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The Born - Einstein Letters: Friendship, Politics and Physics in Uncertain Times (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Max Born (Author)
Key Phrases: presentation volume, Yours Max Born, Yours Einstein, Niels Bohr (more...)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In an age of mediocrity and moral pygmies, their lives shine with an intense beauty. Something of this is reflected in their correspondence and the world is richer for its publication."--Bertrand Russel, from original Foreword

"Inspiring bedtime reading for the Year of Physics." --Dennis Weaire FRS, Chair of History of Physics Division, European Physical Society

"Behind every icon lies a human being. Einstein the man emerges from this correspondence with Max Born as thoughtful, engaged and witty, charting the ebb and flow of fortune as he grapples with the scientific and social tumult of the early 20th-century. This record is a priceless resource for historians, and a fascinating read for scholars of all disciplines." --Professor Paul Davies, The Australian Centre for Astrobiology

"These letters display an engaging intimacy, wit, erudition and humanity. They reveal two powerful minds tackling revolutionary ideas while confronted by unprecedented challenges of academic and public life, in an era of profound intellectual and political upheaval. They are vivid reflections of their times, but also timeless." --Philip Campbell, Editor-In-Chief, Nature

"A wonderful insight into the ethos of a unique period in history, as well as into the thinking of these remarkable individuals." --Roger Penrose

"A priceless resource for historians, and a fascinating read for scholars of all disciplines." --Paul Davies, author of How to Build a Time Machine

"Diana Buchwald and Kip Thorne have added a preface that helps the modern reader understand some of the implications of what they come across...Great stuff!" --www.popularscience.co.uk

"The new preface contains valuable brief accounts of the way that physics, after the death of these two great minds, continued along lines they had pursued." --Nature

"This fascinating correspondence between two of the great and subtle figures of 20th-century physics provides a wonderful insight into the ethos of this unique period in history, as well as into the thinking of these remarkable individuals." --Professor Sir Roger Penrose FRS

"A new edition of The Born-Einstein Letters charts the fascinating story of their friendship. A preface by Kip Thorne and Diana Buchwald provides and excellent survey of the conceptual and philosophical issues that came to divide the two men." --Guardian

"With a well-informed introductory essay by Buchwald and Thorne, the correspondence is a delight, enabling us to trace the development of the intriguing friendship between the two physicists and to read their views on the great themes of physics and politics of their time." --Times Higher Educational Supplement

"An immensely readable personal account of Einstein's struggles with other physicists." --David Bodanis, author of E=mc2 in Washington Post

Product Description

This classic book is a gathering of letters between the two Nobel-prize winning physicists Albert Einstein and Max Born. For the forty years of their friendship, Einstein and Born wrote to each other regularly, discussing their views and feelings on the world wars, quantum theory, music, their families, the tragic plight of Europe's Jewry, and their own roles in the tumultuous politics of the time. Fascinating historically, The Born-Einstein Letters is also highly topical: scientists continue to struggle with quantum physics, their role in wartime, and the public's misunderstanding. Now reissued for "The Year of Physics," commemorating the centennial of Einstein's 1905 paper on relativity, the book will include a new preface by Kip Thorne and Diana Buchwald.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Macmillan (December 23, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1403944962
ISBN-13: 978-1403944962
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #151,402 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#18 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( E ) > Einstein, Albert

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Front Cover | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
presentation volume

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Yours Max Born, Yours Einstein, Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize, Grange Loan Edinburgh, United States, Great Britain, Bad Pyrmont, New York, Yours Hedi Born, Yours Born, Royal Society, Tree of Knowledge, League of Nations, New Year, Henry Goldman, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Carl Still, Frankfurter Zeitung, Maurice Pryce, Lord Haldane, Physikalische Zeitschrift, Institute of Physics, German Quakers, Sir Arthur Eddington

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Customer Reviews

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing the Human Side of Two Brilliant Scientists!!, July 14, 2005

By	Stephen Pletko "Uncle Stevie" (London, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

+++++

The highlight of this book by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born (1882 to 1970) is the letters he and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein (1879 to 1955) exchanged between the years 1916 and 1955. These letters (that were never meant to be published) show the human side of these brilliant physicists.

This book has an overall introduction broken up into seven sections:

(1) Note on this new edition by Gustav Born (one of Max Born's sons).
(2) Acknowledgements for this new edition again by Gustav.
(3) A Modern Preface to this new edition by historian Diana Buchwald and physicist Kip Thorne.
(4) Forward to the original edition by Nobel Prize-winning philosopher Lord Bertrand Russell.
(5) Introduction to the original edition by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Werner Heisenberg.
(6) Acknowledgements to the original edition by Max Born.
(7) A kind of Preamble to the letters again by Max.

Then we come to:

(8) "The Born-Einstein Letters"
(9) "Index"

I recommend reading the seven sections of the overall introduction first before reading the actual letters themselves.

