In an exhibition at the American Museum of Nature, Einstein's manuscripts from 1916, relating to the theory of relativity, will be shown for the first time. Also on display: a letter to President Roosevelt's letter, in which he warned that Germany was developing an atomic bomb
15.11.2002
By: Haim Handwerker
About half of the exhibits in the large exhibition about Einstein belong to the Hebrew University, but for now they can only be seen in New York. In 2005, on the centenary of the "wonderful year" of the great scientist, the fascinating exhibition is supposed to come to Jerusalem as well
More than anything, Albert Einstein regretted one thing he did in his life. It was the letter he wrote to President Roosevelt in which he drew his attention to the need for America to begin research for the development and construction of an atomic bomb.
Einstein was concerned about the information he received in 1939 that the Nazis were working on developing an atomic bomb. Regarding the warning letter he sent to Roosevelt, the president replied that he had ordered an investigation into the matter. Two years later, the United States began the Manhattan Project, a secret plan to build an atomic bomb. Experts disagree on how much influence Einstein's letter had on the president. What is certain is that the great scientist was not attached to the project.
He was rejected because he was perceived as a security risk because of his leftist views. The scientists who worked on the project were not even allowed to have contact with him.
In early 1945, Einstein wrote another letter to the president. A group of scientists who developed the bomb expressed concern about the way the United States would use the new weapon. Einstein asked the president to meet with one of the scientists, Leo Szilard, so that he could express his feelings to him. Roosevelt died on April 12 of that year and apparently did not see the letter. In August 1945, the United States dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima. 200 thousand people died.
The shocked Einstein feared that his name would be linked to the production of the atomic bomb. In response to a harsh letter sent to him by a Japanese newspaper editor in 1952, he emphasized that his only action was to write the letter to Roosevelt, so that the United States would enter into research in the field of the atomic bomb before the Germans did. "I did not see any other way, even though I have always been a pacifist," he wrote.
His support for the war against Nazi Germany angered members of the pacifist movement. To one of them, a conscientious objector who was about to be sent to prison, he wrote: "If all the young men in America had opinions similar to yours, we would stand defenseless in the face of an attack and easily become slaves." In an interview with "Newsweek" he said that if he had known that the Germans would fail in their plan to develop an atomic bomb, he would not have done anything.
Einstein did not want the United States to use the bomb. He wanted the Americans to develop technology that would deter the Nazis. Later he feared that the Cold War would deteriorate to the use of nuclear weapons, so he signed petitions in this regard and supported the disarmament of nuclear weapons.
The correspondence between Einstein and Roosevelt, like other documents related to this affair, are currently on display in a large exhibition, "Einstein: The Man Behind the Science", at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibition, which will be on display for nine months, is only an opening shot; In 2005, Einstein's "wonderful year" will be one hundred years old - he was then 26 years old, worked in the Swiss patent office and discovered most of his important discoveries, including the theory of relativity. In 2005, many events related to Einstein and his teachings will be held all over the world.
A little less than 50 years after he passed away, the great scientist, who seems to know his name but relatively few understand his contribution to humanity and science, continues to fascinate the world. The magazine "Time" chose him about two years ago as the man of the century. Michael Shaara, director of the astrophysics department at the Museum of Natural History and curator of the exhibition, says that the scope of his contribution is similar to that of figures such as Galileo and Newton. Among the documents displayed in the exhibition are pages from his manuscript on general relativity from 1916 (on loan from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem); his manuscript from 1912 dealing with the theory of special relativity (contribution of Edmond Safra loaned from the Israel Museum); His last notebook is also shown, in which he made notes and calculated calculations regarding the challenge he was unable to complete; It was his attempt, which provoked criticism in the world of science, to formulate one comprehensive theory that would deal with the secrets of the world.
The most fascinating document is missing. Everyone would like to get their hands on the first document he wrote regarding the theory of relativity from 1905. Einstein probably did not take what he wrote too seriously and threw it away.
