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| SUMMER 2005 |
REVIEWS |
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Review in English of recent books published in German. Einstein - Eine biographie, Juergen Neffe, Rowohlt 2005 isbn 3-498-04685-3 The most creditable figure to emerge from this excellent biography of Albert Einstein is Max Planck, who not only recognised the value of Einstein's work when it was first published, but brought him to Berlin and was instrumental in creating an institute of theoretical physics within the Kaiser Wilhelm Research Society that consisted only of Einstein himself and some secretarial support. Einstein was therefore freed of teaching responsibilities, could work from home, the famous turret workroom in his apartment on the Haberlandstrasse in Berlin, Wilmersdorf, but could also give regular public lectures at the University. The worst aspect of Einstein's life is the prevailing anti-semitism that pursued him throughout his career, from the organised disruptions of his Berlin lectures in the early 1920's, to campaigns against him in the USA in the 1930's and the institutional racism he encountered at Princeton University. It is disappointing to learn that the most talented scientist of the 20th century was only really happy for a couple of years throughout a long life, when he could enjoy the modest home he had built in Caputh, a village to the south of Berlin. That house has recently been restored and was officially re-opened in May 2005. The tone of Neff's biography is to explore Einstein's professional and private life with academic precision, making good use of the archive material available in Jerusalem and the US. As a German historian, Neffe is notably successful in his approach to the professional context and scientific progress of Einstein's career, especially during the two decades he lived and worked in Berlin. He also gives close attention to the disastrous private life. Neffe tries to be as precise as he can about the awefulness of Einstein's first marriage to the talented young student of physics Mileva, that began as the intoxicating union of 'vagabond' Albert and 'gypsy' Mileva and ended in acrimonious divorce. Cautiously circumspect about about the the question of what happened to their daughter 'Lieserl' (born 1902), a child that Einstein never saw, Neffe is quite explicit as he explores the inadequacies of Einstein's relationships with their sons Eduard and Hans-Albert. The greatest strength of this book, however is as a scientific history, both in its instutional context and in the emergence of ideas and their development. His account of the neck and neck presentation of lectures and publications on 'General Relativity' between Einstein and mathematician David Hilbert is written with verve. This is immediately followed with an account of the issue of rotation that takes the reader back to Newton and Ernst Mach. A reader looking for an explanatoin of Einstein's theories should look elsewhere, but anyone curious to learn about the development of scientific concepts and ideas will find Neffe's book invaluable. While Einstein's scientific achievements propelled him to world fame and the role of global celebrity, his engagement in public affairs and politics had much earlier beginnings, as one of the few signatories to an anti war declaration from German scientists during World War 1. Neffe has relatively little to say about the Einstein-Russel manifesto that led to the creation of the 'Pugwash' organisation of concerned scientists for peace in the 1950's, however, he unearth's the tragic consequences of Fritz Haber's involvement with military research in World War 1. Haber was a friend and University colleague of Einstein in Berlin and his wife Clara, a close friend of Mileva. Fritz Haber, who would later be awared the Nobel Prize for his work on chemical fertilizers, became involved in military research at the outset of war and worked on poisened gas for trench warfare. He was promoted to Hauptmann following the use of 150 tonnes chlorine gas at Ypres in April 1915, causing 5000 deaths and 15000 wounded. Clara, herself a doctoral chemist, discovered what he had been involved in and tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to abandon the work. She returned to their home following a celebration for his promotion, went into the garden and shot herself with her husbands revolver. Haber is commemorated in Berlin, giving his name to the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society.
Haber, (left) and Einstein in 1915. (from the Fritz Haber Institute website)
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