Jürgen Renn

A fundamentally new approach to the history of science and technology This book presents a new way of thinking about the history of science and technology, one that offers a grand narrative of human history in which knowledge serves as a critical factor of cultural evolution. Jürgen Renn examines the role of knowledge in global transformations going back to the dawn of civilization while providing vital perspectives on the complex challenges confronting us today in the Anthropocene—this new geological epoch shaped by humankind. Renn reframes the history of science and technology within a much broader history of knowledge, analyzing key episodes such as the evolution of writing, the emergence of science in the ancient world, the Scientific Revolution of early modernity, the globalization of knowledge, industrialization, and the profound transformations wrought by modern science. He investigates the evolution of knowledge using an array of disciplines and methods, from cognitive science and experimental psychology to earth science and evolutionary biology. The result is an entirely new framework for understanding structural changes in systems of knowledge—and a bold new approach to the history and philosophy of science. Written by one of today's preeminent historians of science, The Evolution of Knowledge features discussions of historiographical themes, a glossary of key terms, and practical insights on global issues ranging from climate change to digital capitalism. This incisive book also serves as an invaluable introduction to the history of knowledge.

Rethinking Science for the Anthropocene

The Evolution of Knowledge

Albert Einstein

Mileva Marić

Lettere d'amore

Hanoch Gutfreund

An annotated facsimile edition of Einstein's handwritten manuscript on the foundations of general relativity This richly annotated facsimile edition of "The Foundation of General Relativity" introduces a new generation of readers to Albert Einstein's theory of gravitation. Written in 1915, this remarkable document is a watershed in the history of physics and an enduring testament to the elegance and precision of Einstein's thought. Presented here is a beautiful facsimile of Einstein's original handwritten manuscript, along with its English translation and an insightful page-by-page commentary that places the work in historical and scientific context. Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn's concise introduction traces Einstein's intellectual odyssey from special to general relativity, and their essay "The Charm of a Manuscript" provides a delightful meditation on the varied afterlife of Einstein's text. Featuring a foreword by John Stachel, this handsome edition also includes a biographical glossary of the figures discussed in the book, a comprehensive bibliography, suggestions for further reading, and numerous photos and illustrations throughout.

The History and Meaning of Einstein's "The Foundation of General Relativity", Featuring the Original Manuscript of Einstein's Masterpiece

The Road to Relativity

Albert Einstein: Dokumente eines Lebensweges

Chief Engineer of the Universe

In 1905, Albert Einstein published five scientific articles that fundamentally changed the world-view of physics: The Special Theory of Reativity revolutionized our concept of space and time, E=mc? became the best-known equation in physics. On the occasion of the 100th aniversary of Einstein's "annus mirabilis" 1905, the UNESCO declared the year 2005 the "World Year of Physics", in order to draw attention to the impact of physics. The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science dedicates an exhibition to the easily most important scientist of the 20th century. The exhibition is accompanied by a two-volume catalogue . The elaborate, four-colour first volume (Albert Einstein - Chief Engineer of the Universe: Einstein's Life and Work in Context) mirrors the structure of the exhibition, containing detailed, easy-to-understand information on the three large exhibition areas - World-view and discovery - Einstein - his life - Einstein's world today. On the basis of Einstein's innovative theoretical work, the text explains changing historical world-views as well as the conditions under which science develops, shedding light on the bumpy path of Einstein's life and the political and social revolutions which formed its background. This bridge between scientific and cultural history opens up a perspective on Einstein's biography which goes far beyond the traditional picture of this exceptional science genius. The book concludes with a depiction of the effects of Einstein's work on today's science and culture. A DVD with animations and film sequences from the exhibition is enclosed. The second volume is a bilingual collection of source material (Documents of a Life's Pathway/Dokumente eines Lebensweges). Letters and manuscripts by Einstein as well as photographs of people and objects are reproduced in high quality and invite the reader to study the exhibition's sources more intensively.

Albert Einstein - Chief Engineer of the Universe 2 Volume Set

This four-volume work represents the most comprehensive documentation and study of the creation of general relativity. Einstein’s 1912 Zurich notebook is published for the first time in facsimile and transcript and commented on by today’s major historians of science. Additional sources from Einstein and others, who from the late 19th to the early 20th century contributed to this monumental development, are presented here in translation for the first time. The volumes offer detailed commentaries and analyses of these sources that are based on a close reading of these documents supplemented by interpretations by the leading historians of relativity.

Sources and Interpretations

The Genesis of General Relativity

Alexander S. Blum

Roberto Lalli

This contributed volume explores the renaissance of general relativity after World War II, when it transformed from a marginal theory into a cornerstone of modern physics. Chapters explore key historical processes related to the theory of general relativity, in addition to presenting a thorough treatment of the relevant science behind these episodes. A broad historiographical framework is introduced first, thus providing the broad context in which the given computational approaches and case studies occurred. Written by an international and interdisciplinary group of expert authors, these chapters will bring readers to a more complete understanding of Einstein’s theory. Specific topics include: Social and citation networks The Fock-Infeld dispute Wheeler’s turn to gravitation theory The position of general relativity in theories of fundamental interactions The pursuit of a quantum theory of gravity The emergence of dark matter in relation to cosmological models Institutional frameworks for gravitational wave search in Europe The Renaissance of General Relativity in Context is ideal for historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science. Students and researchers in physics will also be interested in the topics explored.

