Einstein's German World - Softcover

Stern, Fritz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691074585 ISBN 13: 9780691074580

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2001

Synopsis

The French political philosopher Raymond Aron once observed that the twentieth century "could have been Germany's century." In 1900, the country was Europe's preeminent power, its material strength and strident militaristic ethos apparently balanced by a vital culture and extraordinary scientific achievement. It was poised to achieve greatness. In Einstein's German World, the eminent historian Fritz Stern explores the ambiguous promise of Germany before Hitler, as well as its horrifying decline into moral nihilism under Nazi rule, and aspects of its remarkable recovery since World War II. He does so by gracefully blending history and biography in a sequence of finely drawn studies of Germany's great scientists and of German-Jewish relations before and during Hitler's regime.

Stern's central chapter traces the complex friendship of Albert Einstein and the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Fritz Haber, contrasting their responses to German life and to their Jewish heritage. Haber, a convert to Christianity and a firm German patriot until the rise of the Nazis; Einstein, a committed internationalist and pacifist, and a proud though secular Jew. Other chapters, also based on new archival sources, consider the turbulent and interrelated careers of the physicist Max Planck, an austere and powerful figure who helped to make Berlin a happy, productive place for Einstein and other legendary scientists; of Paul Ehrlich, the founder of chemotherapy; of Walther Rathenau, the German-Jewish industrialist and statesman tragically assassinated in 1922; and of Chaim Weizmann, chemist, Zionist, and first president of Israel, whose close relations with his German colleagues is here for the first time recounted. Stern examines the still controversial way that historians have dealt with World War I and Germans have dealt with their nation's defeat, and he analyzes the conflicts over the interpretations of Germany's past that persist to this day. He also writes movingly about the psychic cost of Germany's reunification in 1990, the reconciliation between Germany and Poland, and the challenges and prospects facing Germany today.

At once historical and personal, provocative and accessible, Einstein's German World illuminates the issues that made Germany's and Europe's past and present so important in a tumultuous century of creativity and violence.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"This wide-ranging collection of essays reminds us again that Fritz Stern is a living national treasure--in both Germany and the United States. It will interest and delight anyone who wishes to think deeply about how and why Germany, with all its potential, wrecked the century that it tried to dominate, and left a legacy that haunts us still. From Einstein to Goldhagen, Fritz Stern shows us again the extraordinary depth of his historical insights, and raises our understanding to a different level."--Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

"Stern gives us penetrating character sketches of eminent Jews in pre-Nazi Germany, and he makes us feel for those whose lives ended in tragedy."--Max Perutz, Nobel Laureate in chemistry and author ofI Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier: Essays on Science, Scientists, and Humanity

"Stern, prominent historian of Germany, who knew Einstein personally, a cousin of the late Otto Stern, intimate friend of Einstein, is uniquely qualified to write of Einstein's world. His main essay on Einstein and Haber, Stern's godfather, brilliantly sketches the contrast between those who saw the Nazi threat in time and those who saw it too late. A splendid book."--Abraham Pais, Rockefeller University, author ofA Tale of Two Continents and Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and Life of Albert Einstein

"The essays are clearly from a master's hand--well-crafted, thoughtful, learned, and wise. The biographical essays display Stern's gifts as a portraitist. With a few swift and confident strokes, he captures a series of extraordinary characters at moments of personal and public crisis. The historiographical essays display the author's critical intelligence and synthetic ability."--James Sheehan, Stanford University

About the Author:

Fritz Stern, University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, is the author of many books on the history of modern Europe, including Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire, Dreams and Delusions: The Drama of German History, The Politics of Cultural Despair. His books have been widely translated. He is the 1999 winner of Germany's prestigious Peace Prize, awarded annually by the German Publishers' Association at the Frankfurt Book Fair. A recipient of many prizes and fellowships, he received an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1985. He has been a member of the Editorial and Executive Committees of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein since 1984.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0691074585
• ISBN 13: 9780691074580
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352