Ο Αϊνστάιν στο Βερολίνο

by Thomas Levenson

Το καλοκαίρι του 1913 δύο κολοσσοί της σύγχρονης επιστήμης ταξίδεψαν από το Βερολίνο στη Ζυρίχη στο πλαίσιο μιας αποστολής αποπλάνησης: να δελεάσουν έναν άντρα ο οποίος μέχρι πριν από έξι χρόνια ήταν ένας απλός δημόσιος υπάλληλος στο Γραφείο Ευρεσιτεχνιών, προσφέροντάς του μια δουλειά απαράμιλλου κύρους, προκειμένου να τον παρασύρουν στον κόσμο τους. Ο Άλμπερτ Αϊνστάιν αποδέχτηκε την προσφορά. Τα χρόνια που έζησε στο Βερολίνο, από το 1914 έως το 1932, καθρεφτίζουν τα γεγονότα και τις δυνάμεις που διαμόρφωσαν την πορεία της ανθρωπότητας από τον Α’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο μέχρι τις ιαχές της επόμενης παγκόσμιας σύρραξης. Το Βερολίνο αποτελεί τον άξιο συμπρωταγωνιστή του επιστήμονα στις σελίδες αυτού του βιβλίου, με την εντυπωσιακή έκρηξη των επαναστατικών ιδεών στις εικαστικές τέχνες αλλά και στη μουσική, στο θέατρο και στη λογοτεχνία. Όμως, μέσα στην καταστροφική δίνη της οικονομικής ύφεσης και της ανόδου του ναζισμού, η πόλη μεταλλάσσεται. Κατηγορούμενος ως ο σατανικός δολοπλόκος της "εβραϊκής φυσικής", ο Αϊνστάιν συνειδητοποιεί ότι έχει έρθει το πλήρωμα του χρόνου για να αποχωρήσει για πάντα.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Science, Physics, History Of Science, Germany

734 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

My day job has me professing science writing at MIT, where I teach in the Institute's Graduate Program in Science Writing.

I continue to do what I did before I joined the professoriat: write books (and the occasional article), and make documentary films about science, its history, and its interaction with the broader culture in which scientific lives and discoveries unfold.

Besides writing, film making and generally being dour about the daily news, I lead an almost entirely conventional life in one of Boston's inner suburbs with a family that gives me great joy.

Reviews

[Din · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a summation of Einstein's early life, theoretical physics, WW I, the Weimar republic, the rise of Nazism, Zionism and Nobel prizes! Excellent distillation of history and biography.

[Crazytourists_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα βιβλίο που περιγράφει τη ζωή και το έργο του Albert Einstein με φόντο το Βερολίνο της περιόδου 1914-1933.
Ένα βιβλίο που συνδυάζει τη φυσική με την ιστορία, τις μεγάλες εξελίξεις της εποχής στη θεωρητική φυσική με τις μεγάλες κοινωνικές αλλαγές που συντελέστηκαν στη Γερμανία και οδήγησαν σε δύο μεγάλους πολέμους.
Η θεωρία της σχετικότητας, το φωτοηλεκτρικό φαινόμενο, η κβαντική θεωρία, μπλέκονται με το ξέσπασμα του Μεγάλου Πολέμου, την πτώση του καιζερ Γουλιέλμου ΙΙ, τις κοινωνικές ταραχές που προκάλεσε η οικονομική καταστροφή της Γερμανίας λόγω του πολέμου, την ανάπτυξη του αντισιμητικού κινήματος και τη σταδιακή άνοδο του Χίτλερ στην εξουσία..
Μου άρεσε αρκετά

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Einstein in Berlin was an interesting read. It was a good mixture of biography, science, and history. The author did a nice job of making the science approachable for a layman such as myself. Although someone with more technical experience may have criticisms that I could not pick-up. The author did a good job of exploring the history and culture that surrounded Einstein during his greatest scientific triumphs. And, as my brother-in-law observed, the book gave interesting insights into Germany’s motivation entering the Second World War. Apparently, Germany just did not realize and could not accept that it “lost” World War I. It was also interesting to learn more about Einstein. The book did not defy nor idolize him. Rather, it respected him enough to give greater insight who he was. Brilliant if emotionally cold. I am glad that I read it

[Jonnie Enloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to critize the writer or his style due to the subject matter. I suppose I have read all of this information before at least once. Einstein is put in a unique position due to the Nazi party and the politics of the day. Coupled with his personal failures he still manages to emerge as a giant historical figure. I am an Einstein fan in any case, even given his quirks. It seems as though he is a reluctant participant one minute and a glory seeker the next. I believe this comes from being forced into the limelight from relative obscurity.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

Seems like I good book but I got distracted by other things (shiny fiction mostly). Admittedly it was slightly depressing to read about Einstein's, well, failures at relating to other humans, mostly women. I'd consider resuming this book at some other time, though.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting to learn history and physics. Well, it would be a stretch to say I learned physics. The author patiently tries to explain relativity and quantum physics. Way over my head. Sorry. And I always suspected there was more to WWI than Arch Duke Ferdinand being shot. The beginnings and the groundwork for the war is brilliantly explained in several chapters. But back to the complexity of Einstein. Sometimes you would just like to wring his neck, then you can sort of understand why he got so short with us mere mortals, and just wanted to be left alone to think. This is a very good read, and I plan to reread several of the chapters.

