A nuanced portrait of Albert Einstein, a world citizen pivotally engaged in politics, humanitarianism, and science.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was the most influential scientist of the twentieth century, and his influence shows little sign of abating. His work comprises of much of today's understanding of the structure of the microphysical and cosmic universes. Einstein was a man of the modern world, faced with intellectual and existential challenges of extraordinary magnitude, a working scientist immersed in epochal theories of special relativity, the quantum theory, but also in organizational activities and teaching at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. More than any other past scientist, Einstein still pervades popular iconography and has come to symbolize genius, creativity, and innovation infused with humanism, wisdom, and humor. His life is interconnected with so many of the important political and intellectual movements of his era - Zionism, pacifism, Nazism, nuclear weapons, philosophy, civil rights, McCarthyism, the League of Nations, and more- that his views shaped the world he lived in while his persona acquired a formidable patina deposited by generations of apocryphal mythmaking, both during and after his lifetime.
Free Creations of the Human Mind: The Worlds of Albert Einstein presents a concise and nuanced account of Einstein's life and work embedded in his intellectual and social contexts, based on the substantial discoveries made through the study of his tremendous personal archive and several generations of assiduous scholarship. By disentangling the public persona from the private man, the rhetorical statement from the heartfelt conviction, this book shows Einstein as a man of the modern world, faced with intellectual and existential challenges of extraordinary magnitude, whose life was framed by turbulent, violent historical events.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Albert Einstein lived a life of soaring scientific creativity. He also witnessed, and responded to, some of the most searing developments of modern times: world wars, the rise of Nazism, and the nuclear age. This remarkable book traces how the efforts of Einstein's life hung together. * David Kaiser, Germeshausen Professor of Physics and the History of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology * Written in lucid, accessible prose and resting on deep knowledge of the man and his multiple engagements, Free Creations of the Human Mind convincingly challenges received wisdom concerning his scientific creativity and ideas about relativity and quantum theory. It discerningly probes the impact of antisemitism on his attitudes towards Israel and civil rights, of war and the atomic bomb on his pacifism and support for an open world order. A wholly enthralling and informative book. * Daniel J. Kevles, Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University, and author of The Physicists: the History of A Scientific Community in Modern America * Someone might think there is nothing new to say about Einstein, but that is wrong. This short book is a treasure for both the Einstein beginner and the devoted scholar. The reader learns not only the basics of Einstein's scientific worlds, centered on quantum and relativity theories, but also the contours of his worlds as German, Jew, Zionist, American, internationalist, public citizen, and celebrity icon. Writing in a highly engaging manner, Buchwald and Gordin also convincingly show the relevance of Einstein's commitments for today's science and politics. * Mary Jo Nye, Professor Emerita of History, Oregon State University * [This] brief, appealing book discusses the general theory of relativity and quantum theory, but is preoccupied mainly with Albert Einstein's life, personality and philosophy, especially his complex relationship with war - including the design of the atomic bomb - and pacifism. * Andrew Robinson, Nature * Delightfully short, the sort of thing you could binge over a weekend for a dose of comfort and courage ... a brief yet intimate portrait that nevertheless captures the many facets of Einstein as a human being. * Urmila Chadayammuri, Nature Astronomy * Delightfully short, the sort of thing you could binge over a weekend for a dose of comfort and courage ... a brief yet intimate portrait that nevertheless captures the many facets of Einstein as a human being. * Urmila Chadayammuri, Nature Astronomy * [A] marvellous and concise new biography ... it is books like Free Creations of the Human Mind ... that truly teach us about the intellectual foundations of the modern world. * Dmitri Levitin, Literary Review *
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Verlagsort
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Höhe: 215 mm
Breite: 143 mm
Dicke: 17 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-767819-0 (9780197678190)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Diana Kormos Buchwald is Robert M. Abbey Professor of History and General Editor and Director of The Einstein Papers Project at Caltech, where she shepherded ten volumes of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein and their English translations into print. She is a fellow of the AAAS and the American Physical Society, and member of the Academie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
Michael D. Gordin is Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Dean of the College at Princeton University. A specialist in the history of modern science, he has published books on nuclear weapons, Albert Einstein, and debates over pseudoscience. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation, and is a member of the Leopoldina, the National Academy of Sciences of Germany.
Autor*in
Director and General Editor, Einstein Papers Project; Robert M. Abbey Professor of HistoryDirector and General Editor, Einstein Papers Project; Robert M. Abbey Professor of History, Caltech
Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History; Dean of the CollegeRosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History; Dean of the College, Princeton University
Acknowledgments
Prologue: 1921
Chapter 1: Bern and Princeton
Chapter 2: Relativity Theory
Chapter 3: Quantum Theory
Chapter 4: Belonging
Chapter 5: War and Peace
Chapter 6: Free Creations
Notes
Further Reading
