Hubert Goenner - Böcker

The past decade has seen a considerable surge of interest in historical and philo­ sophical studies of gravitation and relativity, due not only to the tremendous amount of world-wide research in general relativity and its theoretical and observational consequences, but also to an increasing awareness that a collaboration between working scientists, historians and philosophers of science is, in this field, partic­ ularly promising for all participants. The expanding activity in this field is well documented by recent volumes in this Einstein Studies series on the History of General Relativity as well as by a series of international conferences on this topic at Osgood Hill (1986), Luminy (1988), and Pittsburgh (1991). The fourth of these conferences, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, was held in Berlin from 31 July to 3 August 1995, with a record attendance of some 80 historians and philosophers of science, physicists, mathematicians, and as­ tronomers. Based on presentations at the Berlin conference, this volume provides an overview of the present state of research in this field, documenting not only the increasing scope of recent investigations in the history of relativity and gravitation but also the emergence of several key issues that will probably remain at the focus of debate in the near future. RELATIVITY IN THE MAKING The papers of this section deal with the origins and genesis of relativity theory.

The past decade has seen a considerable surge of interest in historical and philo­ sophical studies of gravitation and relativity, due not only to the tremendous amount of world-wide research in general relativity and its theoretical and observational consequences, but also to an increasing awareness that a collaboration between working scientists, historians and philosophers of science is, in this field, partic­ ularly promising for all participants. The expanding activity in this field is well documented by recent volumes in this Einstein Studies series on the History of General Relativity as well as by a series of international conferences on this topic at Osgood Hill (1986), Luminy (1988), and Pittsburgh (1991). The fourth of these conferences, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, was held in Berlin from 31 July to 3 August 1995, with a record attendance of some 80 historians and philosophers of science, physicists, mathematicians, and as­ tronomers. Based on presentations at the Berlin conference, this volume provides an overview of the present state of research in this field, documenting not only the increasing scope of recent investigations in the history of relativity and gravitation but also the emergence of several key issues that will probably remain at the focus of debate in the near future. RELATIVITY IN THE MAKING The papers of this section deal with the origins and genesis of relativity theory.

This book explores Albert Einstein’s move to Berlin and the establishment of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics under his directorship. Einstein’s call to Berlin was supported by a group of prominent physicists, including Fritz Haber, Walter Nernst, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Emil Warburg, and the young astronomer Erwin Freundlich, in the expectation that Einstein and the institute would take the lead in advancing quantum physics in its early phase. Examining both the abortive attempt and the successful opening of the institute in 1917, it also discusses in detail the institute’s activities up to 1922, when Einstein relinquished the directorship, as well as his reasons for stepping down. The final chapter evaluates the institute’s activities and its role in the advancement of physics. In the end, the institute only partially fulfilled the expectations of its promoters because of the waning interest in quantum physics on the part of its director and board, and also because of Einstein’s refusal to exert scientific leadership. The book is part of a series of publications in the SpringerBriefs series on the early network of quantum physics. The other books in the four-volume collection address the beginnings of quantum physics research at Göttingen, Copenhagen, and Munich. These works emerged from an expansive study on the quantum revolution as a major transformation of physical knowledge undertaken by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Fritz Haber Institute (2006–2012).For more on this project, see the dedicated Feature Story, The Networks of Early Quantum Theory, at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/feature-story/networks-early-quantum-theory