End of Year Updates
EPP Scientific Editor, Tilman Sauer and Tobias Schütz, doctoral candidate at the University of Mainz, and 2019 Visiting Research Student at the EPP, published Einstein's Washington Manuscript on Unified Field Theory in the Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte journal. The abstract is as follows: "In this note, we point attention to and briefly discuss a curious manuscript of Einstein, composed in 1938 and entitled "Unified Field Theory," the only such writing, published or unpublished, carrying this title without any further specification. Apparently never intended for publication, the manuscript sheds light both on Einstein′s modus operandi as well as on the public role of Einstein′s later work on a unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism."
Colleagues at the L'Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) and ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) recently launched a beautiful digital archive of Paul Langevin's papers. Of the 9,108 digitized items, the bulk of the physical holdings are in the ESPCI archive. We appreciate the time, energy and resources needed to achieve a launch of this caliber. Congratulations!
For Your Reading List
In 1915, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the movement of large masses—as part of the theory of general relativity. A century later, researchers with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed Einstein's prediction, detecting gravitational waves generated by the collision of two black holes. Shedding new light on the hundred-year history of this momentous achievement, Einstein Was Right brings together essays by two of the physicists who won the Nobel Prize for their instrumental roles in the discovery, along with contributions by leading scholars who offer unparalleled insights into one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of our time. Contributing authors include: Diana K. Buchwald, EPP General Editor and Director, Daniel Kennefick and Tilman Sauer, EPP Scientific Editors, Kip S. Thorne, EPP Executive Committee member and Jürgen Renn, former EPP Editor. Click to read more on Princeton University Press' website.
Thinking About Space and Time offers an integrated understanding of how the theory of general relativity gained momentum after Einstein had formulated it in 1915. Chapters focus on the early reception of the theory in physics and philosophy and on the systematic questions that emerged shortly after Einstein's momentous discovery. They are written by physicists, historians of science, and philosophers, and were originally presented at the conference titled Thinking About Space and Time: 100 Years of Applying and Interpreting General Relativity, held at the University of Bern from September 12-14, 2017. By establishing the historical context first, and then moving into more philosophical chapters, this volume will provide readers with a more complete understanding of early applications of general relativity (e.g., to cosmology) and of related philosophical issues. Because the chapters are often cross-disciplinary, they cover a wide variety of topics related to the general theory of relativity. Tilman Sauer, EPP Scientific Editor, is one of the book's editors and a contributing author. Click to read more on Springer's website.
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was one of the greatest physicists and mathematicians the Netherlands has ever known. Einstein called him "a living work of art, a perfect personality". During his funeral in 1928, the entire Dutch nation mourned. The national telegraph service was suspended for three minutes and his passing was national and international front-page news. The cream of international science, an impressive list of dignitaries, including the Prince Consort, and thousands of ordinary people turned out to see Lorentz being carried to his last resting place.
This biography describes the life of Lorentz, from his early childhood, as the son of a market gardener in the provincial town of Arnhem, to his death, as a towering figure in physics and in international scientific cooperation and as a trailblazer for Einstein's relativity theory. A number of chapters shed light on his unique place in science, the importance of his ideas, his international conciliatory and scientific activities after World War One, his close friendship with Albert Einstein, and his important role as Einstein's teacher and intellectual critic. By making use of recently discovered family correspondence, the authors were able to show that there lies a true human being behind Lorentz's façade of perfection. One chapter is devoted to Lorentz's wife Aletta, a woman in her own right, whose progressive feminist ideas were of considerable influence on those of her husband. Two separate chapters focus on his most important scientific achievements, in terms accessible to a general audience. Authors are A. J. Kox, EPP Senior Editor and H. F. Schatz, EPP translator. Click to read more on Oxford University Press' website.