referencebooks: An Einstein Dictionary

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referencebooks) wrote,
@ 2005-10-20 09:35:00

Entry tags:

biography, physics, science

An Einstein Dictionary
An Einstein Dictionary

By Sachi Sri Kantha.

Published by Greenwood, 1996.

This is a 6" by 9" clothbound book running to 298 pages including the bibliographies and index, plus a foreword, preface, acknowledgments, a chronology, a reader's guide, and a genealogy chart of Einstein's family.

This book has about 600 one- or two-paragraph long entries on Albert Einstein's life and contributions to science as well as to politics and philosophy.

For a sense of what's covered, here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "S" sequence:

SAILING
SALAM, ABDUS (1926- )
SALARY, ANNUAL
SCHAEFFER, CLEMENS (1878-1968)
SCHILLER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON (1759-1905)
SCHOPENHAURE, ARTHUR (1788-1860)
SCHRÖDINGER, ERWIN (1887-1961)
"SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT"
SCHWARZSCHILD, KARL (1873-1916)
SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS
SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)
SECURITY CLEARANCE
SEELIG, CARL (1894-1962)
SELF-CRITICISM
SELF-PROFILE

As you can see, there are lots of biographical entries, both for people whom Einstein worked with and people who influenced his thought.

The best thing I can do to provide a good sense of the kind of book this is is to copy one of the entries for you:

RELATIVITY PRINCIPLE (SIMPLIFIED). In his popular article on relativity published in the London Times (November 28, 1919), Einstein wrote a footnote, explaining "yet another applicatoin of the principle of relativity for the delectation of the reader: Today I am described in Germany* as a 'German savant' and in England as a 'Swiss Jew.' Should it ever be my fate to be represented as a bete noire, I should, on the contrary, become a 'Swiss Jew' for the Germans and a 'German savant' for the English" (Einstein, 1954).

During his first American visit* Einstein was asked by reporters to summarize the theory of relativity* in a couple of sentences. He obliged as follows: "Well, just as a joke and not to be taken too literally, relativity has this effect on any thought of the universe: up to this time the conceptions of time and space have been such that if everything in the universe were taken away, if there was nothing left, then there would still remain to man time and space. But under my theory, even time and space would cease to exist because they are inseparably bound up with the conceptions of matter" (quoted in Michelmore, 1962). Einstein A. Ideas and Opinions (1954); Michelmore P. (1962).

This is a good reference book on Einstein's life and work.

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	title correction delrosario 2005-10-24 05:47 pm UTC (link)
	hey, I looked this up and the title of this book is An Einstein Dictionary [not Encyclopedia] And thanks again for this great project. I like to go here to focus my attention back to books 'cause I often think too much about databases. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: title correction riurik 2005-10-24 05:58 pm UTC (link)
	You're right - thanks. I'll fix it now... (Reply to this)(Parent)

Einstein on Race and Racism - a new book out

delrosario
2005-10-31 03:21 pm UTC (link)

FYI, to anyone interested in Einstein, below is part of an email that I just received. (I had to shorten it cause it was too long for a livejournal comment.) I don't have easy access to the Einstein Dictionary because it is in another library on campus, but I do wonder if/how Einsten's anti-racism is treated in the dictionary.

Subject: Einstein on Race and Racism a new book out http://www.einsteinonrace.com

QUOTE: Albert Einstein

"There is, however, a somber point in the social outlook of Americans. Their sense of equality and human dignity is mainly limited to men of white skins. Even among these there are prejudices of which I as a Jew am clearly conscious; but they are unimportant in comparison with the attitude of the 'Whites' toward their fellow-citizens of darker complexion, particularly toward Negroes. The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me. I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.

"Many a sincere person will answer: 'Our attitude towards Negroes is the result of unfavorable experiences which we have had by living side by side with Negroes in this country. They are not our equals in intelligence, sense of responsibility, reliability.'

"I am firmly convinced that whoever believes this suffers from a fatal misconception. Your ancestors dragged these black people from their homes by force; and in the white man's quest for wealth and an easy life they have been ruthlessly suppressed and exploited, degraded into slavery. The modern prejudice against Negroes is the result of the desire to maintain this unworthy condition."

---Albert Einstein
"The Negro Question"
1946

Authors' Preface To "EINSTEIN ON RACE AND RACISM" By Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

More than one hundred biographies and monographs of Einstein have been published, yet not one of them mentions the name Paul Robeson, let alone Einstein's friendship with him, or the name W. E. B. Du Bois, let alone Einstein's support for him. Nor does one find in any of these works any reference to the Civil Rights Congress whose campaigns Einstein actively supported. Finally, nowhere in all the ocean of published Einsteinia -- anthologies, bibliographies, biographies, summaries, articles, videotapes, calendars, posters and postcards -- will one find even an islet of information about Einstein's visits and ties to the people in Princeton's African American community around the street called Witherspoon.

One explanation for this historical amnesia is that Einstein's biographers and others who shape our official memories, felt that some of his 'controversial' friends, such as Robeson, and activities, such as co-chairing the antilynching campaign, might somehow tarnish Einstein as an American icon. That icon, sanctified by Time magazine when it dubbed Einstein the 'Person of the Century,' is a myth, albeit a marvelous myth. In fact, as myths go, Einstein's is hard to beat. The world's most brilliant scientist is also a kindly, lovably bumbling, grandfather figure: Professor Genius combined with Dr. Feelgood! Opinion-molders, looking down from their ivory towers, may have concluded that such an appealing icon will help the great unwashed public feel good about science, about history, about America. Why spoil such a beautiful image with stories about racism, or for that matter with any of Einstein's political activism? Politics, they argue, is ugly, making teeth grind and fists clench, so why splash politics over Einstein's icon? ...

Yet, despite Einstein's clear intention to make his politics public -- especially his anti-lynching and other antiracist activities -- the history-molders have seemed embarrassed to do so. Or nervous. 'I had to think about my Board,' a museum curator (who doesn't want his name used even today) said, explaining why he had omitted some of the scientist's political statements from the major exhibition celebrating Einstein's one hundredth birthday in 1979.

... the fact that Einstein wanted his views made as public as possible seems to have slipped past his historians.

...Americans and the millions of Einstein's fans around the world are left unaware that Einstein was an outspoken, passionate, committed anti-racist.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Einstein on Race and Racism - a new book out riurik 2005-10-31 04:07 pm UTC (link)
	I've got An Einstein Dictionary right here. There are entries for a lot of people Einstein knew, but no entry for Paul Robeson or W. E. B. Dubois. Also no entry for Race or Racism. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Einstein on Race and Racism - a new book out delrosario 2005-10-31 04:11 pm UTC (link)
	thanks for checking. i guess this helps prove the point these authors are making. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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