Dr. Harvey Einbinder (June 18, 1926 – January 30, 2013) was an American physicist, author and amateur historian.

Early life

Einbinder was born to Jacob B. Einbinder and Dora (née Abelson) in New Haven, Connecticut.[1] He had one brother, David, and one sister, Hinde.[2]

Education

Einbinder studied for two years at the University of Connecticut (UConn), at first physics but then mathematics in which he received a degree with "highest distinction" in 1946.[3] He later received his Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University.

Career

He became a consultant to the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory and to General Electric on the Atlas missile. He published papers on hypersonic aerodynamics and the ionization of solid particles.[3][4][5] Einbinder patented a ten-finger typewriter keyboard.[6]

Encyclopædia Britannica

Einbinder spent five years combing the Encyclopædia Britannica for flaws, and found enough to fill a 390-page book, called The Myth of the Britannica, published by Grove Press in 1964.[7] As summarized by The Age two years later, Einbinder's book "showed beyond argument that the Britannica was not a completely impartial and absolutely infallible work of general reference; that 666 articles in the 1963 edition were reprinted from editions dating back to 1875 in some cases; and that American influence on its editorial policy had become dominant".[8] The Science Magazine commended Einbinder as a "dedicated prince of iconoclasts" who "rips into his subject from all angles and with devastating effect".[9] Furthermore, it was suggested that the editorial board of the Encyclopædia Britannica hire Einbinder as a fact-checker, although this never came to be.[9]

Einbinder at one point also disputed the historical accuracy of the Black Hole of Calcutta account. Among his other publications are An American Genius: Frank Lloyd Wright, and the play Mah Name is Lyndon.

Private life

Harvey Einbinder was married to Florence Einbinder, who predeceased him. He died on January 30, 2013, at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.[2]

Publications

  • The Myth of the Britannica.
New York: Grove Press, 1964
London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964
New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1972
Review of Einbinder's The Myth of the Britannica.
  • "The Target Is Large and the Fees Are Picayune; THE MYTH OF THE BRITANNICA. By Harvey Einbinder. 390 pp. New York: Grove Press. $7.50". The New York Times. February 2, 1964. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
Review of Einbinder's The Myth of the Britannica.
  • "Politics and the new Britannica", The Nation 220:11:342-4 (1975) –
Review of the Britannica 3
  • An American genius : Frank Lloyd Wright. New York : Philosophical Library, 1986, ISBN 0-8022-2511-X
  • Mah name is Lyndon; a play. Illustrated by Florence Safadi. New York, Lady Bird Press. 1968

References

  1. ↑ Harvey Einbinder, legacy.com
  2. 1 2 EINBINDER Obituaries Jewish Ledger (Connecticut), February 5, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2014
  3. 1 2 Einbinder, Harvey (Spring 2000). "THE EARLY YEARS AT UCONN" (PDF). Math CONNections-A Newsletter from the UConn Mathematics Department. University of Connecticut. 3: 8, 13. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ Einbinder, Harvey (March 1, 1953). "The Hydrodynamic Stability of Flame Fronts". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 21 (3): 480–489. doi:10.1063/1.1698931.
  5. ↑ Einbinder, Harvey (December 1, 1953). "The Application of Jacobians to Statistical Thermodynamics". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 21 (12): 2134–2142. doi:10.1063/1.1698800.
  6. ↑ Einbinder, Harvey (June 1, 1982). "Ten-finger typewriter keyboards". US patent. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  7. ↑ Einbinder, Harvey The Myth of the Britannica. New York: Grove Press, 1964 (OCLC 152581687)/ London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964 (OCLC 807782651) / New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1972. (OCLC 286856)
  8. ↑ Peter Westcott Britannica on the Shelves (review of the 1965 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica), The Age, May 28, 1966, p.25
  9. 1 2 Brooke-Hitching, Edward (2020). The madman's library: the strangest books, manuscripts and other literary curiosities from history. London New York Sydney Toronto New Delhi: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4711-6692-1.
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