The exhibition seeks to shatter the image of Einstein as an innocent person. "He wasn't like that," says Shaara. "He had firm opinions on many issues and he did not hesitate to express them and pay a price for it." He supported socialism, opposed McCarthyism and racism in all its forms. He came out against the lynching of blacks in America. When the black opera singer Marianne Andersen performed in Princeton, she was not allowed to stay in the only hotel in town; Einstein invited her to stay with him and they have been friends ever since. Since his activities raised suspicions that he was a Soviet spy, he became an intelligence target of the FBI. The exhibition also shows some of the FBI files about him.
Einstein was not a religious person. And yet he had a very strong connection to Judaism. He did not believe in God who bestows favors or punishes the individual for one act or another, but saw him as the one who stands behind the harmony of the universe. He supported the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and at the same time emphasized the need for cooperation between Jews and Arabs. He was one of the founders of the Hebrew University and even bequeathed all his writings and his library to it (see frame). The exhibition displays, among other things, the letter that Abba Evan sent him in which he was offered to be the president of the State of Israel. Einstein rejected the offer.
The exhibition tries to debunk the myth that Einstein was a bad student. This story about Einstein with low grades in school often comforts parents of intelligent children who bring home bad grades. But Einstein's school certificates show that he was actually an excellent student, especially in algebra and physics.
However, he did not like the education system. He was too talented and the education system was too rigid. "It's a miracle", he later said, "that modern teaching methods have not yet completely suffocated the holy curiosity to learn and explore". This is why he decided to study geometry alone when he was 12 years old
At the age of 16, he tried to be admitted to the Swiss Federal Technion, but was rejected because he failed the exams in history and languages. On the advice of the principal, he applied to another Swiss school, which practiced a "free thinking" policy. He loved mathematics and physics, but even there he thought the lectures and exams were unbearable. This is the reason why he often refrained from attending classes. Only with the help of the company of a friend named Marcel Grossman was he able to study and complete the matriculation exams. In the matriculation exams he received the maximum score (6) in algebra, physics, geometry and history. In chemistry he only got a 5. in geography a 4. and in French he had a problem. He received a 3. in 1905, aged 26, he did a doctorate.
The exhibition also presents Einstein's private life. "We didn't want to present Einstein in a one-sided way," says Shaara. "His private life was problematic. He was married twice, he had mistresses and he was not a perfect father."
In the explanation of the exhibition it is written that Einstein loved the company of women almost as much as he loved physics. The exhibition shows, for example, a letter he wrote to his first wife Milva that opens with the words "My dear kitty." You can also see the divorce agreement from that kitten; According to him, if he wins the Nobel Prize, she will enjoy his financial fruits. In 1913 he married his relative Elsa. During their marriage he had an affair with a relative of a good friend named Betty Newman. Einstein is quoted in the exhibition as someone who testified to himself: "I am truly a 'lone traveller' and I have never belonged with all my heart to my country, my home, my friends or even my immediate family."
Personal items are also displayed, such as a tea set from which he used to sip, pipes, his personal compass, as well as the certificate for the Nobel Prize in Physics that he received in 1921. There is also the certificate of exemption from the army that he received because he had Platform.
The exhibition also includes light aspects that undoubtedly indicate Einstein's status in those days. A boy named Frank Fellman sent a short letter to Einstein and asked him: "I want to know what is beyond the sky." My mother said you might know." Ann Cochin wrote to him: "I am a little girl of six years old. I saw your picture in the paper. I think you should get a haircut. That way you will look better." Indeed, Einstein's hairstyle occupied many. A journalist once asked him why his hair looked the way it did. Einstein replied: "Just carelessness".
The exhibition also refers to Einstein's scientific work in the last years of his life. In those years he tried to develop a comprehensive theory that would try to explain all the forces that exist in nature. "When Einstein worked on this towards the end of his life," says Shaara, "it was received with disdain and perceived by the mainstream in physics as an idle attempt. Today we see these things differently. Today there are many physicists trying to formulate this Torah. At this point without success, but nevertheless Einstein's work in this context is being treated seriously. He was also ahead of his time in this field."
