Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian

[Cypress]

One branch of my holy trinity of Newton, Darwin, and Einstein

Edit to add: Einstein is the text book example of the ethical clarity and moral consistency of supporting Jewish autonomy, while also being anti-Zionist.

Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian

In May 1905, an unknown 26-year-old Swiss patent clerk wrote to a friend about four scientific papers he had been working on in his spare time. He casually alluded to one as "revolutionary," and he confidently asserted that another would modify the "theory of space and time." He had not yet started on a fifth paper that would also come out in 1905 and that would propose a surprising and earth-shaking equation, E=mc2

Einstein's historic insights include:

Light has both wave- and particle-like properties.
Absolute space and absolute time are meaningless concepts.
Gravity is caused by the curvature of space-time.

Each of these ideas sparked a scientific revolution. The first led to quantum physics, which is the comprehensive picture of the world below the atomic scale. The second and third are conclusions from the special and general theories of relativity, which this course explains in nontechnical detail.

The many sides Albert Einstein:

Far from being a head-in-the-clouds theoretician, Einstein was an enthusiastic inventor who pioneered a novel airplane wing, a refrigerator without moving parts, and a self-adjusting camera, among other devices.

Einstein, a German Jew who fled an increasingly anti-Semitic Germany in 1932, supported the development of a safe haven for displaced Jews in Palestine and of Jewish institutions like Hebrew University. Fearing a large-scale conflict with Palestinian Arabs, however, he did not support a Jewish national state.

Theoretical physics in the early 20th century was an emerging field. Einstein's work at the boundaries of science forced him to grapple with the various philosophical issues his work raised. Einstein's philosophies on scientific issues—such as the difference between direct and indirect evidence, the relationship between theory and experience, and the power of mathematical simplicity—were among the most influential of 20th-century science.


source credit and inspiration: Professor Don Howard, Ph.D. University of Notre Dame

 

[Cypress]

Actually, my second favorite physicist is Andrei Saharov - who comported himself in the best liberal traditions of defending civil rights, humanism, environmentalism, and promoting the cause of peace.

This month in History - January

January 1980, Andrei Sakharov arrested in Moscow: In Moscow, Andrei Dmitriyevich Sakharov, the Soviet physicist who helped build the USSR’s first hydrogen bomb, is arrested after criticizing the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. He was subsequently stripped of his numerous scientific honors and banished to remote Gorky. Born in Moscow in 1921, Sakharov studied physics at Moscow University and in June 1948 was recruited into the Soviet nuclear weapons program. In 1948, after detonating their first atomic bomb, the Soviets joined the United States in the race to develop the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be dozens of times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On November 22, 1955, the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

Although Sakharov was decorated with numerous Soviet scientific honors for his achievement, the scientist became increasingly concerned with the implications of the terrifying weapon, and he later regretted his responsibility in its creation. In 1957, his concern about the biological hazards of nuclear testing inspired him to write a damning article about the effects of low-level radiation, and he called for the cessation of nuclear tests. The Soviet government kept his criticism quiet until 1969, when an essay Sakharov wrote was smuggled out of the country and published in The New York Times. In the essay, he attacked the arms race and the Soviet political system and called for a “democratic, pluralistic society free of intolerance and dogmatism, a humanitarian society that would care for the Earth and its future.”

Following the publication of his essay, Sakharov was fired from the weapons program and became a vocal advocate of human rights. In 1975, he was the first Soviet to win the Nobel Peace Prize. After he denounced the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Soviet authorities were quick to respond, exiling him to Gorky, where he lived in difficult conditions. In December 1986, Sakharov’s exile ended when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev invited him to return to Moscow. He was subsequently elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies as a democratic reformer and appointed a member of the commission responsible for drafting a new Soviet constitution. Sakharov died of a heart attack in 1989 at the age of 68.

source credit: history.com

 

[Mott the Hoople]

One branch of my holy trinity of Newton, Darwin, and Einstein

Edit to add: Einstein is the text book example of the ethical clarity and moral consistency of supporting Jewish autonomy, while also being anti-Zionist.

