Einstein
Published on 28. August 2013
336 pages
978-0-307-83136-1 (ISBN)
Description
Much has been written about Albert Einstein, technical and biographical, but very little remains as valuable as this unique hybrid of a book written by Einstein's colleague and contemporary. Both rich in personal insights and grounded in a deep knowledge of twentieth-century science, Phillip Frank's biography anchors the reader with a lucid overview of physics and draws an intimate portrait of the Nobel Prize-winner.
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Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Epigraph
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Introduction
- I. Einstein's Youth and Training
- 1. Family Background
- 2. Childhood
- 3. Gymnasium in Munich
- 4. Intellectual Interests
- 5. Departure from Munich
- 6. Student at Zurich
- 7. Official of a Patent Office
- II. Conceptions of the Physical World Before Einstein
- 1. Philosophical Conception of Nature
- 2. Organismic Physics of the Middle Ages
- 3. Mechanistic Physics and Philosophy
- 4. Relativity Principle in Newtonian Mechanics
- 5. Ether as a Mechanical Hypothesis
- 6. Remnants of Medieval Concepts in Mechanistic Physics
- 7. Critics of the Mechanistic Philosophy
- 8. Ernst Mach: The General Laws of Physics Are Summaries of Observations Organized in Simple Forms
- 9. Henri Poincaré: The General Laws of Physics Are Free Creations of the Human Mind
- 10. Positivistic and Pragmatic Movements
- 11. Science at the End of the Nineteenth Century
- III. Beginning Of A New Era in Physics
- 1. Life in Bern
- 2. Interest in Philosophy
- 3. The Fundamental Hypotheses of the Theory of Relativity
- 4. Consequences of Einstein's Two Hypotheses
- 5. Relativity of Time
- 6. Relativity of Other Physical Concepts
- 7. Equivalence of Mass and Energy
- 8. Theory of Brownian Motion
- 9. Origin of the Quantum Theory
- 10. Theory of the Photon
- IV. Einstein at Prague
- 1. Professor at the University of Zurich
- 2. Appointment to Prague
- 3. Colleagues at Prague
- 4. The Jews in Prague
- 5. Einstein's Personality Portrayed in a Novel
- 6. Einstein as a Professor
- 7. Generalization of the Special Theory of Relativity
- 8. Influence of Gravity on the Propagation of Light
- 9. Departure from Prague
- V. Einstein at Berlin
- 1. The Solvay Congress
- 2. Trip to Vienna
- 3. Invitation to Berlin
- 4. Einstein's Position in the Academic Life of Berlin
- 5. Relationship with Colleagues
- 6. Relationship with Students
- 7. Outbreak of the World War
- 8. German Science in the War
- 9. Life in Wartime
- VI. The General Theory of Relativity
- 1. New Theory of Gravitation
- 2. Role of Four-Dimensional Space
- 3. Einstein Suggests Experimental Tests of His Theory
- 4. Cosmological Problems
- 5. Expeditions to Test Einstein's Theory
- 6. Confirmation of the Theory
- 7. Attitude of the Public
- VII. Einstein as a Public Figure
- 1. Einstein's Political Attitude
- 2. Anti-Semitism in Postwar Germany
- 3. The Zionist Movement
- 4. Einstein as a Pacifist
- 5. Campaigns against Einstein
- VIII. Travels Through Europe, America, and Asia
- 1. Holland
- 2. Czechoslovakia
- 3. Austria
- 4. Invitation to the United States
- 5. Reception by the American People
- 6. England
- 7. Einstein Tower and the Rathenau Murder
- 8. France
- 9. China, Japan, Palestine, and Spain
- 10. Nobel Prize, Alleged Trip to Russia
- IX. Development of Atomic Physics
- 1. Einstein as a Teacher in Berlin
- 2. Structure of the Atom
- 3. Mechanics of the Atom
- 4. Bohr's Complementarity Principle
- 5. Einstein's Philosophy of Science
- 6. Unified Field Theory
- X. Political Turmoil in Germany
- 1. Einstein's Fiftieth Birthday
- 2. Visiting Professor at Pasadena
- 3. Racial Purging in German Universities
- 4. Hostility toward Einstein
- 5. Last Weeks in Europe
- 6. Einstein's Views on Military Service
- XI. Einstein's Theories as Political Weapons and Targets
- 1. Scientific Theories and Political Ideologies
- 2. Pro-Fascist Interpretation
- 3. Einstein's Theories Attacked as Expressions of Jewish Mentality
- 4. Attitude of the Soviet Philosophy toward Einstein
- 5. Einstein's Theories as Arguments for Religion
- XII. Einstein in the United States
- 1. The Institute for Advanced Study
- 2. Einstein's Decision to Join the Institute
- 3. Einstein's Activities at the Institute
- 4. Refugee Scholars
- 5. Einstein's Attitude toward Religion
- 6. Beginning of the Atomic Age
- 7. Life in Princeton
