The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 13

Albert Einstein

ISBN 10: 0691156735 / ISBN 13: 9780691156736

Published by Princeton University Press, 2012

About this Item

pp. 1088 Index Documentary Edition.

Seller Inventory # 2651767648

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 13
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: German
• ISBN 10: 0691156735
• ISBN 13: 9780691156736
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

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

About the Author

At the California Institute of Technology, Diana Kormos Buchwald is professor of history; József Illy, Ze'ev Rosenkranz, and Tilman Sauer are senior researchers in history.