József Illy – författare

This volume opens in spring 1914 when Einstein takes up a research professorship at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin and closes with the collapse of the German Empire four and one-half years later. A good portion of the documentation, which comprises more than 675 letters, has only recently been discovered by the editors. The letters touch on all aspects of Einstein's activities and shed new light on his inner life, while enriching our understanding of his published papers, presented in volumes 6 and 7 of this series. The breakup of Einstein's first marriage and the divorce are presented here for the first time in all their complexity. New material shows Einstein maintaining a strong sense of moral urgency throughout the war. The scientific correspondence documents Einstein's struggle to find satisfactory field equations for his new gravitational theory--the general theory of relativity--and his continued discussion with leading physicists and mathematicians about the implications and further development of the theory.

In the spring of 1919, two British solar eclipse expeditions confirmed the correctness of general relativity theory and propelled Albert Einstein to instant celebrity. Before this major turning point, the majority of Einstein's writings published in this volume dealt with the clarification of general relativistic problems, such as the status of the metric field, the character of gravitational waves, the problem of energy-momentum conservation, and questions of cosmology, such as the nature and size of the universe and the distribution of matter within it. After his rise to international fame, Einstein's publications changed markedly. He faced an increasing demand for popular articles and lectures on relativity, its development and meaning. He also felt compelled to respond to a host of commentators, ranging from skeptical physicists to philosophers trying to reconcile his revolutionary theory with their views. For the first time, he also responded in print to outspoken anti-relativists, some of them fueled by cultural conservatism and, frequently, anti-Semitism.Einstein used his newly won fame to lend prestige to political causes, especially to the reconciliation among European nations and to Zionism. In the early years of Weimar Germany, Einstein spoke out vigorously for the young republic, emphasizing the rights of the individual. He agonized over the misery of the Central Europeans in the grip of starvation and economic collapse, praised the support of individuals and groups such as the Quakers, and championed the cause of Eastern European Jews. His rejection of assimilation, combined with a fierce defense of the right of Jews to higher education, led Einstein to campaign for the establishment of a university in Palestine, the land which he conceived of as a cultural center for all Jews.

The present volume, set in the turbulent post-World War I period, finds Einstein awaiting news of the 1919 British eclipse expedition to test the general relativistic prediction of the deflection of starlight by the sun. With the expedition's success, he becomes the first science celebrity of our age. Deeply interested in the other, stellar redshift test of his theory, Einstein supports astronomers engaged in experimental work on the issue. Piqued by early suggestions of a unified field theory, he ponders how to unify gravitation and electromagnetic field theory and also works to resolve contradictions between the new quantum physics and relativity. His open-minded exchanges with colleagues may challenge his later image as the stubborn critic of quantum mechanics. We see Einstein deeply engaged in discussing social and political issues, participating in humanitarian efforts, and intervening on behalf of intellectuals condemned to death after the fall of the Bavarian Soviet republic. He faced anti-Semitic outbursts, reflected increasingly on his own identity as a Jew and assisted in efforts toward the establishment of the Hebrew University.As an internationalist opponent of war, and a German-speaking Swiss citizen whose renown was sealed by the Englishman Eddington's confirmation of relativity, Einstein mitigated postwar hostility toward German scholars. Correspondence with family and friends documents his divorce, remarriage to his cousin, and his closeness to his two sons. Notwithstanding evidence in newly uncovered material concerning efforts to lure Einstein back to Switzerland, and also to the Netherlands, Einstein, entertaining high hopes for the young Weimar Republic, remained in Berlin. This volume reveals new facets of Einstein as he constructively participated in German and European scientific, academic, and cultural life.

