Download or read book Cultural Studies on Einstein s Relativity written by Ernst Gehrcke and published by GogLiB. This book was released on 2022-05-21 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why study Einstein’s relativity from a cultural point of view—the theory as well as the universal consensus it receives? On the one hand, every human phenomenon can be looked at from this point of view, but here we are faced with something special: the American magazine Time, which every December dedicates a cover to the “person of the year”, on the latest issue in 1999 named the “person of the century”, and who was this person, if not Einstein? From 1919 in a sensational way, but the signs of the phenomenon began to be observed already around 1910, the author of a theory that is almost impossible to make understandable to those who are not specialists enjoys generalized consensus among specialists and a popularity by the public of the whole world which has remained unchanged until the present. No one expressed this better than Chaplin, once he was acclaimed in public in the company of Einstein: “They cheer me because they all understand me, and they cheer you because no one understands you.” The little-known contemporary Gehrcke, if we have the patience to follow him, could lead the way to understand something of this. Ernst Gehrcke (1878-1960) was an academic physicist, a good connoisseur of Kant’s philosophy, a technologist of electromagnetism, inventor of instruments for measuring interference, an editor of monumental manuals on optics and radiology, an expert in palaeontology and prehistory (some photographs available on the Internet show him intent on ordering geological samples and lithic finds), and in addition to all this he was the first to think that it was necessary to study relativity from a cultural point of view. In this book we will read his attempts in this direction, which began in 1912, when general relativity did not yet exist, but special relativity had already inflamed with enthusiasm some students and physicists of the new generation, in Germany and beyond.
Download or read book Albert Einstein Historical and Cultural Perspectives written by Gerald Holton and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on papers presented at the Jerusalem Einstein Centennial Symposium in March 1979, this volume sets forth an articulated sequence of chapters on the impact of Einstein's work, not only in science but in humanistic studies and problems such as international security in the nuclear age. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Einstein for the 21st Century written by Peter L. Galison and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than fifty years after his death, Albert Einstein's vital engagement with the world continues to inspire others, spurring conversations, projects, and research, in the sciences as well as the humanities. Einstein for the 21st Century shows us why he remains a figure of fascination. In this wide-ranging collection, eminent artists, historians, scientists, and social scientists describe Einstein's influence on their work, and consider his relevance for the future. Scientists discuss how Einstein's vision continues to motivate them, whether in their quest for a fundamental description of nature or in their investigations in chaos theory; art scholars and artists explore his ties to modern aesthetics; a music historian probes Einstein's musical tastes and relates them to his outlook in science; historians explore the interconnections between Einstein's politics, physics, and philosophy; and other contributors examine his impact on the innovations of our time. Uniquely cross-disciplinary, Einstein for the 21st Century serves as a testament to his legacy and speaks to everyone with an interest in his work. The contributors are Leon Botstein, Lorraine Daston, E. L. Doctorow, Yehuda Elkana, Yaron Ezrahi, Michael L. Friedman, Jürg Fröhlich, Peter L. Galison, David Gross, Hanoch Gutfreund, Linda D. Henderson, Dudley Herschbach, Gerald Holton, Caroline Jones, Susan Neiman, Lisa Randall, Jürgen Renn, Matthew Ritchie, Silvan S. Schweber, and A. Douglas Stone.
Download or read book Albert Einstein Historical and Cultural Perspectives written by Gerald James Holton and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Physicist and the Philosopher written by Jimena Canales and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The explosive debate that transformed our views about time and scientific truth On April 6, 1922, in Paris, Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson publicly debated the nature of time. Einstein considered Bergson's theory of time to be a soft, psychological notion, irreconcilable with the quantitative realities of physics. Bergson, who gained fame as a philosopher by arguing that time should not be understood exclusively through the lens of science, criticized Einstein's theory of time for being a metaphysics grafted on to science, one that ignored the intuitive aspects of time. The Physicist and the Philosopher tells the remarkable story of how this explosive debate transformed our understanding of time and drove a rift between science and the humanities that persists today. Jimena Canales introduces readers to the revolutionary ideas of Einstein and Bergson, describes how they dramatically collided in Paris, and traces how this clash of worldviews reverberated across the twentieth century. She shows how it provoked responses from figures such as Bertrand Russell and Martin Heidegger, and carried repercussions for American pragmatism, logical positivism, phenomenology, and quantum mechanics. Canales explains how the new technologies of the period—such as wristwatches, radio, and film—helped to shape people’s conceptions of time and further polarized the public debate. She also discusses how Bergson and Einstein, toward the end of their lives, each reflected on his rival’s legacy—Bergson during the Nazi occupation of Paris and Einstein in the context of the first hydrogen bomb explosion. The Physicist and the Philosopher is a magisterial and revealing account that shows how scientific truth was placed on trial in a divided century marked by a new sense of time.
