Encounters with Einstein [Paperback]

Werner Heisenberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691024332 | ISBN-13: 978-0691024332 | Publication Date: October 1, 1989

In nine essays and lectures composed in the last years of his life, Werner Heisenberg offers a bold appraisal of the scientific method in the twentieth century--and relates its philosophical impact on contemporary society and science to the particulars of molecular biology, astrophysics, and related disciplines. Are the problems we define and pursue freely chosen according to our conscious interests? Or does the historical process itself determine which phenomena merit examination at any one time? Heisenberg discusses these issues in the most far-ranging philosophical terms, while illustrating them with specific examples.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691024332
• ISBN-13: 978-0691024332
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essays from Heisenberg's Later Years, 1972-1975, April 6, 2004

By 

Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Encounters with Einstein (Paperback)

These essays were first published by Seabury Press in 1983 under the title Tradition in Science. A new edition, titled Encounters with Einstein And Other Essays on People, Places, and Particles, was published in 1989 by Princeton University Press.

Throughout his life Werner Heisenberg shared his enthusiasm for physics and philosophy, frequently giving presentations to general audiences. Several essays address the history of quantum physics. Others are more technical and include topics like cosmic radiation, particle physics, and closed-theories in physics. All essays are well-crafted and should be accessible to a wide audience.

Heisenberg only met Einstein on a few occasions. The title essay, Encounters with Einstein, describes these encounters, including a final meeting at Princeton a few months before Einstein's death. While he admitted that he had never discussed politics with Einstein, Heisenberg did comment on Einstein's pacifism. Heisenberg does not discuss his own beliefs, nor his role in WWII Germany.

At several points in this collection Heisenberg expresses his concerns with the theoretical direction that particle physics was taking in the early 1970s. In his essay "What is an Elementary Particle?", he expresses his doubts regarding quark theory. It was interesting to see Heisenberg in one essay lamenting Einstein's reluctance to accept quantum theory while elsewhere he himself was having difficulty with quark theory.

I highly recommend these essays for any reader wishing to become more acquainted with Heisenberg. Also, as a follow-up I suggest reading Philosophical Problems of Quantum Physics, a collection of Heisenberg's lectures that span 1932-1948.

The more persistent reader might be interested in Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. This work by Heisenberg is more philosophical and requires careful reading. This volume benefits from a lengthy and scholarly overview by F. S. C. Northrop, Sterling Professor of Philosophy and Law, Yale University.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The retrospective of a man with a two-sided past, April 25, 2002

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Encounters with Einstein (Paperback)

This book reminds me a great deal of, "A Mathematician's Apology" by Hardy. Like Hardy, Heisenberg is in his last years, and knows that his productive ones are behind him. Therefore, he puts forward a series of essays and lectures that are a retrospective of his activity in physics as well as some philosophical thoughts concerning where he believes it is going.
Heisenberg was a Nobel prize winner and the first enunciator of the uncertainty principle that bears his name. For these reasons, his thoughts on some of the consequences of the principle are well worth reading. However, Heisenberg is also known for other, more dark reasons. He was the director of the German atomic projects in World War II and seemed to have little difficulty in working under the Nazi tyranny while many of his colleagues were hounded and executed. He also proved to be an effective survivor, becoming the head of the Max Planck Institute of Physics in West Germany after the war.
This involvement with the Nazis makes the chapter "Encounters and Conversations with Albert Einstein" fascinating reading. From it, you would not know about his record of collaboration with the regime that tried to exterminate Einstein and his ideas. One must read that chapter very carefully and do a great deal of reading between the lines to really understand what is being said. The fact that Einstein was willing to meet with Heisenberg after the war tells a lot more about Einstein that it does about Heisenberg.
This book is interesting as much for what is not said as it is for what is said. This was an opportunity for Heisenberg to say something about his involvement in some very bad things as well as to put forward thoughts about physics. The first was missed and the second was a hit. If you are interested in some thoughts about how physics has evolved this century from one of best practitioners, then this is a book that will interest you.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insight and inspiration, July 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Encounters with Einstein (Paperback)

This is an excellent bedside book for anyone interested in the development of quantum mechanics by one of its primary discoverers. This small book of short essays provides insight into the life and personality of one of the greatest (and most enigmatic) physicists of the 20th century. This is not a technical book, nor is it an introduction to (or explaination of) quantum theory. Rather, each essay provides a unique sidebar on a variety of topics to which WH has either contributed directly or considered in detail. Heisenberg is a lucid and concise writer of remarkable insight.