Harvey Einbinder

Harvey Einbinder (June 18, 1926 – January 30, 2013)^[1] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] 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.^[9]

Einbinder at one point also disputed the historical accuracy of the Black Hole of Calcutta account.^{[citation needed]} 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]

• The Myth of the Britannica.

New York: Grove Press, 1964

London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964

New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1972

• De Solla Price, Derek J. (1964)."A Great Encyclopedia Doesn't Have To Be Good?". (Extract) Science, Volume 144, Issue 3619, pp. 665–666. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online). DOI: 10.1126/science.144.3619.665 –

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