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
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