Since this supplementary paperback includes only select portions of Volume 10, it is not recommended for purchase without the main volume http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/8331.html. The first half of this volume presents a substantial amount of heretofore unavailable correspondence. From among family letters closed for twenty years after the death of Margot Einstein, who donated them to the Albert Einstein Archives in Jerusalem, the volume presents, for the first time, letters written by Einstein's sons, the adolescent Hans Albert and little Eduard, and numerous letters written by Einstein to his cousin and future second wife Elsa Einstein. Combined with newly available correspondence with his close friend Heinrich Zangger, this supplementary correspondence provides vivid and intimate details of Einstein's private life.It documents the emotional bonds to his family and friends; the severe deprivations caused by the war to family members in Berlin and Zurich; the fragile health of Mileva Einstein-Maric during these years of separation and divorce; the worries and joys of caring for the sons; and Einstein's views on German and international politics during this turbulent period. The second half finds Einstein full of optimism about Germany's new democracy. He vigorously promotes general relativity and the endeavors of other scientists toward its further confirmation. He responds to the rising interest in his work among philosophers, as attested by correspondence with M. Schlick, H. Reichenbach, R. Carnap, E. Cassirer, and H. Vaihinger. And yet he is embroiled in vociferous, politically tinged, public attacks on his theory of relativity. He considers leaving Berlin, which would have deprived the Weimar Republic of its most famous scientist. In many letters, colleagues, friends, and unknown admirers offer support. Einstein travels to Leyden, where he is appointed a visiting professor and where, in the circle of friends such as P. Ehrenfest, H. A. Lorentz, and H.Kamerlingh Onnes, he is involved in lively debates on issues related to quantum physics. He visits Oslo and Copenhagen, where he meets with N. Bohr, and receives invitations to the United States, anticipating his first visit to the New World in 1921.

In this latest volume, Einstein's visible public persona is amply documented in his correspondence, honors and prizes, lectures and travels, articles, and the many solicitations asking him to join public initiatives. Einstein joins a Zionist fundraising mission led by Ch. Weizmann, and he visits the United States for the first time. Einstein travels to major cities, including New York, Boston, and Chicago, and he delivers his now famous Princeton Lectures. Scientific issues remain at the core of Einstein's preoccupations. Correspondence with N. Bohr, W. Bothe, P. Ehrenfest, H. Geiger, H. A. Lorentz, L. Meitner, and A. Sommerfeld records Einstein's interest in and contributions to the emerging modern quantum theory. He addresses conceptual problems, such as the fundamental nature of light and its emission mechanism, in a proposed experiment with canal rays. Einstein continues to engage in original research, other expert opinions, and patent applications. Throughout the year, Einstein navigates complex territory in his professional and personal life. He travels with his older son to Bologna, yet turns down repeated invitations to Munich. He mends his friendship with M.Born, but receives stinging criticism from F. Haber for traveling to the United States. He supports the nomination of Masaryk for a Nobel Peace Prize, travels to Amsterdam in order to intervene on behalf of Germany at the Paris reparations conference, and assists Russian physicists in their efforts to rebuild and develop Russian science. Einstein's letters reveal his Social Democratic political positions.

Every document in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein appears in the language in which it was written, and this supplementary paperback volume presents the English translations of all non-English materials. This translation does not include notes or annotation of the documentary volume and is not intended for use without the original language documentary edition which provides the extensive editorial commentary necessary for a full historical and scientific understanding of the documents.

