succumbs to a touch of prestige-production syndrome, turning self-conscious in spelling out important concepts to the viewer; at others, it seems a little too pleased with its own outrageousness. Both are the failings of too much ambition, at least. And mostly, the series navigates a smart course between celebrating the otherworldly singularity of Einstein's mental powers and the accessible universality of his humanity. It is a highly worthy undertaking at a time when the world could use more inspiration both to greatness and to goodness.