Einstein's Greatest Mistake
Page 26
F
falling from a roof thought experiment, 51–52
fame after validation of general relativity, 107–8, 111, 112
Faraday, Michael, 13
fire
and conservation of matter, 4–5
interlinked nature of energy and mass, 29–30
Flatland (Abbott), 43–48, 45, 46, 51–52
Flexner, Abraham, 223–24
floating in closed room thought experiment, 59–61, 60
Frank, Philipp, 185–86
Freundlich, Erwin, 89–92, 97–98, 133
Friedmann, Alexander
attempts to meet with Einstein, 132–33
correspondence with Einstein, 128, 129–30
death of, 158
early 1920s, 129
publication of research in Zeitschrift für Physik, 127–28, 130, 134
and pulsations of the universe implied by G = T, 127, 146
Russian air force service, 125–26
Fry, Ruth, 96
G
Gamow, George, 259 nxiii
Gauss, Carl Friedrich, 67, 68, 76
general relativity
and evolution of theoretical physics, 165–67
collaboration with Grossmann, 61–62, 63, 67–70
curvature of space research, 73–78, 74, 76
Einstein on difficulty of researching, 70
falling from a roof thought experiment, 51–52
and Flatland novel, 51–52
floating in closed room thought experiment, 59–61, 60
Friedmann’s research, 126–34
implications of, 109–11
lambda term addition, 115–20, 129–30, 133–34, 143–47, 165–67
lambda term and dark energy, 234–35
lambda term deletion, 150–58, 198–99
media reaction to validation of, 107–9
metrics of, 243–50
modern form of “G = T” equation, 243–44, 249
popular understanding of, 111
reaction of colleagues to, 83–84, 105, 106–7
and refutation of light-filled box thought experiment, 202–3
testing of, 84–92, 87, 89
“there came to me the happiest thought of my life,” 51
geometry
cartography and curved space geometry, 64, 65, 68
in nineteenth century fiction, 48–49
non-Euclidian, 49, 67
German Jews, 5–6
German University in Prague, 58–62
God
Einstein’s views on, 14, 28, 33, 177
“God does not play dice with the universe,” 207, 218
“I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice,” 206
Newton’s views on, 28–29
and reactions to general relativity validation, 108
Goebbels, Joseph, 214–15
golfer thinking style, 61, 68
Göttingen University, 177
GPS systems, 252
gravitational lenses, 221, 233–34
gravity
Newton’s theory of gravitation, 26, 84, 93, 178
See also general relativity
Great Fire of London, 4–5
Greek classes in high school, 7
Grossmann, Marcel
collaborative research on general relativity theory, 61–62, 63, 67–70
curvature of space mathematics, 64–68, 65, 66, 221
with Einstein (early 1910s), 11
at ETH (Zurich Polytechnic), 10–11, 11, 13, 16, 62–63
secures interview at Patent Office for Einstein, 18
“G = T,” used as a metaphor, 77–78
H
Haller, Friedrich
and Einstein performing own research at Patent Office, 23–24, 37, 51, 53, 201
and Einstein’s departure from the Patent Office, 55
offers Patent Office job to Einstein, 20
Hamburg Observatory, 89
Handel, George Frideric, 204
Heisenberg, Werner
in 1926, 179
Einstein’s rejection of Heisenberg’s work, 181–82, 184–86, 191–92, 194–203
Ph.D. oral exams, 187–89
quantum mechanics research, 178–81
Schrödinger’s rejection of Heisenberg’s work, 186–87
uncertainty principle, 189–90, 191–93
World War II years, 212–14
Heligoland, 180
Hevesy, George de, 174, 213
higher-dimensional universes, Flatland (Abbott), 44–48, 45, 46
Hindu mythology and pulsations of the universe, 127
Hiroshima, 32, 212
Hitler, Adolf, 128, 214
Hooker, John D., 148
Hubble, Edwin Powell
discovers proof of expanding universe, 148–54, 159–60, 198
meeting with Einstein (1931), 154–57
military service, 147–48
at Mount Wilson observatory, 149
human computers, 136–37
Humason, Milton, 150–51, 151, 152, 161, 165, 198
Hurwitz, Adolf, 17
I
Institute for Advanced Study, xi, 215, 218, 223
isolation
Einstein’s feelings of, 22
Princeton years, x, xi–xiv, 210, 216–26
J