In April 1922, we find Einstein lecturing in Paris, engaged in reestablishing ties among scientists in former enemy nations. Meanwhile, back in Berlin, political tensions are rising. In June, the brutal murder of his friend, Germany's foreign minister, Walther Rathenau, heavily affects Einstein who, for a while, fears for his own safety and briefly contemplates leaving Berlin and abandoning academic life altogether. When only a few months later it is announced that he will be awarded the Nobel Prize, after more than a decade of nominations, Einstein is on a steamer heading from Europe to Japan. As we learn in this volume, although he knew in advance of the coming prize, he nevertheless embarked on his longest voyage yet. His travel diary, published here for the first time, recounts in poetic prose the hectic schedule on land, the contemplative rest at sea, and his musings on science, philosophy, and art during his first encounter with the Far East, Palestine, and Spain. Einstein's work and intense scientific exchanges--with N. Bohr, P. Ehrenfest, A. Sommerfeld, M. Born, and others--during these fifteen months result in remarkable publications and intellectual developments.A paper written with Ehrenfest shows with uncompromising clarity that the outcome of the recent Stern-Gerlach experiment could not be explained by either classical or quantum theory. In a similar vein, he analyzes the phenomenon of superconductivity. Clearly among the leading quantum theorists, he focuses on its conceptual bases, tirelessly proposing crucial experiments that could decide between classical and quantum physics. We also see foundational interests develop in his concerns with a unified field theory of electromagnetism and gravitation. A translation of selected non-English texts included in Volume 13 is available in paperback at http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9874.html

A translation of selected non-English texts included in Volume 13 is available in paperback. Since this supplementary paperback includes only select portions of Volume 13, it is not recommended for purchase without the main volume. Every document in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein appears in the language in which it was written, and this supplementary paperback volume presents the English translations of select portions of non-English materials in Volume 13. This translation does not include notes or annotation of the documentary volume and is not intended for use without the original language documentary edition which provides the extensive editorial commentary necessary for a full historical and scientific understanding of the documents.

The more than one thousand letters and several dozen writings included in this volume cover the years immediately before the final formulation of new quantum mechanics. The discovery of the Compton effect in 1923 vindicates Einstein's light quantum hypothesis. Niels Bohr still criticizes Einstein's conception of light quanta and advances an alternative theory, but Walther Bothe and Hans Geiger perform a difficult experiment that decides in favor of Einstein's theory. At the same time, Satyendranath Bose sends a new quantum theoretical derivation of Planck's law to Einstein and he discovers what is now known as Bose-Einstein condensation. Einstein attempts to reformulate a unified theory of the gravitational and electromagnetic fields. In early November 1923, Einstein flees overnight to the Netherlands in the wake of threats on his life and anti-Semitic rioting in Berlin. He rejoins the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation in June 1924, and supports the idea of a European union. He joins the board of governors of Hebrew University, which opens in April 1925, and celebrates the event in Buenos Aires while on a seven-week lecture tour of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.During this period, he delivers lectures, meets with heads of state, visits major institutions, and attends receptions hosted by the local Jewish and German communities. He has a serious, but short-lived, falling out with his son Hans Albert and his first wife Mileva Maric-Einstein over how to invest part of the Nobel Prize money and he rescues his sister Maja and her husband from debt on their house. Einstein has a fourteen-month romantic relationship with his secretary, Betty Neumann, which he ends in October 1924.

This volume covers one of the most thrilling two-year periods in twentieth-century physics, as matrix mechanics—developed chiefly by W. Heisenberg, M. Born, and P. Jordan—and wave mechanics—developed by E. Schrödinger—supplanted the earlier quantum theory. The almost one hundred writings by Einstein, of which a third have never been published, and the more than thirteen hundred letters show Einstein’s immense productivity and hectic pace of life.Einstein quickly grasps the conceptual peculiarities involved in the new quantum mechanics, such as the difference between Schrödinger’s wave function and a field defined in spacetime, or the emerging statistical interpretation of both matrix and wave mechanics. Inspired by correspondence with G. Y. Rainich, he investigates with Jakob Grommer the problem of motion in general relativity, hoping for a hint at a new avenue to unified field theory.Einstein falls victim to scientific fraud when, in a collaboration with E. Rupp, he becomes convinced that the latter’s experiments, aimed at deciding whether excited atoms emit light instantaneously (in quanta) or in a finite time (in waves), confirm a wave-theoretic explanation.While it was known that the teenage Einstein had been romantically involved with Marie Winteler in 1895, newly discovered documents reveal that his love for Marie was rekindled in 1909–10 while he was still married to Mileva Marić.The 1925 Locarno Treaties renew Einstein’s optimism in European reconciliation. He backs the “International manifesto against compulsory military service” and continues his participation in the League of Nations’ International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. He remains intensely committed to the shaping of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, although his enthusiasm for this cause is sorely tested.

