Book Read Free

Einstein's Masterwork

Page 18

by John Gribbin


  waves 23–5, 71, 75

  electron, -s

  as particles 93, 98

  as waves 93, 198

  behaviour 33, 75–8, 93, 160, 185

  discovery 29

  in cathode rays 75, 82

  ‘jumping’ between energy levels in atoms 185

  energy

  and mass, relationship between 94

  dark 182–3

  h 88, 114

  quanta 84–8, 113

  thermonuclear sources of 158

  entropy 78–9, 85–6

  EPr paradox 203–4

  Epstein, Lewis 106fn equilibrium, thermodynamic 78

  ETH, see Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich

  ether, the 23–5, 71, 95–107

  Everitt, Francis 167

  Faraday, Michael 101

  first postulate, see postulates

  First World War 134, 138, 183, 185, 197

  Fitzgerald, George 96–8

  Flamm, Ludwig 160

  Flexner, Abraham 200–1

  frame dragging 167–8

  Fresnel, Augustin 69

  Freundlich, Erwin 137, 149

  Friedman, Alexander 179–81

  ‘closed’ cosmological models 179

  ‘flat’ cosmological models 179, 181

  ‘open’ cosmological models 179

  Frösch, Hans 36

  Galilei, Galileo 102

  gamma rays 163–4

  Gamow, George 178, 180

  gas, molecular 196

  Gassendi, Pierre 18

  Gauss, Carl Friedrich 140–3

  Geneva 14, 108, 120, 122, 205

  geometry, non-Euclidean 37–8, 138–40, 144–5

  geometry, spherical 140–2

  Germany, Allied blockade of 185, 188

  Gibbs, Josiah Willard 41

  Gilbert Lewis 91

  Göttingen, University of 114, 117, 141–2, 149

  gravitation, theory of 118, 148, 193

  gravity

  accelerated motion and 118, 176

  general theory of motion and 135

  gravitational blueshift 166, 167

  gravitational field 119, 139, 147–8, 162, 164, 173

  gravitational redshift 162–6, 173

  gravitational time dilation 165

  Probe A 166

  Probe B 167, 169

  Green Bank Telescope 175

  Grossmann, Marcel 15, 20–2, 26, 31, 35, 37fn, 119, 125, 139, 145, 148, 152

  gyroscopes 167–8

  Habicht, Conrad 37, 40, 42, 46, 68

  Hafele, Joseph 165

  Haller, Friedrich 31

  harmonic oscillators 77–8, 81, 86

  Harvard University 163–6

  Hawking, Stephen 189, 192

  heat

  absorbed by an object 114

  as form of energy 109

  conduction 30

  infrared 72

  Molecular Kinetic Theory of 57, 66

  molecular theory of 46, 60

  of sun and stars 63

  specific 129

  Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle 204

  Helmholtz, Hermann von 19

  Hertz, Heinrich 25

  Herzog, Albin 10

  Hilbert, David 149–54

  Hitler, Adolf 201, 206

  Hubble, Edwin 180

  Hubble’s Law 182

  Hulse, Russell 170–1

  Humason, Milton 180

  Hume, David 37

  Huygens, Christiaan 69

  hydrodynamics 53

  hydrogen 18, 49, 60, 207

  bomb 207

  inertial frame 102, 108

  inflation 181, 194

  ions, charged particles 98

  iron-57 163

  Japan, lecture tour 94fn, 117, 194

  Jaumann, Gustav 126–7

  Jeans, James 76fn

  Jefferson Tower 163

  Jewishness, Einstein’s 4–7, 39, 121, 126–8

  Keating, Richard 165

  kinetic theory 20, 51, 57–61, 67, 75, 114

  Kirchoff, Gustav Robert 72

  Kleiner, Alfred 34–5, 53, 120–1

  Koch, Robert 11

  Kollros, Louis 15–16

  Landau, Lev 157

  Langevin, Paul 196–8

  lasers 136, 162–3, 186

  Leiden, University of 97, 127–8

  Lemaître, Georges 180–1

  Lenard, Philipp 33, 82, 84, 87–9, 113

  Lense, Josef 167

  Lense-Thirring effect 167

  Levine, Martin 166

  light

  as continuous wave 80–1

  as both wave and particle 89, 92, 122–3, 130

  no different to matter 86, 186

  quanta 43, 47, 82, 85, 89, 91–2, 110, 113, 120, 186, 196–8

  rays, bending of 38, 152, 161, 189

  speed of 12, 23–4, 43, 71, 95–6, 98–100, 104–5, 108, 110, 162, 169, 171, 173

  ultraviolet 33, 72, 82, 87–9

  wave model 69, 80–1, 84–5, 88, 92–3

  Lobachevsky, Nikolai Ivanovich 140

  Lodge, Oliver 97

  Lorentz transformations 99, 107

  Lorentz, Hendrik 97–107, 111, 127–8, 130, 133

  Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction 97–8

  Loschmidt, Johann 50–3

  Luitpold Gymnasium 7

  Mach, Ernst 17, 20, 37

  magnetic field 101, 109, 139, 168

  Manhattan Project 206

  Maric, Mileva

  death 207

  divorce and separation 134, 187

  illnesses 124, 130–2, 187

  marriage to Einstein 26–7, 39–40

  pregnancies, 32–5, 42, 82, 124–6

  Maric, Mileva (continued)