Actually on quantum theory I think you're giving credit that is due to Niles Bohr who was every bit Einsteins peer as a revolutionary scientific genius and far more influential in quantum mechanics than Einstein. In fact one can say that Bohr and Einstein had profound disagreements on quantum mechanics that, ultimately, Bohr won that argument. His probabilistic model is the one used today and not Einsteins view based on the actions of photons. Even Einstein himself conceded the argument to Bohr.

Now to Einsteins credit he was the first to recognize Planck's discovery of the quantum would require a re-writing of the laws of physics. Einstein never did come to terms with the probabilistic but non causal nature of quantum mechanics or, as Einsteins put it "God doesn't throw dice".

 

[Cypress]

Actually on quantum theory I think you're giving credit that is due to Niles Bohr who was every bit Einsteins peer as a revolutionary scientific genius and far more influential in quantum mechanics than Einstein. In fact one can say that Bohr and Einstein had profound disagreements on quantum mechanics that, ultimately, Bohr won that argument. His probabilistic model is the one used today and not Einsteins view based on the actions of photons. Even Einstein himself conceded the argument to Bohr.

Now to Einsteins credit he was the first to recognize Planck's discovery of the quantum would require a re-writing of the laws of physics. Einstein never did come to terms with the probabilistic but non causal nature of quantum mechanics or, as Einsteins put it "God doesn't throw dice".

Nice work, Chap! .

I was trying to think of a way to include Max Planck in my list of legendary physicists, but I could not think of any expression more elegant than "Holy Trinity" - so I sadly left the ever-deserving Dr. Planck out.

I also like your call on Bohr. Einstein was not perfect, and he definitely sort of missed the quantum mechanics boat that some of the other great minds of that generation were contemplating.


edit to add: On a related tangent, I am trying to up my game in particle physics, and have some videos to watch on the discovery and nature of the higgs boson - my palms are sweaty with anticipation!

 

[Ross Dolan]

Einstein is a favorite of mine. I have half a dozen pictures of him in my den (within eye sight of where I am typing) and several small statuettes.

My wife and I have dinner in Princeton often...and I regularly take a walk past the house where he used to live. (It is privately owned now.)

Here's a picture of me explaining quantum mechanics to him years ago:

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Actually, my second favorite physicist is Andrei Saharov - who comported himself in the best liberal traditions of defending civil rights, humanism, environmentalism, and promoting the cause of peace.

Darwin is certainly my favorite scientist. Just as Newton is considered the father of classical physics Darwin is the father of modern biology. Not only has his evolutionary theor been one of the most influential and commonly used theories in all of science that fact that Darwin elucidated the theory in such elegantly simple and practical terms. The fact that it also created a cultural fire storm outside of science that still exists over 150 years later in and of itself speaks of what a vast paradigm change it was from traditional views of mans nature based on religion.

After Darwin I would also mention Gregor Mendell....another scientific genius in the guise of a humble monk who's work elucidated the laws of inheritance.

Then Louis Pasteur who's development of Germ Theory was profoundly important in understanding cell theory.

If I were to list America's most influential scientist I would list in order of significance;

Josiah Willard Gibbs. Anyone who's had chemistry should appreciate Gibbs. He's the father of modern physical chemistry.

Linus Pauling, the only man to win the Nobel Prize in two different fields would be next. The thing that is most remarkable about Pauling is the sheer volume of peer reviewed work he published. His x-ray crystollagraphic work provided the background work that Franklin, Crick and Watson needed to elucidate the structure of DNA.

Next would be Benjamin Franklin. He get's a lot of credit as a Statesman, businessman, printer/publisher, writer, political theorist but it was Franklin's work in science that made him famous in his time. Much of his early work on electricity is foundational to electrical engineering.

 

[Cypress]

Darwin is certainly my favorite scientist. Just as Newton is considered the father of classical physics Darwin is the father of modern biology. Not only has his evolutionary theor been one of the most influential and commonly used theories in all of science that fact that Darwin elucidated the theory in such elegantly simple and practical terms. The fact that it also created a cultural fire storm outside of science that still exists over 150 years later in and of itself speaks of what a vast paradigm change it was from traditional views of mans nature based on religion.

After Darwin I would also mention Gregor Mendell....another scientific genius in the guise of a humble monk who's work elucidated the laws of inheritance.

Then Louis Pasteur who's development of Germ Theory was profoundly important in understanding cell theory.