Jewish communities in Germany, 5–6
Johnson, Jack, 147
Juilliard String Quartet, 228
Jung, Carl, 56
K
Kafka, Franz, 58
Kant, Immanuel, 116
King Kong thought experiment (curvature of space-time), 238–41
Krupp family, 90
L
laser (Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation), 175–76, 180
Laue, Max von, 34, 36–37, 38
Lavoisier, Antoine, 25
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan, 137–42, 138, 149–50, 151
Lemaître, Father Georges
with Einstein c. 1930, 144
with Einstein in Brussels (1933), 158–59
expanding universe research, 143–47, 152–53
origins of the universe theory (1931), 164–65
light
bending of, 85
light-filled box thought experiment, 200–203
photon research, 175
speed of, 31, 32
See also E = mc2
Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation (laser), 175–76, 180
Lorentz, Hendrik, 73, 84
Lowenthal, Elsa
affair with Einstein, 70–71
death of, xii, 227
departure from Berlin, 215
marriage to Einstein, 82, 113, 114–15, 154, 155, 162–64
Princeton years, 216, 217
Lowenthal Einstein, Margot, 228, 230
M
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 199
Magellan, Ferdinand, 135–36
Magellanic Clouds research, 136, 137–42
Manhattan Project, 212
Marconi, Guglielmo, 14, 25
Marić, Mileva
daughter Lieserl, 19, 26
death of, 227–28
Einstein’s letters to, 12, 17, 19, 21, 162
estrangement and divorce from Einstein, 53–54, 70–72, 112–13
failure to obtain academic post, 24, 26
marriage to Einstein, 16, 17–19, 20–22, 42, 55, 56–58, 62
and Pauline Einstein, 17–18, 21, 260 n21
in Prague, 58, 61, 62
at Zurich Polytechnic, 11, 12–13, 12
mass and energy
dark energy and dark matter, 234–35
interlinked nature of, 28, 29–31, 32–33
Victorian-era scientific understanding of, 3–5, 25, 27–28, 35, 260–61 n25
mathematics for describing curvature of space-time, 64–68, 65, 66, 221, 246–50
Maxwell, James Clerk, 8, 13
Mercury’s orbit and testing
of general relativity, 84, 93
Minkowski, Hermann, 238–40, 242, 243
Moseley, Henry, 94
Mount Wilson observatory, 147, 148, 149, 150–51, 154–57
Mozart, Einstein’s love of, 204–5
Mozart’s String Quintet in G Minor, 228–29
Munich, anti-Semitism in, 6–7
N
Nagasaki, 212
nationalism as mental epidemic, 72
Nazi Germany, 212–15
Newton, Isaac
and causality of observable processes, 180–81
creative genius of, 26
religious assumptions of, 28–29
and the Royal Society, 104, 105
theory of gravitation, 26, 84, 93, 178
understanding of own work, 52
Newton-John, Olivia, 214
Nirvana, 267 n187
Nobel Prize
awarded to Bohr, 173–74
awarded to Einstein, 112, 129, 162
awarded to Rutherford, 106
awarded to Schrödinger, 197
awarded to the Curies, 54
awarded to Thompson, 105
hidden during World War II, 213
O
Oberlin College, 137
“observational democracy,” 86–87
Ostwald, Wilhelm, 17
P
Patent Office
Besso takes job at, 21
“Department of Theoretical Physics” at, 24, 53
Einstein performs own research at, 23–24, 37, 51, 53, 201
Einstein secures job at, 19–20
Grossman secures interview for Einstein at, 18
Pauli, Wolfgang, 189, 196, 200, 225
Pavia, Italy, 7, 14
perception of errors and feeling fatigue, 146–47, 265 n147
Perlmutter, Saul, 234–35, 269 n234
photon research, 175
Piccard, Auguste, 145, 146
Pickering, Edward, 137–38, 139, 141–42
Pigafetta, Antonio, 135–36
Planck, Max, 25, 34, 62
Poincaré, Henri, 73
post-university job search, 16–18
Prague, 58–62
Princeton years, x, xi–xiv, 210, 216–26
Q
Quaker community, 94–95, 96
quantum entanglement concept, 221–22, 223, 233
quantum mechanics
Einstein’s continuing rejection of, 206–7, 217–18, 221–22, 232–33
Einstein’s rejection of Heisenberg’s work, 181–82, 184–86, 191–92, 194–203
Heisenberg’s research, 178–81
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, 189–90, 191–93, 232–33
light-filled box thought experiment, 200–203
quantum jumps, 25, 175
quantum tunneling, 218–19
