Ze’ev Rosenkranz – författare

A marvelously annotated and illustrated edition of Einstein’s South America travel diaryIn the spring of 1925, Albert Einstein embarked on an extensive lecture tour of Argentina before continuing on to Uruguay and Brazil. In his travel diary, the preeminent scientist and humanitarian icon recorded his immediate impressions and broader reflections on the people he encountered and the locations he visited. Some of the most confounding passages reveal his uncensored views on his host nations. This edition makes available the complete journal Einstein kept on his three-month journey.In these remarkable pages, Einstein enthuses about the stunning vistas of lush vegetation in Rio de Janeiro. His flight in the skies over Buenos Aires thrills him, and he enjoys the cozy atmosphere of Montevideo. He expresses genuine admiration for the Uruguayans, harsh condescension toward the Argentinians, and ambivalent affection for the Brazilians. The illustrious visitor seeks calm refuge on the long ocean voyages, far from the madding crowds of Europe, but the grueling lecture schedule and the adoration of the local masses exhaust him.This edition features stunning facsimiles of the diary’s pages accompanied by an English translation, an extensive historical introduction, numerous illustrations, and editorial annotations. Supplementary materials include letters, postcards, statements, and speeches as well as a chronology, a bibliography, and an index.

Was Einstein a Zionist?Albert Einstein was initially skeptical and even disdainful of the Zionist movement, yet he affiliated himself with this controversial political ideology and today is widely seen as an outspoken advocate for a modern Jewish homeland in Palestine. What enticed this renowned scientist and humanitarian, who repeatedly condemned nationalism of all forms, to radically change his views? Was he in fact a Zionist? Einstein Before Israel traces Einstein''s involvement with Zionism from his initial contacts with the movement at the end of World War I to his emigration from Germany in 1933 in the wake of Hitler''s rise to power. Drawing on a wealth of rare archival evidence—much of it never before published—this book offers the most nuanced picture yet of Einstein''s complex and sometimes stormy relationship with Jewish nationalism.Ze''ev Rosenkranz sheds new light on Einstein''s encounters with prominent Zionist leaders, and reveals exactly what Einstein did and didn''t like about Zionist beliefs, objectives, and methods. He looks at the personal, cultural, and political factors that led Einstein to support certain goals of Jewish nationalism; his role in the birth of the Hebrew University; his impressions of the emerging Jewish settlements in Palestine; and his reaction to mounting violence in the Arab-Jewish conflict. Rosenkranz explores a host of fascinating questions, such as whether Zionists sought to silence Einstein''s criticism of their movement, whether Einstein was the real manipulator, and whether this Zionist icon was indeed a committed believer in Zionism or an iconoclast beholden to no one.