  role in Einstein’s work 30–1, 43, 45, 94, 124

  scientific study 15, 22–3, 26, 28–31, 34, 45

  mass

  and energy, relationship between 94, 110, 146, 153

  of a body 110

  Massachusetts, University of 170

  matter

  causes curvature in spacetime 146

  contains particles 75, 160, 178

  dark 181–3

  gravitational influence of 178, 182

  interaction with light 84, 86, 186

  ordinary 181–3

  smooth and continuous nature of 75, 160, 178

  wave theory of 196–8

  Maxwell, James Clerk 19, 23–5, 41, 75, 78, 86, 103, 141, 199

  Maxwell’s equations 24, 71, 75, 77, 84, 86, 92–5, 100, 103–4, 109, 130, 139

  Mercury 149–55, 162, 172, 177

  perihelion of 149, 152, 162, 172

  Milky Way 159, 177, 180

  Millikan, Robert 90–2

  Minkowski, Hermann 16, 114–18, 139, 146

  molecule, -s

  behaviour 78

  forces between 34

  hydrogen 49

  idea of 19

  nitrogen 53

  oxygen 53

  reality of 60–1, 67

  size of 48–51

  speed of 20

  sugar 51–3, 61, 63

  water 18, 51–2, 61–3

  molecular gas 196

  molecular physics 193

  molecular theory of heat 46

  momentum 147, 186, 198, 204

  monochromatic radiation 85–6

  Moszkowski, Alexander 206

  Munich 3–9, 17, 29

  negative charge 98

  Nernst, Walther 114, 133

  neutron stars 157–9, 170–7

  New York Times, The 191

  Newton, Isaac 1–2, 19, 69–71, 102–3, 122, 147–8, 152, 190–1

  Opticks 70

  theory of gravity 190–1

  emission theory 122

  Nobel Prize

  awarded to de Broglie 198

  awarded to Einstein 33, 47, 91, 193–4, 197

  awarded to George Thomson 93fn

  awarded to Jean Baptiste Perrin 67

  awarded to J.J. Thomso
n 93fn

  awarded to Marie and Pierre Currie 43

  awarded to Robert Millikan 91

  awarded to Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor 170

  non-Euclidean geometries 37–8, 138–40, 144–5

  nuclear arms race 111, 207–8

  nuclear energy 206

  Olympia Academy 37, 40, 43

  Oppenheimer, Robert 158

  ‘Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit’ 158

  osmosis 62

  osmotic pressure 52–3, 61–3

  oxygen 18, 50, 53, 60

  Pais, Abraham 127

  particles

  charged 75, 98

  of light 68–93, 186, 195–8. See also light

  of matter 18–9, 41, 46, 49–51, 56–61, 64–7, 97–8, 108, 160, 178, 195–8, 203–4. See also matter

