Harvey Einbinder (June 18, 1926 – January 30, 2013) was an American physicist, author and amateur historian.
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]
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. He later received his Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University.
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]
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.
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 (about US president Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War[10]).
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]
New York: Grove Press, 1964
London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964
New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1972
Review of Einbinder's The Myth of the Britannica.
Review of Einbinder's The Myth of the Britannica.
Review of the Britannica 3