Download or read book Albert Einstein written by Jeremy Bernstein and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1996-08-29 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albert Einstein did not impress his first teachers. They found him a dreamy child without an especially promising future. But some time in his early years he developed what he called "wonder" about the world. Later in life, he remembered two instances from his childhood--his fascination at age five with a compass and his introduction to the lucidity and certainty of geometry--that may have been the first signs of what was to come. From these ordinary beginnings, Einstein became one of the greatest scientific thinkers of all time. This illuminating biography describes in understandable language the experiments and revolutionary theories that flowed from Einstein's imagination and intellect--from his theory of relativity, which changed our conception of the universe and our place in it, to his search for a unified field theory that would explain all of the forces in the universe.
Download or read book Einstein s Jury written by Jeffrey Crelinsten and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Einstein's Jury is the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research, Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today. The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong. A tale of international competition and intrigue, Einstein's Jury brims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.
Download or read book China and Albert Einstein written by Danian Hu and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2005-04-25 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first extensive study in English or Chinese of China’s reception of the celebrated physicist and his theory of relativity. In a series of biographical studies of Chinese physicists, Hu describes the Chinese assimilation of relativity and explains how Chinese physicists offered arguments and theories of their own.
Download or read book E Einstein written by Donald Goldsmith and published by Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. This book was released on 2008-08 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the history of physics, there has been no greater visionary than Albert Einstein. Through his revolutionary Theory of Relativity, he changed the way we look at the universe. But there is more to Einstein than just E=mc[superscript 2]. "In addition to contributing to many branches of physical science," relates Gerald Holton, "he also published widely on social and philosophical issues. He challenged current philosophies, both of science and of the state. He waged a constant fight for individual liberty and dignity against persecution and war." Einstein's ideas and views continue to play a role in contemporary science and in the popular imagination. Now two distinguished editors have compiled an enlightening collection of important and penetrating essays that shed light on many fascinating aspects of this great man. The esteemed contributors cover both important milestones and lesser known facts to present a thoughtful portrait. Historical black-and-white photographs and color illustrations complete this engaging anthology. Book jacket.
Download or read book Victorian Relativity written by Christopher Herbert and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-11-15 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the articles of faith of twentieth-century intellectual history is that the theory of relativity in physics sprang in its essentials from the unaided genius of Albert Einstein; another is that scientific relativity is unconnected to ethical, cultural, or epistemological relativisms. Victorian Relativity challenges these assumptions, unearthing a forgotten tradition of avant-garde speculation that took as its guiding principle "the negation of the absolute" and set itself under the militant banner of "relativity." Christopher Herbert shows that the idea of relativity produced revolutionary changes in one field after another in the nineteenth century. Surveying a long line of thinkers including Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, Alexander Bain, W. K. Clifford, W. S. Jevons, Karl Pearson, James Frazer, and Einstein himself, Victorian Relativity argues that the early relativity movement was bound closely to motives of political and cultural reform and, in particular, to radical critiques of the ideology of authoritarianism. Recuperating relativity from those who treat it as synonymous with nihilism, Herbert portrays it as the basis of some of our crucial intellectual and ethical traditions.
Download or read book Einstein s Wake written by Michael H. Whitworth and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-12-13 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The revolution in literary form and aesthetic consciousness called modernism arose as the physical sciences were revising their most fundamental concepts: space, time, matter, and the concept of 'science' itself. The coincidence has often been remarked upon in general terms, but rarely considered in detail. Einstein's Wake argues that the interaction of modernism and the 'new physics' is best understood by reference to the metaphors which structured these developments. These metaphors, widely disseminated in the popular science writing of the period, provided a language with which modernist writers could articulate their responses to the experience of modernity. Beginning with influential aspects of nineteenth-century physics, Einstein's Wake qualifies the notion that Einstein alone was responsible for literary 'relativity'; it goes on to examine the fine detail of his legacy in literary appropriations of scientific metaphors, with particular attention to Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Wyndham Lewis, and T. S. Eliot.
Download or read book China and Albert Einstein written by Danian HU and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first extensive study in English or Chinese of China's reception of the celebrated physicist and his theory of relativity. In a series of biographical studies of Chinese physicists, Hu describes the Chinese assimilation of relativity and explains how Chinese physicists offered arguments and theories of their own. Hu's account concludes with the troubling story of the fate of foreign ideas such as Einstein's in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when the theory of relativity was denigrated along with Einstein's ideas on democracy and world peace.