[Chad Holman · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all a worthwhile read, but not as much specific to Einstein during his time in Germany as I expected; covered equal parts WWII German history to Einstein. Early on, I was slightly annoyed by a few chapters that repeated events that were already covered as if they were broached for the first time.

[Joost Hintjens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einstein and the first half of the 20th century

Very well written and researched. It not only describes the life of the scientist and the human Einstein but also to events leading up to the first and second war. The city of Berlin and its ambition as cultural capital of europe also is very interestingly depicted. Well worth reading.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding work. It delivers a clear picture of the life of a great scientist and of an important city veering into the abyss, again. It gives a clear account of Einstein's scientific achievements and delivers a honest account of its complex personality

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einstein's kinda boring - but a decent foil for wartime Berlin.

[Emma Orcutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some chapters had more to do with Berlin than Einstein, which I found less interesting. I really enjoyed how Levenson clearly and distinctly explained scientific theories.

[James Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as background for Berlin Literaryscape class at U of Chicago Basic Program. In 1913, fellow scientists Max Planck and Walther Nernst invited Einstein to join the faculty of the University of Berlin and to accept election to the elite Prussian Academy of Science. At 34, he had already changed the face of physics with his theory of special relativity. Plank and Nernst offered him an opportunity to work in the company of his scientific peers, with “no teaching obligations whatsoever [and] the right to lecture as he pleased,” in a city that over the next two decades would see many startling events. The author takes Einstein's stay in Berlin as the point of departure for a wide-ranging examination of a crucial historical crossroads. Within a year of the physicist’s arrival, WWI had broken out, to a chorus of approval from his new colleagues; Einstein was among the few to protest the wild enthusiasm with which the youth of Europe marched off to slaughter in the trenches. At the same time, he was working on General Relativity, the theory that would make him the most celebrated scientist of his time—perhaps, Levenson argues, of all time. The author conveys in largely nontechnical language the essentials of Einstein's scientific achievements and of the quantum theory that he helped launch but never could bring himself to accept. Levenson also gives a frighteningly vivid picture of the political and cultural upheavals that shook Germany and the world in the years following WWI. Einstein's Jewish background, along with his pacifist and internationalist ideals, made him an inviting target to right-wingers eager for scapegoats in the wake of Germany's defeat. His departure for America on the eve of Hitler's ascension to power brings the story to a close.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einstein in Berlin is an ambitious book portraying a place and time in history as well as highlighting a person who tried to affected that place and time. Einstein's physics changed Berlin and the world yet his social activism could not open the eyes of his fellow Berliners or the world.

Thomas Levenson expertly weaves both the politics of the day and an individual. I grew to see why Einstein was such an important person of his day. The same man who revolutionized physics saw what Germany could be under the Weimar Republic and what it was becoming influenced by the National Socialists.

The only knowledge I had of the lead up to World War II was what I had learned in high school 25 years ago. This book gave me a view of what was happening in Germany leading up to both WWI and WWII. I really liked this book.

[Thomas Bach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although a well written book, Levenson relies on outdated and unconvincing discussions of German "character," the origins of WWI, and, what is worse, seems not understand the origin, course, and meaning of the German revolution or Weimar more generally. In addition, his discussion of Einstein adds little what was already known, and his description of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Gravity, and ideas is obscure when not being banal. All this is unfortunate.

[Fieroula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I don't like historical books and I am fairly good in theoretical physics, this book attracted me due to the historical facts and the approachable physics concepts. Strange? Might be, but Levenson did a very good job in putting Einstein's most productive years in the historical context of the Middle-War Berlin providing the reflections that the one had to the other. Great book in general...

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the most valuable passages was not even about Einstein:
[about Hitler]: "'The German people', he said were ' made up of children, for only a childish people would accept million-mark bills.' It was a demagogue's trick and an effective one, for ultimately children must be blameless. The fault lies with the grown-ups who allow them to come to harm."

[Antonio Toledo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro muito interessante. Além de contar sobre a história de um dos grandes gênios da humanidade, faz uma excelente contextualização histórica e permite uma visão da Alemanha no período entre as guerras mundiais.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives you a good history for Germany from just before WWI though the rise of Hitler. Einstein's story gives a good look at Einstein the man, the scientist and an explanation of his theories.

[Laura Quilter]

Einstein in Berlin by Thomas. Levenson (2003)

[Mike Lundgren]

Focused on Einstein's years in Berlin and the world events thatshape the man... and in turn how he shapes world events.

[Pavel Miksa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Čekal jsem, že se kniha bude více věnovat Einsteinovi během jeho života v Německu. Obsahuje spoustu informací o dvou světových válkách a okolní politické situaci, že jsem knihu ani neměl chuť dočíst.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly rich and deep account of a not so good time for Einstein.

[Rick Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty darn good. Just the right mix of physics and Einstein's personal flaws. I think I enjoyed it more than Isaacson's biography too.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book which but Einstein's life in the context of the changing fortunes of interwar Berlin