If I were to list America's most influential scientist I would list in order of significance;

Josiah Willard Gibbs. Anyone who's had chemistry should appreciate Gibbs. He's the father of modern physical chemistry.

Linus Pauling, the only man to win the Nobel Prize in two different fields would be next. The thing that is most remarkable about Pauling is the sheer volume of peer reviewed work he published. His x-ray crystollagraphic work provided the background work that Franklin, Crick and Watson needed to elucidate the structure of DNA.

Next would be Benjamin Franklin. He get's a lot of credit as a Statesman, businessman, printer/publisher, writer, political theorist but it was Franklin's work in science that made him famous in his time. Much of his early work on electricity is foundational to electrical engineering.

Good stuff, man.

Mendel and genetics puts him in anyone's top five list.

Darwin - probably the most influential scientist of the last 300 years.

Pauling is a good call.

I would submit Charles Lyell to represent earth science - but in my experience, physicists, chemists, and geneticists consider geology a lower tier-science. So I will withhold the geo-geeks from even being mentioned in the same sentence as Darwin, Newten, Pauling, Einstein, et al.!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Nice work, Chap! .

I was trying to think of a way to include Max Planck in my list of legendary physicists, but I could not think of any expression more elegant than "Holy Trinity" - so I sadly left the ever-deserving Dr. Planck out.

I also like your call on Bohr. Einstein was not perfect, and he definitely sort of missed the quantum mechanics boat that some of the other great minds of that generation were contemplating.


edit to add: On a related tangent, I am trying to up my game in particle physics, and have some videos to watch on the discovery and nature of the higgs boson - my palms are sweaty with anticipation!

Don't get me wrong. I still agree with your original list. Those are the three most influential scientist in all of human history.

 

[Cypress]

Einstein is a favorite of mine. I have half a dozen pictures of him in my den (within eye sight of where I am typing) and several small statuettes.

My wife and I have dinner in Princeton often...and I regularly take a walk past the house where he used to live. (It is privately owned now.)

Here's a picture of me explaining quantum mechanics to him years ago:

Bloody outstanding.

 

[Ross Dolan]

Bloody outstanding.

Bumped into him at Madame Tussaud's in NYC. He was very quiet.

 

[Cypress]

Bumped into him at Madame Tussaud's in NYC. He was very quiet.

Probably deep into one of those thought experiments he is known for.

Here is my scientific factoid of the day: I just learned last week that a French philosopher named Denis Diderot came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection almost a century before Darwin. What earned cemented Darwin's reputation in the annals of history is, of course, that he went beyond mere speculation and had field work, and copious amounts of data to support his theory.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Good stuff, man.

Mendel and genetics puts him in anyone's top five list.

Darwin - probably the most influential scientist of the last 300 years.

Pauling is a good call.

I would submit Charles Lyell to represent earth science - but in my experience, physicists, chemists, and geneticists consider geology a lower tier-science. So I will withhold the geo-geeks from even being mentioned in the same sentence as Darwin, Newten, Pauling, Einstein, et al.!

Meh you've been around to many engineers. They like to make anyone who isn't an engineer look dumb. When they get mouthy I just tell them their shoe is untied. Works every time. I've worked with to many PG's...it's a hard science curriculum and it's right up there with any of the other natural sciences as far as I'm concerned. I know that much of what Darwin based his work on was based of the work of the great Geologist of the early 19th century. So why not give them some love. They did some very important historical and foundational work.

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Einstein is a favorite of mine. I have half a dozen pictures of him in my den (within eye sight of where I am typing) and several small statuettes.

My wife and I have dinner in Princeton often...and I regularly take a walk past the house where he used to live. (It is privately owned now.)

Here's a picture of me explaining quantum mechanics to him years ago:

Awesome. You might enjoy this book, if you haven't already read it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PM995TG/ref=oh_aui_d_asin_title_o09_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Probably deep into one of those thought experiments he is known for.

Here is my scientific factoid of the day: I just learned last week that a French philosopher named Denis Diderot came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection almost a century before Darwin. What earned cemented Darwin's reputation in the annals of history is, of course, that he went beyond mere speculation and had field work, and copious amounts of data to support his theory.