The Renaissance of General Relativity in Context

Michel Janssen

Einstein's field equations of gravitation are a core element of his general theory of relativity. In four short communications to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin in November 1015, we can follow the final steps toward these equations and the resulting theory's spectacular success in accounting for the anomalous motion of Mercury's perihelion. This source book provides an expert guide to these four groundbreaking papers. Following an introductory essay placing these papers in the context of the development of Einstein's theory, it presents and analyzes, in addition to the four papers of November 1915, a careful selection of (critical excerpts from) papers, letters, and manuscripts documenting the path that early on led Einstein to the field equations of the first November 1915 paper, but then took a turn away from them only to lead back to them in the end. Drawing on extensive research at the Einstein Papers Project and the Max Planck Institute for History of Science, this volume traces the intricate interplay between considerations of physics and considerations of mathematics that guided Einstein along this path. It thus presents a concise yet authoritative account of how Einstein found his field equations, affording readers who are prepared to immerse themselves in these intricacies a unique glimpse of Einstein at work at the height of his creative prowess. Highlights of this journey in Einstein's footsteps include the crucial pages (with detailed annotation) from the Zurich Notebook, the record of Einstein's early search for field equation with his mathematician friend Marcel Grossmann, and the Einstein-Besso manuscript, documenting Einstein's attempts with his friend and confidant Michele Besso to explain the Mercury anomaly on the basis of the equations that he and Grossmann had eventually settled on in the Zurich Notebook.

Sources and Interpretation

How Einstein Found His Field Equations

Kostas Gavroglu

This volume, compiled in honor of Sam Schweber, an outstanding historian of science, physicist and exceptional human being, offers a comprehensive survey of the present state of the history of science. It collects essays written by leading representatives in the field. The essays examine the state of the history of science today and issues related to its future.

Positioning the History of Science

Hubert Goenner

Jim Ritter

Tilman Sauer

The past decade has seen a considerable surge of interest in historical and philo sophical studies of gravitation and relativity, due not only to the tremendous amount of world-wide research in general relativity and its theoretical and observational consequences, but also to an increasing awareness that a collaboration between working scientists, historians and philosophers of science is, in this field, partic ularly promising for all participants. The expanding activity in this field is well documented by recent volumes in this Einstein Studies series on the History of General Relativity as well as by a series of international conferences on this topic at Osgood Hill (1986), Luminy (1988), and Pittsburgh (1991). The fourth of these conferences, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, was held in Berlin from 31 July to 3 August 1995, with a record attendance of some 80 historians and philosophers of science, physicists, mathematicians, and as tronomers. Based on presentations at the Berlin conference, this volume provides an overview of the present state of research in this field, documenting not only the increasing scope of recent investigations in the history of relativity and gravitation but also the emergence of several key issues that will probably remain at the focus of debate in the near future. RELATIVITY IN THE MAKING The papers of this section deal with the origins and genesis of relativity theory.

The Expanding Worlds of General Relativity

Peter McLaughlin

Peter Damerow

Gideon Freudenthal

The question of when and how the basic concepts that characterize modern science arose in Western Europe has long been central to the history of science. This book examines the transition from Renaissance engineering and philosophy of nature to classical mechanics oriented on the central concept of velocity. For this new edition, the authors include a new discussion of the doctrine of proportions, an analysis of the role of traditional statics in the construction of Descartes' impact rules, and go deeper into the debate between Descartes and Hobbes on the explanation of refraction. They also provide significant new material on the early development of Galileo's work on mechanics and the law of fall.

A Study of Conceptual Development in Early Modern Science: Free Fall and Compounded Motion in the Work of Descartes, Galileo and Beeckman

Exploring the Limits of Preclassical Mechanics

Sonja Brentjes

The contributions to this volume enter into a dialogue about the routes, modes and institutions that transferred and transformed knowledge across the late antique Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. Each contribution not only presents a different case study but also investigates a different type of question, ranging from how history-writing drew on cross-culturally constructed stories and shared sets of skills and values, to how an ancient warlord was transformed into the iconic hero of a newly created monotheistic religion. Between these two poles, the emergence of a new, knowledge-related, but market-based profession in Baghdad is discussed, alongside the long-distance transfer of texts, doctrines and values within a religious minority community from the shores of the Caspian Sea to the mountains of the southern Arabian Peninsula. The authors also investigate the outsourcing of military units and skills across religious and political boundaries, the construction of cross-cultural knowledge of the balance through networks of scholars, patrons, merchants and craftsmen, as well as differences in linguistic and pharmaceutical practices in mixed cultural environments for shared corpora of texts, drugs and plants.

