A Recent Letter to the New York Times

This year is the centennial of Albert Einstein's annus mirabilis, during which he explained Brownian motion and the quantum nature of light, discovered special relativity and, as an afterthought, showed the equivalence of mass and energy. The 2005 Year in Ideas [in the New York Times Magazine] mostly offers a range of mildly amusing consumer products and the possibility of selling your forehead to advertisers.

NICHOLAS RYAN
Washington