Well that and he published his results in a master piece of original thinking. Darwin isn't famous because he discovered evolution by means of natural selection first. There were other scientist who had done formulative work on it, including Diderot and lets not forget that Wallace had actually defined the concept ahead of Darwin but Darwin published first and that's the real reason...not so much that he published first but that his publication "On the Origins of Species by Natural Selection" was a fucking masterpiece of deductive reasoning using empirically observed fact. And even where Darwin new this theory fell short (mainly on inheritance and its mechanism) he correctly predicted that those gaps of knowledge would be filled in due time, which they were.

I don't think, in terms of its clarity and simplicity that any scientific treatise is as well written and easy to grasp as Darwin's masterpiece is. Certainly not Principia Mathematica.

 

[Adolf_Twitler]

Whoever invented Toilet Paper and Air Conditioning are my heroes!

 

[Ross Dolan]

Awesome. You might enjoy this book, if you haven't already read it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PM995TG/ref=oh_aui_d_asin_title_o09_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did read it.

And some of the scenes with Oppenheimer and (not sure who else) in that house on Mercer Street were awesome for me...since I've seen the house.

 

[Guno צְבִי]

Einstein is a favorite of mine. I have half a dozen pictures of him in my den (within eye sight of where I am typing) and several small statuettes.

My wife and I have dinner in Princeton often...and I regularly take a walk past the house where he used to live. (It is privately owned now.)

Here's a picture of me explaining quantum mechanics to him years ago:

My grandparents knew and were friends with Einstein, I have a picture with him when I was three years old, my most treasured possession

 

[Cypress]

Well that and he published his results in a master piece of original thinking. Darwin isn't famous because he discovered evolution by means of natural selection first. There were other scientist who had done formulative work on it, including Diderot and lets not forget that Wallace had actually defined the concept ahead of Darwin but Darwin published first and that's the real reason...not so much that he published first but that his publication "On the Origins of Species by Natural Selection" was a fucking masterpiece of deductive reasoning using empirically observed fact. And even where Darwin new this theory fell short (mainly on inheritance and its mechanism) he correctly predicted that those gaps of knowledge would be filled in due time, which they were.

I don't think, in terms of its clarity and simplicity that any scientific treatise is as well written and easy to grasp as Darwin's masterpiece is. Certainly not Principia Mathematica.

I have not read it myself, but I have definitely heard others testify that Origin of Species is both elegant and accessible - and that is, in part, what helped make it the scientific masterpiece that it is.

I am not even going to bother reading Einstein's work - because I always needed someone to dumb down the concept of curved space-time for me.
And don't even get me started on quantum mechanics - I think species transforming through natural selection is a little more self-intuitive than quantum field theory!

 

[Cypress]

Awesome. You might enjoy this book, if you haven't already read it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PM995TG/ref=oh_aui_d_asin_title_o09_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That sounds right up my alley

 

[Mott the Hoople]

I have not read it myself, but I have definitely heard others testify that Origin of Species is both elegant and accessible - and that is, in part, what helped make it the scientific masterpiece that it is.

I am not even going to bother reading Einstein's work - because I always needed someone to dumb down the concept of curved space-time for me.
And don't even get me started on quantum mechanics - I think species transforming through natural selection is a little more self-intuitive than quantum field theory!

Oh really? I can show you some threads here on JPP that would prove that proposition wrong. LOL

All I can say is that Roger Waters must have learned how to build a wall from Charles Darwin (one brick at a time). He makes a central thesis statement, then he list the facts that support his thesis, they he list a wide array of examples of empirical observations that support those facts, then he lists the flaws, weaknesses and absence of evidence....and he does it one brick at a time without ever losing focus on his central thesis.

Where anyone else would have gotten lost or buried in phylogenetic history, Darwin starts out with common every day livestock....but he stays on point. Brilliant riding. It's withstood over 150 years of more scrutiny and examination that any other idea proposed by man, and yet it still stands.

What impresses me the most is that Darwin was no genius. He was just a dedicated, hardworking, persevering, completely methodical, competent scientist. He wasn't a genius like Einstein or Newton but his ideas were every bit as profound. So probably the most important thing I learned from reading "On The Origins Of Species" is that great science is 1 part inspiration, 10 parts perspiration and 100 parts preparation. In other words, it takes a whole lot of elbow grease to be good. Genius certainly helps but it's mostly good ole elbow grease.