Globalization of Knowledge in the Post-Antique Mediterranean, 700-1500

Annamaria Ciarallo

Jurgen Renn

Giuseppe Castagnetti

Studies on Nature, Technology, and Science at the Time of Pompeii : Presented at a Conference at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, 21-22 March 2000

Homo Faber

Hermann Schlimme

Wilhelm Osthues

Wissensgeschichte der Architektur vom Neolithikum bis zum Alten Orient.

Vom Neolithikum bis zum Alten Orient

Wissensgeschichte der Architektur Band I

First published in 1922 and based on lectures delivered in May 1921, Albert Einstein’s The Meaning of Relativity offered an overview and explanation of the then new and controversial theory of relativity. The work would go on to become a monumental classic, printed in numerous editions and translations worldwide. Now, The Formative Years of Relativity introduces Einstein’s masterpiece to new audiences. This beautiful volume contains Einstein’s insightful text, accompanied by important historical materials and commentary looking at the origins and development of general relativity. Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn provide fresh, original perspectives, placing Einstein’s achievements into a broader context for all readers. In this book, Gutfreund and Renn tell the rich story behind the early reception, spread, and consequences of Einstein’s ideas during the formative years of general relativity in the late 1910s and 1920s. They show that relativity’s meaning changed radically throughout the nascent years of its development, and they describe in detail the transformation of Einstein’s work from the esoteric pursuit of one individual communicating with a handful of colleagues into the preoccupation of a growing community of physicists, astronomers, mathematicians, and philosophers. This handsome edition quotes extensively from Einstein’s correspondence and reproduces historical documents such as newspaper articles and letters. Inserts are featured in the main text giving concise explanations of basic concepts, and short biographical notes and photographs of some of Einstein’s contemporaries are included. The first-ever English translations of two of Einstein’s popular Princeton lectures are featured at the book’s end.

The History and Meaning of Einstein's Princeton Lectures

The Formative Years of Relativity

Christoph Lehner

Matthias Schemmel

This volume reviews conceptual conflicts at the foundations of physics now and in the past century. The focus is on the conditions and consequences of Einstein’s pathbreaking achievements that sealed the decline of the classical notions of space, time, radiation, and matter, and resulted in the theory of relativity. Particular attention is paid to the implications of conceptual conflicts for scientific views of the world at large, thus providing the basis for a comparison of the demise of the mechanical worldview at the turn of the 20th century with the challenges presented by cosmology at the turn of the 21st century. Throughout the work, Einstein’s contributions are not seen in isolation but instead set into the wider intellectual context of dealing with the problem of gravitation in the twilight of classical physics; the investigation of the historical development is carried out with a number of epistemological questions in mind, concerning, in particular, the transformation process of knowledge associated with the changing worldviews of physics.

Einstein and the Changing Worldviews of Physics

Martin Wolf

Dieter Hoffmann

Bretislav Friedrich

Florian Schmaltz

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. On April 22, 1915, the German military released 150 tons of chlorine gas at Ypres, Belgium. Carried by a long-awaited wind, the chlorine cloud passed within a few minutes through the British and French trenches, leaving behind at least 1,000 dead and 4,000 injured. This chemical attack, which amounted to the first use of a weapon of mass destruction, marks a turning point in world history. The preparation as well as the execution of the gas attack was orchestrated by Fritz Haber, the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in Berlin-Dahlem. During World War I, Haber transformed his research institute into a center for the development of chemical weapons (and of the means of protection against them). Bretislav Friedrich and Martin Wolf (Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, the successor institution of Haber’s institute) together with Dieter Hoffmann, Jürgen Renn, and Florian Schmaltz (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) organized an international symposium to commemorate the centenary of the infamous chemical attack. The symposium examined crucial facets of chemical warfare from the first research on and deployment of chemical weapons in WWI to the development and use of chemical warfare during the century hence. The focus was on scientific, ethical, legal, and political issues of chemical weapons research and deployment — including the issue of dual use — as well as the ongoing effort to control the possession of chemical weapons and to ultimately achieve their elimination. The volume consists of papers presented at the symposium and supplemented by additional articles that together cover key aspects of chemical warfare from 22 April 1915 until the summer of 2015.

One Hundred Years of Chemical Warfare: Research, Deployment, Consequences

"Einstein begins his Autobiographical Notes with one problem he never quite solved: "What, precisely, is thinking?" To answer, he turns inward to the very shape of his thoughts, the ongoing struggle to connect local observation, or what he calls the "momentary and personal," to the larger "mental grasp of things." Einstein situates his greatest discoveries amongst the other twentieth-century breakthroughs in the field and closely examines how these discoveries punctuated and propelled his own intellectual development. The autobiography expands what we know about Einstein's childhood education, readings in philosophy, and journey to the theory of general relativity. In this book, Autobiographical Notes is accompanied by introductions, essays, and commentary by Hanoch Gutfreud and Jürgen Renn, who draw on biographical information, written correspondence, and their knowledge of Einstein scholarship to render these difficult texts accessible to readers. They have also collected critical writings by Einstein's contemporaries alongside Einstein's own responses to these interlocutors, as well as Einstein's Autobiographical Sketch, composed just before his death in 1955, which is published for the first time in English"--

Jürgen Renn

Books

Your next favorite book is out there