In 2005 in Jerusalem
Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund, the former president of the Hebrew University, is very pleased with what he saw at the exhibition in New York. And he has good reason. About half of the exhibits in the exhibition come from the Hebrew University, where Einstein's scientific and personal estate is located. Einstein bequeathed to the Hebrew University his personal archive, which contained his writings and letters he received, as well as his private library. The entire material was transferred to the university in 1982. Prof. Zeev Rosenzweig was appointed curator of the archive and his book even accompanies the exhibition.
The archive currently has about 50 documents. The original material is not open to the public for fear that any exposure of it may harm him. Those who wish to look at the material are therefore forced to content themselves with photographs. A small exhibition about Einstein and his documents is displayed in the foyer of the National Library, but in Israel such a comprehensive exhibition about Einstein has not yet been presented.
"In Israel, we would not have been able to mount an exhibition on such a scale," explains Prof. Guttfreund. "This is a very big investment. And yet in 2005 this exhibition will come to Jerusalem."
In recent years, the Hebrew University has begun to present the treasure in its possession. A miniature exhibition on Einstein's work and life was shown in Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. This exhibition was also supposed to travel to Beijing, but representatives of the Chinese government asked to remove from it any connection to Einstein's Judaism and Zionism. The Hebrew University rejected the claim and the exhibition was not shown there.
The exhibition in New York will last nine months and in 2004 it will be shown in Los Angeles. In 2005 it will be possible to see in Jerusalem what is seen now in New York. However, the Hebrew University has more ways to get out of Einstein's legacy. The University is the inheritor of all its intellectual property rights. Any commercial company that wants to use his name has to pay them royalties. The university has a relationship with an agency in Beverly Hills that specializes in maintaining the rights related to famous dead people. Gutfreund declines to say how much money the university has made from those rights to date. According to a previous publication, it is an amount of 10 million dollars. From time to time lawsuits are filed against commercial companies that use the name or likeness of the great scientist without permission. Gutfreund estimates that around the year 2005 the demand for the use of Einstein's name for commercial purposes will increase.
1955-1879
Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany. When he was five years old, his father gave him a compass, which sparked his curiosity for physics and mathematics. In 1986 he began studying at a university in Switzerland, renounced his German citizenship and became a Swiss citizen. In 1903 he married Mileva Maric. A year before the marriage, his daughter Lisle was born, a year after them his son Hans Albert was born. His son Edward was born in 1910. In 1914 he separated from Mileva. The year the divorce took effect, 1919, he married his second wife, Elsa. In 1936 Elsa died.
In 1905 he presented the special theory of relativity, the photoelectric effect and the formula e = mc2. In 1921 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Two years later he visited Jerusalem and gave a scientific lecture there. In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, he gave up his job at a school in Germany and moved to Princeton in the United States.
In 1940 he became an American citizen. He died in 1955, aged 76. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered in an unknown location.
New York
An exhibition about Einstein in New York
Haim Handwerker, Haaretz
An exhibition reviewing the work and life of the physicist Albert Einstein will open tomorrow in New York. The exhibition will be held at the American Museum of Nature, in cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which owns Einstein's scientific estate.
The university transferred various items related to Einstein to the museum. The exhibition displays, among other things, Einstein's manuscripts from 1916, relating to the theory of relativity. This is the first time these articles have been presented in the United States. Also on display in the exhibition is a letter from Einstein to President Roosevelt, in which he warns that Nazi Germany is about to develop an atomic bomb, and Roosevelt's reply letter, which tells him that he ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. Einstein wrote a third letter before dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, in which he pleaded with the president not to use the bomb.
The exhibition reviews his personal life, including his marriage (twice), and the fact that he had several lovers. His personal items are also on display, such as his high school diploma where he excelled in algebra and physics, a tea set from which he used to drink, pipes, his personal compass and the Nobel Prize in Physics he received in 1921.
The director general of the museum, Helen Pater, said this week at a press conference that since Newton and Galileo there has not been a scientist who has changed the way we perceive the world like Einstein. Prof. Hanoch Goitfreud from the Hebrew University spoke about Einstein's involvement in the founding of the university, and his connection to Zionism and the State of Israel. The exhibition displays, for example, a letter written by Abba Ibn to Einstein, in which he was offered to serve as president of the State of Israel - an offer that Einstein rejected.