Download or read book The Roots of Special Relativity written by Peter Galison and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern science has changed every aspect of life in ways that cannot be compared to developments of previous eras. This four-volume set presents key developments within modern physical science and the effects of these discoveries on modern global life. The first two volumes explore the history of the concept of relativity, the cultural roots of science, the concept of time and gravity before, during, and after Einstein's theory, and the cultural reception of relativity. Volume 3 explores the impact of modern science upon global politics and the creation of a new kind of war, and Volume 4 details the old and new efforts surrounding the elucidation of the quantum world, as well as the cultural impact of particle physics. This reprint collection pools the best scholarship available, collected from a large array of difficult to acquire books, journals, and pamphlets. Each volume begins with an introductory essay, written by one of the top scholars in the history of science. Students and scholars of modern culture, science, and society will find these volumes a veritable research gold mine.
Download or read book Magnetism A Very Short Introduction written by Stephen J. Blundell and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-06-28 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magnetism is a strange force, mysteriously attracting one object to another apparently through empty space. It has been claimed as a great healer, with magnetic therapies being proposed over the centuries and still popular today. Why are its mysterious important to solve? In this Very Short Introduction, Stephen J. Blundell explains why. For centuries magnetism has been used for various exploits; through compasses it gave us navigation and through motors, generators, and turbines it has given us power. Blundell explores our understanding of electricity and magnetism, from the work of Galvani, Ampere, Faraday, and Tesla, and goes on to explore how Maxwell and Faraday's work led to the unification of electricity and magnetism, thought of as one of the most imaginative developments in theoretical physics. With a discussion of the relationship between magnetism and relativity, quantum magnetism, and its impact on computers and information storage, Blundell shows how magnetism has changed our fundamental understanding of the Universe. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book Special General Relativity Concise Edition written by Albert Einstein and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-04-09 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Einstein's pioneering work helped shape the cultural landscape of the world today. Now in a digestible, pocket format for the modern reader. A new, popular edition with a clear introduction, Special & General Relativity by Albert Einstein contains his core paper, 'Relativity, The Special & The General Theory: A Popular Exposition', which established his reputation as one of the greatest thinkers of our (and perhaps any) age. Also included are two of the Princeton University lectures he gave to explain his findings in more detail, on 'The Meaning of Relativity', as well as the early paper which led to his famous equation E = mc2. The FLAME TREE Foundations series features core publications which together have shaped the cultural landscape of the modern world, with cutting-edge research distilled into pocket guides designed to be both accessible and informative.
Download or read book Einstein and Culture written by Gerhard Sonnert and published by German Studies. This book was released on 2005 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Popular images of Albert Einstein often depict him as either an almost superhuman solitary genius or as a counter-cultural rebel. In this unique perspective on Einstein the man, sociologist of science Gerhard Sonnert argues that both popular images are simplistic and misleading because they fail to account for the impact of culture. In this scholarly yet accessible book, Sonnert examines major features of German Kultur, showing how powerful cultural influences helped to shape Einstein's life and science. Starting with a review of the evidence supporting Einstein's rebel image, Sonnert confronts it with counter-evidence that suggests his traditionalist side. The apparent contradiction is resolved through an extensive study of the cultural landscape of nineteenth-century Germany. Sonnert takes a close look at the German concept of Kultur, laying special emphasis on the related ideas of Weltanschauung and Weltbild, two German terms representing particular types of worldviews."Einstein and Culture" demonstrates how strongly Einstein's physical research program was driven by a pivotal cultural goal: the quest for the synthesis of a scientific worldview (Weltbild).His was the rebellion of the idealistic radical in the name of Kultur against its perceived failings and shortcomings. Sonnert also shows that Einstein's quest was deeply motivated by a broadly defined religious impulse. Here again, the physicist reveals himself to be a true creature of Kultur, epitomising the German scientist-priest. In conclusion, Sonnert argues that the mass exodus during the Nazi regime of German scientists and intellectuals, including Einstein, marked a demise of Kultur. However, this cataclysm also resulted in a fertile synthesis between the German Kultur-inspired science and the quite different American scientific tradition. This is a fascinating, insightful, and original study of a neglected aspect of Einstein's life and work." -- from cover.
Download or read book How Einstein Created Relativity out of Physics and Astronomy written by David Topper and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tracks the history of the theory of relativity through Einstein’s life, with in-depth studies of its background as built upon by ideas from earlier scientists. The focus points of Einstein’s theory of relativity include its development throughout his life; the origins of his ideas and his indebtedness to the earlier works of Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Mach and others; the application of the theory to the birth of modern cosmology; and his quest for a unified field theory. Treading a fine line between the popular and technical (but not shying away from the occasional equation), this book explains the entire range of relativity and weaves an up-to-date biography of Einstein throughout. The result is an explanation of the world of relativity, based on an extensive journey into earlier physics and a simultaneous voyage into the mind of Einstein, written for the curious and intelligent reader.
