Volume #13 of 30...huge project on Albert Einstein

"Caltech and Princeton University Press Release Thirteenth Volume of Einstein Papers"

September 26th, 2012

by

Kimm Fesenmaier

In the fall of 1922, when Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize in Physics was announced, the already-famous physicist was on a steamer headed for Japan. The detailed and poetic travel diary he kept during his journey to Japan, Palestine, and Spain is among the documents included in the latest volume in the Einstein Papers Project, The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: Volume 13: The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, January 1922–March 1923 (Documentary Edition), which will be released September 25.

The volume covers a turbulent 15 months in Einstein’s life and includes several hundred previously unpublished and unknown articles and letters, some of which express his desire for "a normal life." The scientist's writings convey a feeling of restlessness and a strong desire to escape the demands of his increased fame and heightened visibility. His diary entries paint a vivid picture of an Einstein who, fearful for his safety following the assassination of his friend the German foreign minister Walter Rathenau, decided to leave his home in Berlin and contemplated leaving academic life entirely, but who thoroughly enjoyed the sights and peoples he encountered for the first time on his six-month long voyage.

"This latest volume is extraordinarily rich, and illuminates in great detail Einstein's scientific work and his exchanges and collaboration with many scientists in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.," says Diana Kormos-Buchwald, the general editor of the series, a professor of history at Caltech, and the director of the Einstein Papers Project. "Most striking is seeing Einstein so thoroughly engaged in numerous professional and political activities while in private worrying about his own safety, given the rather violent atmosphere in Berlin at the time."
 
The volume contains 36 scientific writings by Einstein, including a paper written with Paul Ehrenfest, which anticipates the quantum measurement problem. During this time, Einstein also began investigating the possibilities and restrictions that relativity implied for a unified field theory of the gravitational and electromagnetic fields.

Published beginning in 1987, the first 12 volumes of The Collected Papers cover Einstein's life beginning with his early years up until his 44th birthday. By series' completion, The Collected Papers will comprise nearly 30 volumes and will contain more than 14,000 documents. Sponsored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Princeton University Press, the project is located at and supported by Caltech.     

Here are links to the previous volumes...

Volume 1. The Early Years, 1879-1902.
Volume 2. The Swiss Years: Writings, 1900-1909.
Volume 3. The Swiss Years: Writings, 1909-1911.
Volume 4. The Swiss Years: Writings, 1912-1914.
Volume 5. The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914.
Volume 6. The Berlin Years: Writings, 1914-1917.
Volume 7. The Berlin Years: Writings, 1918-1921.
Volume 8. The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918.
Volume 9. The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January 1919 - April 1920.
Volume 10.The Berlin Years: Correspondence, May-December 1920, and Supplementary Correspondence, 1909-1920.
Volume 11. Cumulative Index, Bibliography, List of Correspondence, Chronology, and Errata to Volumes 1-10.
Volume 12. Correspondence, January-December 1921.
Volume 13. The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, January 1922 - March 1923.

Richard C. Tolman and Einstein...Caltech, 1932

Jan. 8, 1932: Dr. Richard C. Tolman, left, and professor Albert Einstein stand in front of a blackboard at Caltech. Tolman led a seminar at Caltech for more than 50 scientists.

"Dr. Tolman and professor Einstein"   

by

Scott Harrison

July 25th, 2012

Los Angeles Times

Under the headline “Expanding Universe Theory Subject of Lecture,” a Los Angeles Times article reported the next morning:

PASADENA, Jan. 8. (Exclusive) — Exposed to the scorching rays of higher mathematics, the new-born expanding and contracting “lung” universe theory proved himself a Spartan brain child today.

Although the 200-inch telescope, now under construction may prove the theory untenable by revealing that the fraction of the universe now observable is not a fair sample, present data favors the belief that creation will not die, but keep on alternately swelling and shrinking forever.