A translation of selected non-English texts included in Volume 15 is available in paperback. Since this supplementary paperback includes only select portions of Volume 15, it is not recommended for purchase without the main volume.Every document in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein appears in the language in which it was written, and this supplementary paperback volume presents the English translations of select portions of non-English materials in Volume 15. This translation does not include notes or annotation of the documentary volume and is not intended for use without the original language documentary edition which provides the extensive editorial commentary necessary for a full historical and scientific understanding of the documents.

Albert Einstein may be best known as the wire-haired whacky physicist who gave us the theory of relativity, but that's just one facet of this genius's contribution to human knowledge and modern science. As Jozsef Illy expertly shows in this book, Einstein had an eminently practical side as well. As a youth, Einstein was an inveterate tinkerer in the electrical supply factory his father and uncle owned and operated. His first paid job was as a patent examiner. Later in life, Einstein contributed to many inventions, including refrigerators, microphones, and instruments for aviation. In published papers, Einstein often provided ways to test his theories and fundamental problems of the scientific community of his times. He delved deeply into a variety of technological innovations, most notably the gyrocompass, and consulted for industry in patent cases and on other legal matters. Einstein also provided explanations for common and mundane phenomena, such as the meandering of rivers. In these and other hands-on examples culled from the Einstein Papers, Illy demonstrates how Einstein enjoyed leaving the abstract world of theories to wrestle with the problems of everyday life.While we may like the idea of Einstein as a genius besotted by extra dimensions and too out-of-this-world to wear socks, The Practical Einstein gives ample evidence that this characterization is both incomplete and an unfair representation of a man who sought to explore the intricacies of nature, whether in theory or in practice.

The first half of this volume presents a substantial amount of heretofore unavailable correspondence. From among family letters closed for twenty years after the death of Margot Einstein, who donated them to the Albert Einstein Archives in Jerusalem, the volume presents, for the first time, letters written by Einstein's sons, the adolescent Hans Albert and little Eduard, and numerous letters written by Einstein to his cousin and future second wife Elsa Einstein. Combined with newly available correspondence with his close friend Heinrich Zangger, this supplementary correspondence provides vivid and intimate details of Einstein's private life. It documents the emotional bonds to his family and friends; the severe deprivations caused by the war to family members in Berlin and Zurich; the fragile health of Mileva Einstein-Maric during these years of separation and divorce; the worries and joys of caring for the sons; and Einstein's views on German and international politics during this turbulent period. The second half finds Einstein full of optimism about Germany's new democracy.He vigorously promotes general relativity and the endeavors of other scientists toward its further confirmation. He responds to the rising interest in his work among philosophers, as attested by correspondence with M. Schlick, H. Reichenbach, R. Carnap, E. Cassirer, and H. Vaihinger. And yet he is embroiled in vociferous, politically tinged, public attacks on his theory of relativity. He considers leaving Berlin, which would have deprived the Weimar Republic of its most famous scientist. In many letters, colleagues, friends, and unknown admirers offer support. Einstein travels to Leyden, where he is appointed a visiting professor and where, in the circle of friends such as P. Ehrenfest, H. A. Lorentz, and H. Kamerlingh Onnes, he is involved in lively debates on issues related to quantum physics. He visits Oslo and Copenhagen, where he meets with N. Bohr, and receives invitations to the United States, anticipating his first visit to the New World in 1921. ENGLISH TRANSLATION: A translation of selected non-English texts included in Volume 10 is available in paperback, http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/8332.html.Since this supplementary paperback includes only select portions of Volume 10, it is not recommended for purchase without the main volume.