Einstein His Life And Times

by Frank, Philipp

• ISBN13: 9780306811098
• ISBN10: 030681109X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

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 Prizewinner.

Author Biography

In 1912, Philipp Frank became Einstein's successor at the University of Prague. In 1938, he came to the U.S., where he taught at Harvard. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1966.

Table of Contents

I. EINSTEIN'S YOUTH AND TRAINING
Family Background	3	(3)
Childhood	6	(4)
Gymnasium in Munich	10	(2)
Intellectual Interests	12	(3)
Departure from Munich	15	(3)
Student at Zurich	18	(3)
Official of a Patent Office	21	(4)
II. CONCEPTIONS OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD BEFORE EINSTEIN
Philosophical Conception of Nature	25	(2)
Organismic Physics of the Middle Ages	27	(1)
Mechanistic Physics and Philosophy	28	(2)
Relativity Principle in Newtonian Mechanics	30	(2)
Ether as a Mechanical Hypothesis	32	(2)
Remnants of Medieval Concepts in Mechanistic Physics	34	(2)
Critics of the Mechanistic Philosophy	36	(2)
Ernst Mach: The General Laws of Physics Are Summaries of Observations Organized in Simple Forms	38	(2)
Henri Poincare: The General Lams of Physics Are Free Creations of the Human Mind	40	(2)
Positivistic and Pragmatic Movements	42	(3)
Science at the End of the Nineteenth Century	45	(4)
III. BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA IN PHYSICS
Life in Bern	49	(1)
Interest in Philosophy	50	(3)
The Fundamental Hypotheses of the Theory of Relativity	53	(2)
Consequences of Einstein's Two Hypotheses	55	(2)
Relativity of Time	57	(6)
Relativity of Other Physical Concepts	63	(2)
Equivalence of Mass and Energy	65	(2)
Theory of Brownian Motion	67	(2)
Origin of the Quantum Theory	69	(2)
Theory of the Photon	71	(3)
IV. EINSTEIN AT PRAGUE
Professor at the University of Zurich	74	(3)
Appointment to Prague	77	(3)
Colleagues at Prague	80	(3)
The Jews in Prague	83	(2)
Einstein's Personality Portrayed in a Novel	85	(4)
Einstein as a Professor	89	(2)
Generalization of the Special Theory of Relativity	91	(3)
Influence of Gravity on the Propagation of Light	94	(4)
Departure from Prague	98	(3)
V. EINSTEIN AT BERLIN
The Solvay Congress	101	(2)
Trip to Vienna	103	(3)
Invitation to Berlin	106	(3)
Einstein's Position in the Academic Life of Berlin	109	(3)
Relationship with Colleagues	112	(4)
Relationship with Students	116	(3)
Outbreak of the World War	119	(2)
German Science in the War	121	(2)
Life in Wartime	123	(4)
VI. THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
New Theory of Gravitation	127	(3)
Role of Four-Dimensional Space	130	(3)
Einstein Suggests Experimental Tests of His Theory	133	(1)
Cosmological Problems	134	(3)
Expeditions to Test Einstein's Theory	137	(3)
Confirmation of the Theory	140	(2)
Attitude of the Public	142	(5)
VII. EINSTEIN AS A PUBLIC FIGURE
Einstein's Political Attitude	147	(2)
Anti-Semitism in Postwar Germany	149	(2)
The Zionist Movement	151	(2)
Einstein as a Pacifist	153	(5)
Campaigns against Einstein	158	(9)
VIII. TRAVELS THROUGH EUROPE, AMERICA AND ASIA
Holland	167	(2)
Czechoslovakia	169	(5)
Austria	174	(2)
Invitation to the United States	176	(2)
Reception by the American People	178	(9)
England	187	(3)
Einstein Tower and the Rathenau Murder	190	(4)
France	194	(4)
China, Japan, Palestine, and Spain	198	(3)
Nobel Prize, Alleged Trip to Russia	201	(4)
IX. DEVELOPMENT OF ATOMIC PHYSICS
Einstein as a Teacher in Berlin	205	(3)
Structure of the Atom	208	(1)
Mechanics of the Atom	209	(3)
Bohr's Complementarity Principle	212	(2)
Einstein's Philosophy of Science	214	(4)
Unified Field Theory	218	(2)
X. POLITICAL TURMOIL IN GERMANY
Einstein's Fiftieth Birthday	220	(4)
Visiting Professor at Pasadena	224	(3)
Racial Purging in German Universities	227	(4)
Hostility toward Einstein	231	(8)
Last Weeks in Europe	239	(4)
Einstein's Views on Military Service	243	(5)
XI. EINSTEIN'S THEORIES AS POLITICAL WEAPONS AND TARGETS
Scientific Theories and Political Ideologies	248	(2)
Pro-Fascist Interpretation	250	(1)
Einstein's Theories Attacked as Expressions of Jewish Mentality	251	(5)
Attitude of the Soviet Philosophy toward Einstein	256	(6)
Einstein's Theories as Arguments for Religion	262	(3)
XII. EINSTEIN IN THE UNITED STATES
The Institute for Advanced Study	265	(3)
Einstein's Decision to Join the Institute	268	(2)
Einstein's Activities at the Institute	270	(6)
Refugee Scholars	276	(4)
Einstein's Attitude toward Religion	280	(9)
Beginning of the Atomic Age	289	(4)
Life in Princeton	293	(5)
Index	298