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E = mc² by David Bodanis, Macmillan, £14.99, ISBN 0333780337

WHAT a brilliant idea for a book: a short, snappy account of E = mc²,
the most famous equation in science. The wonder is that no one
thought of it sooner. Almost a century has passed since Einstein unveiled this
most astonishing implication of his special theory of relativity—so
astonishing, indeed, that even he felt moved to add a question mark to the title
of the paper containing its derivation: “Does the inertia of a body depend on
its energy content?”

And no wonder. c² is the…