Abstract
“The theory does not yet contain the conclusions of the quantum theory. It furnishes, however, clues to a natural development, from which we may anticipate further results in this direction.” This statement from the 1931 report by Einstein on the unified field theory was quoted before at the end of Chap. 26, and I called it a curious sentence. It is curious because the quest for a unified field theory, as described it so far, was an attempt to unite gravity and electromagnetism. Where, or how, did quantum theory enter the topic, especially since we have seen Einstein being involved in a quarrel over the hegemony of Bohr’s phenomenalist interpretation?
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Notes
- 1.
Einstein [41], p. 439.
- 2.
Mathematically speaking, when Q =1.
- 3.
A commonly use metaphor for Einstein’s thirty-year pursuit has been to refer to it as his unfinished symphony. The comparison is surely with Schubert’s Eighth symphony and as such is, to me, a very poor analog. It was not Schubert’s last symphony, and it was not unfinished due to this death. A better analog would be Johan Sebastian Bach’s last fugue, which is seldom played since it stops in the middle of a musical phrase. I discuss this in more detail in Topper [198], p. 152.
- 4.
Holton [100], p. 166.
- 5.
Einstein [54], p. 107. Letter of November 25, 1948.
- 6.
Steven Weinberg (one of the unifiers of the electric, weak and strong nuclear forces, and who shared in the Nobel Prize) reviewed a recent book by Hawking, The Grand Design, written with Leonard Mlodinow. In his review, Weinberg points to Hawking’s “disturbing” idea there may be a number of equally valid theories of reality, and hence there is no real “underlying theory.” Weinberg admits that “the nature of reality” has “puzzled scientists and philosopher for millennia.” His own position echoes Einstein, as he writes: “I think that there is something real out there, entirely independent of us and our models…. But this is because I can’t help believing in an objective reality, not because I have good arguments for it. I am in no position to argue that Hawking’s antirealism [or positivism] is wrong. But I do insist that neither quantum mechanics nor anything else in physics settles the question.” Weinberg [207], p. 32.
- 7.
Smolin [187], p. 40.
- 8.
See Greene [82], p. 15, who concedes: “Einstein was simply ahead of his time…. [H]is dream of a unified theory has become the Holy Grail of modern physics.” Greene, along with many writers on Einstein’s quest, also refers to the unity search as a “quixotic quest,” which is a comparative reference to the fictional character of Don Quixote. Sayen [178], p. 134 even says that Einstein identified with the fictional knight. Recall too that Solovine in the introduction to his letters (Einstein [54], p. 9) reports that the Olympia Academy read Cervantes’ book; and Infeld [106], pp. 312–313 says that it was Einstein’s favorite book of fiction, and that a copy was on his night table “for relaxation.” Personally I abhor the analogy. I find the stupidity of Don Quixote at odds with my image of Einstein, and hence it is difficult for me to conceive of Einstein identifying with the foolish knight. Accordingly, you will neither find me calling Einstein’s quest quixotic nor an unfinished symphony (see footnote 3 above).
- 9.
Quoted in Bucky [22], p. 29.
- 10.
McCormmach [138], is still a very brief and very valuable overview of the many historiographical ways of approaching Einstein’s life and work.
- 11.
I have read variations of this behavior in a number of sources over the years. For one, see Hoffmann, in Woolf [215], pp. 477–478.
- 12.
Recall too that later in the same year Einstein and his family would be in Belgium, being guarded from Nazi assassins.
- 13.
Quoted in Dukas and Hoffmann (eds.) [35], pp. 48–49. The original German (p. 135) is: Ein Baum im Klostergarten stand/Der war gepflanzt von Ihrer Hand./Ein Zweiglein sendet er zum Gruss,/Weil er dort stehen bleiben muss.
- 14.
Halley had every right to write whatever he wished, since in essence he paid for the publication of the book. For details see Topper [198], pp. 155–158.
- 15.
As a final comment in this last footnote: I make no excuses for this unabashedly old-fashioned heroic (scientific) biography of Einstein – the pervasiveness of postmodern historiography not withstanding.
References
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Einstein, Albert. 1931b. Report: gravitational and electromagnetic fields. Science 74(1922): 438–439 (October).
Einstein, Albert. 1986. Letters to Solovine. Introduction by Maurice Solovine (Trans: Wade Baskin.). New York: Philosophical Library. This useful volume contains almost all the original German photocopies (or otherwise German transcripts) along with the English translations.
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Infeld, Leopold. 1941. Quest: the evolution of a scientist. New York: Doubleday, Doran, & Co.
McCormmach, Russell. 1970. Editor’s Forward. Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences, vol. 2, ix-xx. This very brief yet brilliant essay is still one of the best short introductions to Einstein’s intellectual and professional life.
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Weinberg, Stephen. 2011. The universes we still don’t know, essay review of The Grand Design, by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow (Bantam Books), The New York Review of Books, vol. LVIII, no. 2 (February 10), 31–34.
Woolf, Harry (ed.). 1980. Some strangeness in the proportion: a centennial symposium to celebrate the achievement of Albert Einstein. Reading: Addison-Wesley. See especially Section XI: Working with Einstein, 473–489.
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Topper, D.R. (2013). Legacy: From Pariah to Posthumous Prophet. In: How Einstein Created Relativity out of Physics and Astronomy. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 394. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4782-5_29
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