R
Radcliffe College, 137
radium, 25, 31–32
Rainer, Luise, 114, 114
randomness, 176–77
Rathenau, Walter, 128
redshifts, 156, 159
Reichstag, 214
relativity
and curvature of space-time, 238–41, 250–53
layman’s guide to, 238–53
unified field theory, 38–39, 219–21, 229
See also general relativity; special relativity
religion
science as replacement for, 28–29
and Victorian-era science, 4
research and teaching
“Department of Theoretical Physics” at Patent Office, 24, 53
ETH (Zurich Polytechnic), 54–55, 56–58, 62–63, 69–70
German University in Prague, 58–62
post-university tutoring jobs, 17, 20, 24
pressure to publish preliminary findings, 24
Princeton years, x, xi–xiv, 210, 216–26
University of Bern, 37–38, 54–55
Riemann, Bernhard, 68
Röntgen, Wilhelm, 14, 181
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 212
Royal Astronomical Society, 103–4
Royal Society, 103–4, 106
Rutherford, Ernest, 62, 106, 111, 172–73, 174
S
schizophrenia, 227–28
Schrödinger, Erwin
in the 1940s, 187
correspondence with Einstein, 222
in Dublin, 224–25
and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, 197
on Nirvana, 267 n187
quantum mechanics research, 186–87, 189
Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment, 223
science
as replacement for religion, 28–29
Victorian-era understanding of mass and energy, 3–5, 25, 27–28, 35, 260–61 n25
Shapley, Harlow, 149–50, 153, 156
skating on curved surface thought experiment, 65–66, 67, 75
social satire, Flatland novel, 43–48, 45, 46, 51–52
Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, 137
solar eclipses and testing of general relativity, 88–92, 93–105
Solovine, Maurice, 24–26
Sommerfeld, Arnold, 36, 69, 70, 177, 187–89
space, curvature of
ball on trampoline thought experiment, 73–78, 74, 76, 77–78, 85
cartography and curved space geometry, 64, 65, 68
initial thoughts on unified theory, 39
mathematics of, 22, 64–68, 65, 66
skating on curved surface thought experiment, 65–66, 67, 75
See also general relativity
space-time
events and curvature of space-time, 239–42
intervals between events, 242–43
special relativity
abstract approach to, 35
E = mc2, 31, 32–33, 35, 38, 198, 205, 220, 268 n198
initial reception by scientific community, 35–38, 83–84
interlinked nature of mass and energy, 28, 29–31, 32–33, 38
invisible tunnel thought experiment, 30–31
and Patent Office job, 23–24, 26, 33–39
the sphere and Sphereland, Flatland novel, 45–48, 46
Square, A., Flatland novel, 43–48, 45
Steklov, Vladimir, 125–26
subatomic particles research
Einstein, 175–77
Ernest Rutherford, 172–73, 174
Niels Bohr, 173–75, 177, 267 n177
Swiss Polytechnic University, 7–11
T
tennis player thinking style, 61, 69
thermodynamics, 25
Thomson, J. J., 13, 105
thought experiments
ball on trampoline (curvature of space), 73–78, 74, 76
closed room (curvature of light), 85–88, 87
falling from a roof (general relativity), 51–52
floating in closed room (general relativity), 59–61, 60
invisible tunnel (special relativity), 30–31
King Kong (curvature of space-time), 238–41
light-filled box (quantum mechanics), 200–203
Schrödinger’s Cat, 223
skating on curved surface (curvature of space), 65–66, 67, 75
time
altered concepts of, 109–11
curvature of, 238–41, 250–53
time travel, 110
Tinnef (boat), 217
Tümmler (sailboat), 114–15, 124
tutoring jobs, 17, 20, 24
U
unified field theory, 38–39, 219–21, 229
universe
higher-dimensional universes in Flatland (Abbott), 44–48, 45, 46
Hindu mythology and, 127
Lemaître’s origins of the universe theory (1931), 164–65
pulsations of and general relativity, 127, 146
See also expanding universe
University of Bern, 37–38, 54–55
University of Chicago, 148, 163
University of Copenhagen, 173, 194, 211, 213
V
Veblen, Thorstein, 27
Victorian-era science, 3–5, 25, 27–28, 35, 260–61 n25