Dr. Richard C. Tolman, professor of mathematical physics, brought these facts to light this evening when he addressed more than fifty distinguished scientists, including Dr. Albert Einstein, at the California Institute of Technology.

The seminar leader exhibited several mathematically correct models of self-perpetuating universes in the form of blackboard equations.

Dr. Einstein accepted Dr. Tolman’s invitation to interrupt the discussion at any time. After the “father of relativity” had commented in German for more than ten minutes, Dr. E. C. Watson suggested that Dr. Tolman interpret Einstein’s comments. “Oh, I think everyone here understood Dr. Einstein,” retorted Dr. Tolman as he glanced apprehensively about the lecture hall. A gale of laughter convulsed the audience.

The lecture was marked by Dr. Tolman’s most recent report of more than a year of effort on his part to subject the laws of thermodynamics to the relativity theories.

Dr. Tolman remained at Caltech until his death in 1948. During World War II, he served as chief science advisor to Gen. Leslie Groves on the Manhattan Project – the development of the atomic bomb.

A different photo of Tolman and Einstein, facing the blackboard, accompanied the quoted Jan. 9, 1932, Times article.

Einstein was a visiting professor at Caltech from 1931 to 1933. Since 2000, the Einstein Papers Project has been at Caltech. Additional photos are in this previous From the Archive post: Einsteins greets the media in 1931.

 
Richard C. Tolman [Wikipedia]

Deceased--Philip Geoffrey Saffman

Philip Geoffrey Saffman

March 19th, 1931 to August 17th, 2008

"Philip Geoffrey Saffman, 77; Caltech professor, leading expert on vortex dynamics"

by

John Johnson Jr.

August 22nd, 2008

The Los Angeles Times

Philip Geoffrey Saffman, the former Theodore von Karman Professor of Applied Mathematics and Aeronautics at Caltech and a leading expert on vortex dynamics -- the study of how liquids and gases of varying densities and viscosities interact -- died Sunday in Pasadena after a long illness. He was 77.

Among his best-known contributions to the field was profiling viscous fingering, which became known as "Saffman-Taylor Instability." This refers to the process by which a low- viscosity fluid forms a finger-like projection when injected into a higher viscosity fluid.

This work was key to helping the oil industry develop the best methods to recover oil in trapped basins, where water or steam must be injected to force the oil to the surface.

Saffman also made major contributions to the understanding of vorticity, which is the way ships and airplanes move through water and air, respectively.

In particular, he developed a precise mathematical understanding of wake turbulence caused by jets during takeoff. That analysis helped uncover the conditions that contributed to several aircraft accidents, including a Delta Air Lines crash in Dallas in August 1985, when the flight crew tried to land in a thunderstorm.

Saffman's work helped convince airlines and airports that they must allow a minimum amount of time to pass between takeoffs to let the wake turbulence of the preceding jet to subside.

"He really was one of the leading figures in fluid mechanics," said Dan Meiron, a professor of applied and computational math at Caltech. "He had an impact in almost every field of the science."

Despite his revolutionary effect on the field, he was an understated man with a dry sense of humor whose approach to his work was very simple, Meiron said.

No matter how complex the problem seemed, Saffman found a way to reduce it to its simplest elements and work from there.

"He didn't want to work on what he called the kitchen sink," Meiron said. "He really was about the basics."

Saffman was born in Leeds, England, on March 19, 1931, and earned his bachelor of arts, master of arts and doctorate at the University of Cambridge. In 1964, he was appointed a professor of fluid mechanics in Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science. He was named the Von Karman professor in 1995.

Saffman was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1988 was elected a fellow to the Royal Society, Great Britain's premier scientific organization. He also received the Otto Laporte Award from the American Physical Society.

Saffman served as associate editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and Physical Review Letters. He most recently was an editorial board member for the journal Studies in Applied Mathematics.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth; three children, Emma, Louise and Mark; and eight grandchildren.

[To Pamela...if you know of an older photograph, let me know.]