112 Mercer Street: Einstein, Russell, Godel, Pauli, and the End of Innocence in Science

by Burton Feldman

Portrays four of science's top minds as reflected during the historic 1944 meetings between Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Wolfgang Pauli, and Kurt Gödel at Einstein's Princeton home, offering insight into their remarkable personalities as friends, colleagues, and rivals.

Genres: History, Science, Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published July 9, 2007

Reviews

[Benj FitzPatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me sad for a couple reasons, but I will begin with the good. The premise was what first led me to this book; two theoretical physicists and two mathematicians, with the latter two being completely foreign to me. After reading The Disappearing Spoon I realized that I have grown to enjoy the interstitial life that scientists lead apart from their contributions to the field. Unfortunately the introduction dispelled there being any significant links drawn between the 4 main characters because the author comes clean and states that nothing is known of what was discussed at 112 Mercer St. His description of the work done by Pauli, Russell and Godel was on the sparse side, as the author focused on Einstein. To that end, I found The Quantum 10 gave a much better view of Einstein and Pauli's lives than this book. The other glaring problem was the author's explanation of some of the science, which was glaringly incorrect. Putting all of this together, my favorite part of this book was the snippet at the end regarding the Manhattan project and Robert Oppenheimer.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I thought this bool was going to be in a dialogue form when I first picked it up, which it never was. As I read I had to change my expectations. I learned a lot about the scientists, their lives, work and the relationship they had with each other. It was well written, the reviews rake it over the coals here but I think for a overview of twentieth century physics, a few of the scientists and a philosopher, it was enjoyable.

[Carl Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an imaginative look at some little-known meetings between great minds, and its strength is its fine pacing and explanations. Einstein's stubborn resistance to quantum theory, Russell's content drift away from mathematics, and the respect complicated by disagreement that Pauli and Godel felt, all appear here in rich context. A very satisfying read.

[Bill Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps that it is fitting that I should find this book. During the time that Feldman was teaching at Denver University, I was a student there and worked at the Denver Research Institute, Electromagnetic Propagation Lab. However, I never knew of him until now. The book is very readable and interesting, written in a clear style as it explores the lives and work of some of the greatest minds of the 20th century.

[Kristopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite not having finished this book, I find myself greatly disappointed - I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly expected more. The book starts out with a glossary of terms, which should be useful given the nature of the figures about which the book is focused, yet the glossary contains definitional errors on such crucial terms as "deductive argument standards." An unforgivable error in a book about two of the most important logicians in history. This brings me to my second point of frustration: The author claims that Godel is "the most important logician since Aristotle." This is perhaps a common sentiment by non-philosophers, but to be sure the amazing contribution that Godel put forth would have been beyond impossible if not for the much more groundbreaking work of Frege; indeed without Frege's work on the predicate calculus of logic, the logicist project of Russell never would have gotten going, and Godel never would have been able to show him the error of his ways.
Furthermore, there is a glaring factual error in the first chapter, where the author mistakes Socrates for Sophocles, suggesting that "nothing can improve upon Socrates' 'Oedipus Rex'..." In the same sentence, the author implies that Russell was not really a philosopher.
I am about half-way through, but find myself frustrated and uninterested in finishing the book.

[Bea Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate a book like this. The information inside is interesting, who knew Einstein and his first wife had a daughter before getting married, that Albert never even met? I knew that Einstein had done something that Newton had not been able to and it created a revolution in science, the book mentions this fact about science (Newton is the one who said "If I have seen farther it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants") that when a discovery is made it is bound to be improved upon or corrected eventually.

However the title of this book is misleading on two points, one it has nothing to do with these four men hanging out in Einstein's home in Princton, and two it's not even really about the end of innocence in science. In fact the book isn't even contained to the four men mentioned, the later chapters about Los Alamos has nothing to do with them and doesn't even really argue the case for the end of innocence that I think the author was trying to illustrate. I found the science and history interesting but feel there is bound to be a better book out there on these subjects.

[Carl Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book, particularly the first half. It it is not a series of imagined conversations as one might expect from the title. It is really more of a discussion of the men named in addition to several others. Some of these discussions are very well done and provide some interesting information on the theories and the people behind them.

The latter half of the book is not as good as the first house and tends to drag a little bit.

Overall is a fairly short quick book and is well worth reading.

[Susan from MD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough to rate this book! The information is interesting, but it does not deliver on the title and description. So, I ended up giving it 3 stars because I learned more about these men and their theories. On the other hand, I would have liked to hear more about their time together at Princeton. A bit of "bait and switch" so I was a little annoyed.

[Sinan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gasp. Such a waste of time. I was trying to find something that would help this book be viable, worth reading. Nothing whatsoever. Even the title is a little misleading.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account on Einstein, Russell, Godel, and Pauli. It speculates on them all meeting together, but it also gives good little biographies on each individual which are interesting to read.

[Timothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unorganized. Content had no depth. Felt like I was reading the first chapters of 5 different books.