albert einstein philosopher scientist paul arthur (2 résultats)

First edition, signed limited issue, number 555 of 760 copies signed and dated by Einstein. The book and slipcase are in fine condition, and they are housed in the elusive original cardboard packaging, which is numbered to match the limitation. This is the first copy that we have handled in its original packaging. Issued on his 70th birthday, this handsomely produced volume includes the first appearance in print of Einstein's autobiography, specially written for the book and itself an important scientific contribution. In addition to the autobiographical notes, in which Einstein famously describes the awakening of his scientific curiosity when shown a compass as a child, the book presents a series of essays on Einstein's work and achievements by 25 of his contemporaries, including Niels Bohr, Max Born, Kurt Gödel, and Wolfgang Pauli. Several of these have become seminal papers in their own right: "Bohr's account of his discussion with Einstein has been called 'one of the great masterpieces of modern scientific reporting'" (Jammer, p. 136) and Gödel's "appears to be the only published piece by [him] that deals with philosophical issues not directly concerned with mathematics" (Feferman, p. 199). A bibliography of Einstein's writings is also included. This copy is accompanied by correspondence between a former owner, George Pratt of Portland, Oregon, and the Open Court Publishing Company, who issued the Library of Living Philosophers series from 1959 onwards. Pratt's name is written in ink on the cardboard packaging. Primarily dated between 1974 and 1975, the typed letters (mostly supplied in photocopy) detail Pratt's successful verification of Einstein's signature. They include testimony from R. F. Gehner, a representative of the George Banta Publishing Company (printer of the series), in which Gehner recounts personally delivering 760 copies of Philosopher-Scientist to Einstein and observing him sign them. A portion of the original glassine jacket is also present in the envelope. Weil Appendix, p. 41. Solomon Feferman, introductory note to Gödel's Collected Works, vol. 2, 1990; Max Jammer, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, 1974. Octavo. Portrait frontispiece after Yousuf Karsh and plate (facsimile of Einstein's handwriting and portrait in his studio with the editor). Original brown morocco-grain cloth over bevelled boards, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, gilt facsimile of Einstein's signature to front board, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With original brown card slipcase and the original cardboard packaging, the latter annotated "no. 555". Housed in a brown quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. All in fine condition.

First edition. LIMITED EDITION SIGNED BY EINSTEIN. First edition, number 629 of 760 numbered copies signed and dated by Einstein. This important volume contains Einstein's autobiography, specially written for the book, and itself an important scientific contribution. It also includes a bibliography of his works, twenty-five scientists' discussions of Einstein's work and achievements, with Einstein's response in his 'Remarks Concerning the Essays Brought Together in this Co-Operative Volume'. Contributors of essays include Niels Bohr, Max Born, Wolfgang Pauli, and Kurt Gödel. Nobel laureate Isidore Rabi's review hailed this as a most important and significant volume: "It is most difficult to get scientists to write simply and clearly about the fundamentals of their science and the leading philosophical ideas that guide them. Yet these very attitudes, preferences, and tastes are the fundamental ingredients which give quality, differentiation, and individuality to scientific creation and discovery" (Science 3 (1950), pp. 409-410). The book begins with Einstein's 'Autobiographical Notes'. "Everyone who knows Professor Einstein personally is all too well aware of his extreme shyness and his honest and forthright humility. I do not believe that there would have been one chance in ten thousand that the world would ever have secured an autobiography from the hand of Professor Einstein, if the unique nature of the Library of Living Philosophers had not finally convinced him of the worth-while-ness and significance of such an 'obituary', as he calls his autobiography. Einstein's 'Autobiographical Notes' in themselves assure, therefore, the unique importance of this volume" (Preface, p. xiv). Perhaps the most famous contribution other than by Einstein himself is Bohr's 'Discussion with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics' "Bohr's account of his discussion with Einstein has been called 'one of the great masterpieces of modern scientific reporting.' According to Abraham Pais 'nowhere in the literature can a better access to [Bohr's] thinking be found'" (Jammer, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, p. 136). There is also Gödel's 'A Remark about the Relationship between Relativity Theory and Idealistic Philosophy,' a seminal paper on the concept of time, which "appears to be the only published piece by Gödel that deals with philosophical issues not directly concerned with mathematics" (S. Feferman, Introductory note, Gödel's Collected Works, Vol. II, p. 199). In Hans Reichenbach's 'The Philosophical Significance of the Theory of Relativity,' the "argument over the nature and role of conventions in science reach[ed] its highest level of sophistication The question is whether the choice of a geometry is empirical, conventional, or a priori" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). "In this book there is played out a great scientific drama of the last two decades. The central theme is not a matter which is strictly scientific. It is not whether quantum mechanics is correct in the sense that it gives a true or false description of physical phenomena. It is agreed that quantum mechanics has been extraordinarily fertile in predicting new phenomena which have been verified by experiment and that it has reconciled a whole host of seemingly contradictory experimental results. "The sole question is whether quantum mechanics is satisfactory from the philosophic and aesthetic point of view, and whether it is a good point of departure for a more profound understanding of physical phenomena. "The book starts with an intellectual autobiography by Einstein himself. He satirically calls it his obituary. It is a singularly moving and charming document. I know of no other to compare with it. Neither Newton nor Maxwell nor any of the other great giants of physics had his Schilpp to catalyse such an effort. After reading Einstein's article one realises the great loss this is to scientific culture. "Einstein traces the development of his scientific attitudes frankly and objectively with many amusing digressions on education and other topics. He describes the crosscurrents of the scientific thinking of his day and the points of departure from which he made his great early contributions to statistics, quantum theory and relativity. It is an entrancing story. At the end it becomes manifest that relativity and field theory are his great loves. In these fields and modes of thought he finds real joy and comfort of spirit. Quantum theory, which has so completely pervaded the thinking of this age, leaves him quite cold. To him it is a provisional and useful structure but only, so to speak, 'what to do till the doctor comes.' Yet as becomes clear in later articles particularly those of Bohr, Born, and Pauli Einstein, almost more than anyone else after Planck, formulated the leading ideas on which quantum mechanics is founded. From a reading of Einstein's article, one has the impression that he never permitted himself to grasp the importance and significance of his own tremendous contributions to quantum theory. "For all the revolution which he brought to modern physics, Einstein remains the great classicist. Statistics for him are a means of gaining knowledge in situations where one is of necessity ignorant of the precise values and properties of many of the variables. However, to introduce a statistical interpretation into the very fundamental relations of physics, into the simplest conceivable physical situations, is repugnant to him. It is best summed up in his statement that he is willing to believe that the dear God plays dice, but not according to fixed rules. "With this attitude, Einstein has withdrawn himself from the mainstreams of physics of the last two decades. He has devoted himself to what he believes will be the right path to the construction of a unified field theory, which will combine the gravitational and electromagnetic properties of matter. Such a program, if successful, would leave no room for such empi.