Walter Isaacson - Einstein: His Life and Universe

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Pro and Con

HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE

WALTER ISAACSON

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Copyright 2007 by Walter Isaacson
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Endpapers: Alan Richards, Princeton University Library

Frontispiece: Ullstein Bilderdienst/The Granger Collection, New York

Illustration credits are on page 679.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Isaacson, Walter.
Einstein : his life and universe / Walter Isaacson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Einstein, Albert, 18791955. 2. PhysicistsBiography. 3. Einstein, Albert, 18791955Friends and associates. 4. Relativity (Physics). 5. Unified field theories. I. Title.

QC16.E5I76 2007
530.092dc22
[B]

2006051264

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-6473-0
ISBN-10: 978-0-7432-6473-8
eISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3932-2

To my father, the nicest, smartest, and most moral man I know

In Santa Barbara, 1933

Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.

ALBERT EINSTEIN, IN A LETTER TO HIS SON EDUARD, FEBRUARY 5, 1930

CHAPTER ONE
The Light-Beam Rider

CHAPTER TWO
Childhood, 18791896

CHAPTER THREE
The Zurich Polytechnic, 18961900

CHAPTER FOUR
The Lovers, 19001904

CHAPTER FIVE
The Miracle Year: Quanta and Molecules, 1905

CHAPTER SIX
Special Relativity, 1905

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Happiest Thought, 19061909

CHAPTER EIGHT
The Wandering Professor, 19091914

CHAPTER NINE
General Relativity, 19111915

CHAPTER TEN
Divorce, 19161919

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Einsteins Universe, 19161919

CHAPTER TWELVE
Fame, 1919

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Wandering Zionist, 19201921

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nobel Laureate, 19211927

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Unified Field Theories, 19231931

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Turning Fifty, 19291931

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Einsteins God

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Refugee, 19321933

CHAPTER NINETEEN
America, 19331939

CHAPTER TWENTY
Quantum Entanglement, 1935

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Bomb, 19391945

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
One-Worlder, 19451948

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Landmark, 19481953

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Red Scare, 19511954

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The End, 1955

EPILOGUE
Einsteins Brain and Einsteins Mind

Diana Kormos Buchwald, the general editor of Einsteins papers, read this book meticulously and made copious comments and corrections through many drafts. In addition, she helped me get early and complete access to the wealth of new Einstein papers that became available in 2006, and guided me through them. She was also a gracious host and facilitator during my trips to the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech. She has a passion for her work and a delightful sense of humor, which would have pleased her subject.

Two of her associates were also very helpful in guiding me through the newly available papers as well as untapped riches in the older archival material. Tilman Sauer, who likewise checked and annotated this book, in particular vetted the sections on Einsteins quest for the equations of general relativity and his pursuit of a unified field theory. Zeev Rosenkranz, the historical editor of the papers, provided insights on Einsteins attitudes toward Germany and his Jewish heritage. He was formerly curator of the Einstein archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Barbara Wolff, who is now at those archives at Hebrew University, did a careful fact-checking of every page of the manuscript, making fastidious corrections large and small. She warned that she has a reputation as a nitpicker, but I am very grateful for each and every nit she found. I also appreciate the encouragement given by Roni Grosz, the curator there.

Brian Greene, the Columbia University physicist and author of TheFabric of the Cosmos, was an indispensable friend and editor. He talked me through numerous revisions, honed the wording of the science passages, and read the final manuscript. He is a master of both science and language. In addition to his work on string theory, he and his wife, Tracy Day, are organizing an annual science festival in New York City, which will help spread the enthusiasm for physics so evident in his work and books.

Lawrence Krauss, professor of physics at Case Western Reserve and author of Hiding in the Mirror, also read my manuscript, vetted the sections on special relativity, general relativity, and cosmology, and offered many good suggestions and corrections. He, too, has an infectious enthusiasm for physics.

Krauss helped me enlist a protg of his at Case, Craig J. Copi, who teaches relativity there. I hired him to do a thorough checking of the science and math, and I am grateful for his diligent edits.

Douglas Stone, professor of physics at Yale, also vetted the science in the book. A condensed matter theorist, he is writing what will be an important book on Einsteins contributions to quantum mechanics. In addition to checking my science sections, he helped me write the chapters on the 1905 light quanta paper, quantum theory, Bose-Einstein statistics, and kinetic theory.

Murray Gell-Mann, winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics, was a delightful and passionate guide from the beginning to the end of this project. He helped me revise early drafts, edited and corrected the chapters on relativity and quantum mechanics, and helped draft sections that explained Einsteins objections to quantum uncertainty. With his combination of erudition and humor, and his feel for the personalities involved, he made the process a great joy.

Arthur I. Miller, emeritus professor of history and philosophy of science at University College, London, is the author of Einstein, Picasso and of Empire of the Stars. He read and reread the versions of my scientific chapters and helped with numerous revisions, especially on special relativity (about which he wrote a pioneering book), general relativity, and quantum theory.

Sylvester James Gates Jr., a physics professor at the University of Maryland, agreed to read my manuscript when he came out to Aspen for a conference on Einstein. He did a comprehensive edit filled with smart comments and rephrasing of certain scientific passages.