  vertical distribution of 67

  Perrin, Jean Baptiste 67–8

  photoelectric effect 81, 84, 87–9, 90–3

  photons 47, 69, 85–6, 91–2, 186, 197. See also atom and quanta

  Physical Review Letters 168

  Physics Today 94

  physics

  ‘classical’ 123, 147

  laser 186

  molecular 193

  quantum 30, 57, 68, 93, 122, 129, 135, 182, 185, 194, 204. See also quantum

  Physikalische Zeitschrift 186

  Planck, Max 30, 43, 74–81, 85–92, 107, 110–13, 120–2, 126, 186, 196–8

  Planck’s constant 77, 85, 91, 198

  Planck’s equation 76–7, 81, 85, 88, 91, 107, 186, 198

  ‘Planck’ satellite 182

  Plesch, Janos 187

  Podolsky, Boris 203

  Poincaré, Henri 37–9, 99–101, 104, 107, 111, 132, 139

  Science and Hypothesis 37

  postulates 101–6

  Pound, Robert 163

  Prague 126–33, 137

  Princeton University 3, 160, 200–5

  Prussian Academy of Sciences 133–4, 150–5

  pulsars 159, 171–6

  binary 170–2, 176, 191

  orbital period 171–4

  Pythagoras’ Theorem 6, 100

  quanta 30, 43, 80–2, 84–6, 88–9, 91–2, 110–14, 120, 130, 186, 196–8

  light 43, 47, 82, 85, 89, 91–2, 110, 113, 12–3, 186, 196–8

  quantum

  codes 205

  computing 205

  gas 195–6

  physics 30, 57, 68, 93, 122, 129, 135, 182, 185, 194, 204

  radiation 25, 30, 46, 71–5, 110

  and mass 158

  background 181

  black-body 73, 76, 79, 84, 107, 186, 195–6, 199

  cavity 73, 77, 79, 84

  electromagnetic 71, 75, 77, 80, 86, 88, 91, 199

  gravitational 169, 174–5

  monochromatic 85–6

  short-wavelength 85

  wavelength of 90, 163–4

  radio

  noise 159, 181

  waves 25, 72, 105

  radium 109

  rainbows 69, 74

  Rathenau, Walther 194

  Rayleigh, Lord 76

  Rayleigh-Jeans law 76fn

  Rebstein, Jakob 32

  redshift 162–4, 166, 171, 179–81, 186

  Relativity, General Theory of 94fn, 117, 153–6, 153, 167, 176, 183, 189

  relativity, principle of 99, 104, 108

  Relativity, Special Theory of 25, 47–8, 55, 68, 94, 99–100, 113, 173, 193

  Reviews of Modern Physics 91

  Riemann, Bernhard 140–6

  ‘On the hypotheses which lie at the foundations of geometry’ 142

  Riemannian geometry 146

  Riemannian space 146

  Roosevelt, Franklin D. 205–6

  Rosen, Nathan 160, 203

  Royal Astronomical Society 190

  Royal Society 190

  Russell, Bertrand 194

  Rutherford, Ernest 206

  satellite 167–8, 182

  Savic, Helene 40, 42

  Schenk, Heinrich 38

  Schrödinger, Erwin 198

  Schwarzschild, Karl 156–7

  Schwarzschild radius 156–7

  Schwarzschild singularities 156

  Science 96–7

  second postulate, see postulates

  Seelig, Carl 11, 40, 54, 101fn

  semi-permeable membrane 62, 79

  short-wavelength radiation 85

  Siedentopf, Henry 66

  Sitter, Willem de 178

  Slipher, Vesto 180

  solar eclipse 137–8, 152, 190

  Solar System 159, 172, 191

  Solovine, Maurice 36–7, 40, 42

  Solvay, Ernest 129

  Solvay Conference (or Congress) 129, 197

  space and time

  nature of 94, 100

  theory of 47, 191

  space, curvature of 142–7

  spacetime 116, 145–7, 155, 159–61, 167–9, 174, 177–8

  and effect on rotation of the earth 167

  and matter 169

  cosmological models of 177

  curved 146–7, 160, 189

  dents in 145

  fabric of 174

  flat 146, 177, 179, 181–2

  four-dimensional 116, 146

  stationary 178

  tunnel through 161

  specific heat, theory of 129

  spectroscopy 72, 197

  spectrum 69, 72–6, 179

  spherical geometry 140–2

  star, -s

  binary 169–70

  collapsed 158

  companion 172

  neutron 157–9, 170–7

  white dwarf 157, 170, 175

  statistical mechanics 19–20, 41, 185

  string theory 160fn

  Sun, the

  as energy source 79, 111

  circumference of 171

  Earth’s orbit of 95

  mass of 137, 157–9, 172, 174–5

  solar eclipse 137, 152, 161, 189–90

  Solar System 159, 172, 191

  spectrum 74

  temperature 63, 74

  superdense state 181

  superfluidity 196

  supermassive black holes 159. See also black holes

  suspended particles 46, 56–61, 64–7, 168

  Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich (ETH) 2, 10–16, 21–32, 81, 114, 121, 125, 131–2, 199, 205

  Swiss Patent Office 2, 31–42, 112, 117–21, 136, 206–7

  symmetry 107

  Talmey, Max 6, 17, 36

  Taylor, Joseph 170–1, 174

  tensor theory 148

  tensors 146–8, 150

  thermodynamic equilibrium 78

  thermodynamics 19, 28, 41, 63, 71, 75, 78–9, 111, 114, 196

  second law of 63

  thermonuclear sources of energy 158

  Thirring, Hans 167

  Thomson, George 93, 198fn

  Thomson, J.J. 75, 92, 93fn

  time machine 161

  time stretches 116, 160

  Times, The 190

  ultraviolet light 33, 72, 82, 87–9

  uncertainty principle 204

  unified theory 199

  Universe

  age of 183

  curved 144

  description of 177–8, 181

  expanding 179–82, 186

  irregularities of 63

  nature of 100, 161, 177

  Utrecht, University of 131–2

  vectors 146

  velocity 88, 95, 102–6, 110, 135, 145

  constant 102–6, 135

  Vessot, Robert 166

  Vienna 14, 126

  Volkoff, George 158

  wave model, see light

  wave theory 122, 196–8

  wavelengths of electrons 198

  wavelengths of radiation 85, 90, 163–4

  wave-particle duality of light 89, 92, 122–3, 130

  waves, electromagnetic 23, 25, 71, 76

  Weber, Wilhelm 141

  Wheeler, John 159

  white dwa
rf 157, 170, 175. See also star

  Wien, Wilhelm 76, 85–6

  Winteler, Jost 11–12

  Winteler, Marie 21, 38

  Winteler, Paul 12, 36, 205

  wormhole 160–1

  X-ray telescopes 159

  Young, Thomas 69–71, 81, 84, 93

  Zangger, Heinrich 133

  Zeitschrift für Physik 195

  Zurich, University of 28, 34, 47–8, 53–4

 

 

 


‹ Prev