Special mention should be given to the Modern Preface (written in Sept. 2004) to this new edition. This section is very thorough (it has more than 60 footnotes) explaining everything you need to know about the letters themselves.

The "Born-Einstein Letters" themselves are numbered for easy reference. The first letter is dated (Feb. 27, 1916) while the last is dated (Jan. 29, 1955). There are commentaries, explanations, and autobiographical remarks by Born accompanying almost every letter. As the modern preface says:

"These commentaries are striking in their candor, in their admiration for Einstein and the apparent need for Born to comprehend and explain some of the major disagreements with Einstein over the years."

This collection of 120 translated letters itself can be broken down as follows:

(i) 39 letters from Einstein to Born
(ii) 7 from Einstein to (Born and his wife Hedwig nicknamed "Hedi")
(iii) 17 letters between Einstein and Hedi
(iv) 48 from Born to Einstein
(v) 3 from (Born and Hedi) to Einstein
(vi) 1 from Born to Einstein's second wife
(vii) 1 in each direction between Einstein and Born and Max's friend, the physicist James Franck
(viii) 3 from Wolfgang Pauli, a theoretical physicist, to Born

As the modern preface says:

"The letters themselves constitute one of the most vivid and valuable testimonies in the development of modern science. They also tell us much about the personal hardships that Einstein and Born overcame during two world wars, the vagaries of academic life, the daily grind of administrative work, and the steadfastness and frailty of human relationships. Throughout runs a scientific dialogue that was central to their lives...

[Most of these letters] attest to the close, lively, and at times turbulent relationship among [Born, Hedi, and Einstein]. Esteem, affection, and occasional criticism from the Borns is countered by warmth from Einstein with occasional flirtatiousness toward Hedi and at times defensive, even wounded humor...

Born included [the 3 letters from Pauli (as indicated in viii above)] as they illuminate a misunderstanding between himself and Einstein about quantum mechanics...

The frequency, topics, and tone of the letters...reflect the initial closeness, and cooling and final rapprochement between Einstein and Born. Between 1916 and 1920 both wrote to each other eagerly. After Einstein's rise to national and international fame, they exchanged less than four letters per year on average, until the final year and a half of Einstein's life, when the early warmth returned and their correspondence regained its original intensity."

The themes in these letters and Born's commentaries impart an "impressive tapestry." Some include those of a personal nature such as Einstein's philosophy of life; his relaxed attitude towards mistakes in his scientific work; and Born's disappointment over the poor early recognition of his contributions to quantum theory. Larger social and political themes include Communism; Zionism; Born's and Einstein's extensive efforts to help Jewish scientists in the wake of Hitler's rise to power; the Holocaust; the atomic bomb; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and the evolution of Germany after World War Two.

In these letters we meet a large number of distinguished scientists of the era. We also see the extensive range of scientific issues that occupied Born and Einstein during their careers.

A highlight of this book (for me, at least) is the historical 1927 black and white photo of almost 30 distinguished scientists (all men except one woman) of that time. Born and Einstein are highlighted in this photo.

Don't worry! You don't have to know any science to read this book. You can simply skip those science parts you don't understand. However, knowing some science or having access to a good science dictionary would be beneficial.

Finally, there were two problems I found with this book:

First, there is no table of contents. I thought this odd since the book is so well organized. Instead there is only a title page that only lists (without giving page numbers) 5 of the 9 sections indicated above. For a book of such important historical and scientific historical magnitude, I thought this was a major oversight.

Secondly, the index is only a name index. There is no subject index. Why? There is an impressive array of topics covered in these historical letters (some of which I touched on above). Thus, I think a subject index should have been mandatory.

In conclusion, this is a unique book that includes the actual letters between Albert Einstein and Max Born. Be sure to read this book and see why Born said, "With [Einstein's] death, we, my wife and I, lost our dearest friend."

(first published in English 1971; this edition published 2005; overall introduction of 7 sections; 120 letters with commentaries; overall introduction and letters comprise 270 pages; name index)

+++++

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vivid account of XXth century history and science , January 14, 2008

By	Juan Suarez Garcia - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the history of a lifelong frienship between two great scientists, but is much more than this as it covers perhaps the most dramatic period of the history of humanity. Their lives were conditioned by the two world wars which originated the scene in which we all live now in XXI century.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A peculiar glimpse into the relationship of two physicists, August 6, 2007

By	db (California) - See all my reviews

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Take a great mathematician, add to it the talent of a philosopher, the mindfulness of a Buddhist monk and the intuition of a gifted doctor and you get a world's greatest physicist. This book is a peculiar glimpse into the relationship of two accomplished physicists. The letters touch up on a number of scientific, humanitarian, and political issues. Enlightening account of two intelligent people dealing with the inevitable intellectual and personal differences within the context of their freindship. A fascinating account of Einstein's state of mind during his last days and his general attitude towards dying at the end of the book. The translations are done in questionable English but it only adds to the charms. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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