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The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein 6: Berlin Years Writings 1914-17

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Presented in this volume are Albert Einstein's writings from his arrival in Berlin in the spring of 1914 to take up his new position at the Prussian Academy of Sciences through the end of 1917. During these years he completed the general theory of relativity--the relativistic theory of gravitation--and this was surely the high point of his scientific life. His writings on relativity in this volume range from general treatments of the theory to detailed calculations of specific consequences and his first attempt at a relativistic account of cosmology. They also include his popular exposition of the special and general theories, first published in 1917 and still a valuable account for the general reader.


As soon as the difficulties on the path to general relativity had been overcome, Einstein returned to the riddles of the quantum theory. His major clarification of the quantum theory of radiation appears here along with his lesser known contribution to the formulation of quantum conditions. This volume also contains the papers describing Einstein's only experimental investigation, a study of Ampère's molecular currents, which he carried out with the Dutch physicist W. J. de Haas.


Before the beginning of World War I, Einstein had never expressed his views on nonscientific subjects. Yet one of his first reactions to this previously unthinkable general war was to sign an "Appeal to Europeans" urging an immediate end to hostilities.


Every document in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein appears in the language in which it was written.

650 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

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About the author

Albert Einstein

915 books9,667 followers
Special and general theories of relativity of German-born American theoretical physicist Albert Einstein revolutionized modern thought on the nature of space and time and formed a base for the exploitation of atomic energy; he won a Nobel Prize of 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.

His paper of 1905 formed the basis of electronics. His first paper, also published in 1905, changed the world.
He completed his Philosophiae Doctor at the University of Zurich before 1909.

Einstein, a pacifist during World War I, stayed a firm proponent of social justice and responsibility.

Einstein thought that Newtonion mechanics no longer enough reconciled the laws of classical mechanics with those of the electromagnetic field. This thought led to the development. He recognized, however, that he ably also extended the principle to gravitational fields and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916 published a paper. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light, which laid the foundation of the photon.

Best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, dubbed "the world's most famous equation," he received "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory.

He visited the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and went not back to Germany. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter, alerting Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president, to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" and recommending that the United States begin similar research. This recommendation eventually led to the Manhattan project. Einstein supported defending the Allied forces but largely denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with Bertrand Russell–Einstein manifesto highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons.

After the rise of the Nazi party, Einstein made Princeton his permanent home as a citizen of United States in 1940. He chaired the emergency committee of atomic scientists, which organized to alert the public to the dangers of warfare.

At a symposium, he advised:
"In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests. In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task... "

("Science, Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium," published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941).

In a letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, dated 3 January 1954, Einstein stated:
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."


(The Guardian, "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear," by James Randerson, May 13, 2008)

Great intellectual achievements and originality made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.

The institute for advanced study in Princeton, New Jersey, affiliated Einstein until his death in 1955.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_E...

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe

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