Essays in Science (13 page)

Since according to our present-day notions the primary particles of matter are also, at bottom, nothing but condensations of the electro-magnetic field, our modern schema of the cosmos recognizes two realities which are conceptually quite independent of each other even though they may be causally connected, namely the gravitational ether and the electro-magnetic field, or—as one might call them—space and matter.

It would, of course, be a great step forward if we succeeded in combining the gravitational field and the electro-magnetic field into a single structure. Only so could the era in theoretical physics inaugurated by Faraday and Clerk Maxwell be brought to a satisfactory close.

The antithesis of ether and matter would then fade away, and the whole of physics would become a completely enclosed intellectual system, like geometry, kinematics and the theory of gravitation, through the general theory of relativity. An exceedingly brilliant attempt in this direction has been made by the mathematician H. Weyl; but I do not think that it will stand in the face of reality. Moreover, in thinking about the immediate future of theoretical physics we cannot unconditionally dismiss the possibility that the facts summarized in the quantum theory may set impassable limits to the field theory.

We may sum up as follows: According to the general theory of relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, an ether exists. In accordance with the general theory of relativity space without an ether is inconceivable. For in such a space there would not only be no propagation of light, but no possibility of the existence of scales and clocks, and therefore no spatio-temporal distances in the physical sense. But this ether must not be thought of as endowed with the properties characteristic of ponderable media, as composed of particles the motion of which can be followed; nor may the concept of motion be applied to it.

Address at Columbia University, New York, January 15

SCIENCE AS SOMETHING
existing and complete is the most objective thing known to man. But science in the making, science as an end to be pursued, is as subjective and psychologically conditioned as any other branch of human endeavor—so much so that the question, What is the purpose and meaning of science? receives quite different answers at different times and from different sorts of people.

It is, of course, universally agreed that science has to establish connections between the facts of experience, of such a kind that we can predict further occurrences from those already experienced. Indeed, according to the opinion of many positivists the completest possible accomplishment of this task is the only end of science.

I do not believe, however, that so elementary an ideal could do much to kindle the investigator’s passion from which really great achievements have arisen. Behind the tireless efforts of the investigator there lurks a stronger, more mysterious drive: it is existence and reality that one wishes to comprehend. But one shrinks from the use of such words, for one soon gets into difficulties when one has to explain what is really meant by “reality” and by “comprehend” in such a general statement.

When we strip the statement of its mystical elements we mean that we are seeking for the simplest possible system of thought which will bind together the observed facts. By the “simplest” system we do not mean the one which the student will have the least trouble in assimilating, but the one which contains the fewest possible mutually independent postulates or axioms; since the content of these logical, mutually independent axioms represents that remainder which is not comprehended.

When a man is talking about scientific subjects, the little word “I” should play no part in his expositions. But when he is talking about the purposes and aims of science, he should be permitted to speak of himself; for a man experiences no aims and desires so immediately as his own. The special aim which I have constantly kept before me is logical unification in the field of physics. To start with, it disturbed me that electro-dynamics should pick out
one
state of motion in preference to others, without any experimental justification for this preferential treatment. Thus arose the special theory of relativity, which, moreover, welded together into comprehensible unities the electrical and magnetic fields, as well as mass and energy, or momentum and energy, as the case may be. Then out of the endeavor to understand inertia and gravitation as having a unified character there arose the general theory of relativity, which also avoided those implicit axioms which underlie our thinking when we use special co-ordinate systems in the process of formulating basic laws.

At the present time it is particularly disturbing that the gravitational field and the electrical field should enter into the theory as mutually independent fundamental concepts. After many years of effort, however, an appropriate logical unification has been achieved—so I believe—through a new mathematical method, which I have invented together with my distinguished collaborator, Dr. W. Mayer.

In the meantime there still remains outstanding an important problem of the same kind, which has often been proposed but has so far found no satisfactory solution—namely the explanation of atomic structure in terms of field theory. All of these endeavors are based on the belief that existence should have a completely harmonious structure. Today we have less ground than ever before for allowing ourselves to be forced away from this wonderful belief.

A Biography of Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) is among modern history’s greatest and most influential minds. He authored more than 450 scholarly works during his lifetime, and his advancements in science—including the revolutionary Theory of Relativity and E=mc
²
, which described for the first time the relationship between an object’s mass and its energy—have earned him renown as “the father of modern physics.”

Born in Ulm, in southwest Germany, Einstein moved to Munich with his family as an infant. As a child, Einstein spoke so infrequently that his parents feared he had a learning disability. But despite difficulties with speech, he was consistently a top student and showed an early aptitude for mathematics and physics, which he later studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich after renouncing his German citizenship to avoid military service in 1896.

After graduation, Einstein married his college girlfriend, Mileva Marić, and they had three children. He attended the University of Zurich for his doctorate and worked at the patent office in Bern, a post he left in 1908 for a teaching position at the University of Bern, followed by a number of professorships throughout Europe that ultimately led him back to Germany in 1914. By this time, Einstein had already become recognized throughout the world for his groundbreaking papers on special relativity, the photoelectric effect, and the relationship between energy and matter. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.

In 1933, Einstein escaped Nazi Germany and immigrated to the United States with his second wife, Elsa Löwenthal, whom he had married in 1919. He accepted a position at Princeton University in New Jersey, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. At Princeton, Einstein dedicated himself to finding a unified field theory and played a key role in America’s development of atomic weapons. He also campaigned for civil rights as a member of the NAACP and was an ardent supporter of Israel’s Labor Zionist Movement.

Still, Einstein maintained a special affinity for his homeland. His connection to all things German and, in particular, to the scientific community in Berlin was probably the reason that throughout his years in America he so strongly valued his relationships with other German-speaking immigrants. He maintained a deep friendship with the founder of Philosophical Library, Dr. Dagobert D. Runes, who, like Einstein, was a humanist, a civil rights pioneer, and an admirer of Baruch Spinoza. Consequently, many of Albert Einstein’s works were published by Philosophical Library.

At the time of Einstein’s death in 1955, he was universally recognized as one of history’s most brilliant and important scientists.

Einstein with his first wife, Mileva Marić, and their son Hans Albert, in 1904. Their second son, Eduard, would be born six years later.

Paper silhouettes created by Einstein in 1919, the year of his marriage to his second wife, Elsa. The silhouettes depict, from left to right, himself, Elsa, and his stepdaughters Ilse and Margot.

Einstein lecturing in Vienna, Austria, in January of 1921, the same year he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. 1921 also marked the year of Einstein’s first visit to New York City, followed by weeks of lectures at some of the East Coast’s most prestigious universities.

Albert Einstein on April 27, 1921, seated with a pipe.

Einstein with Elsa in Migdal, Israel, on February 12, 1923.