PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
HST
427/527
The Einsteinian
Revolution (Topics in Hist. of Sci.)
Fall 2011
Richard H.
Beyler
503-725-3996 · r.beyler(at)pdx(dot)edu
· web.pdx.edu/~drrb
Office hours TBA ·
Cramer 441-O
In 1905, a
comparatively unknown
physicist by the name of Albert Einstein published five scientific
papers which
revolutionized physics, including the first paper on what came to be
called
relativity theory and one of the foundational papers of the new field
of
quantum theory. Interpretations
and appropriations of these ideas affected not only physics, but many
other
domains of science, philosophy, the arts, and even world politics. This course
uses Einstein's life and career as a window on the cultural and
intellectual history of the
late 19th and early 20th century.
In this course we hope to gain a fuller understanding of:
• the scientific,
philosophical,
and practical contexts in which Einstein’s theories developed;
• the social and political context of science, particularly as revealed
by
Einstein’s biography;
• the impacts of Einstein’s theories in science, philosophy, and the
arts.
This course is a historical
examination of the development and impact of Einstein’s theories–not a
scientific analysis. Our goal is
not necessarily to assess the correctness or incorrectness of any
particular
theory in the view of present-day science. Also,
it is not necessarily our goal to develop a technical,
“internal” understanding of the scientic theories, although you might
wish to
pursue this in one of the optional assignments. Rather,
we will attempt to gain a picture of the social,
intellectual, and other resources which went into the development of
Einstein’s
theories, and how they were understood and appropriated by his
contemporaries. A background in
science is neither expected nor required (though it is welcome).
We will
be reading much or all of the following texts:
Einstein, Albert. Ideas
and
Opinions. New York: Crown Publishers; repr. New
York: Broadway Books, 1995.
Einstein, Albert, and Leopold Infeld, The Evolution of Physics: From Early
Concepts to Relativity and Quanta. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1938; repr. New York: Broadway Books, 1995.
Galison,
Peter L., et al., eds. Einstein for
the 21st Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Isaacson, Walter. Einstein: His Life and World. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.
Kern, Stephen. The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918.
2nd ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
We will probably make use of several on-line sources for some additional
assigned reading.