Einstein and Heisenberg

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Einstein’s Youth

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 1-16

3. Heisenberg’s Youth

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 17-33

4. The Wonder Years

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 35-80

5. Impact of the Discoveries

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 81-109

6. Expulsion and the War Years

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 111-138

7. Social Affinities

   • Konrad Kleinknecht

   Pages 139-164

8. Back Matter

   Pages 165-185

   PDF

This is a fascinating account of two great scientists of the 20th century: Einstein and Heisenberg, discoverers, respectively, of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. It connects the history of modern physics to the life stories of these two extraordinary physicists.These discoveries laid the foundation of modern physics, without which our digitized world of computers, satellites, and innovative materials would not be possible. This book also describes in comprehensible terms the complicated science underlying the two discoveries.The twin biography highlights the parallels and differences of these two luminaries, showing how their work shaped the 20th century into the century of physics.

• Einstein biography
• Heisenberg biography
• history of general theory of relativity
• history of quantum mechanics
• history of quantum theory
• Einstein in World War II
• Heisenberg in World War II
• World War II physicists
• 20th century physicists
• history of atomic bomb
• A-bomb

“It is a fascinating read for everybody interested in the science and culture of their time. … This is an ambitious book, which tells the story of the birth of modern physics in a well-documented and well-illustrated way. The author has managed brilliantly to do this in a serious, but nevertheless entertaining, way, which will make the book a pleasant read for all.” (Peter Jenni, CERN Courier, cerncourier.com, Vol. 60 (2), 2020)

• Universität München, Universität Mainz, München, Germany

  Konrad Kleinknecht

Konrad Kleinknecht is a Professor of Experimental Physics. He has done research at CERN, in Geneva, and at the Universities of Heidelberg, Dortmund, Mainz, and Munich. During 1976, he worked at Caltech in Pasadena and at the Fermi National Laboratory near Chicago. In 1988 and 1989, he was invited to give the Loeb lectures at Harvard University. His work on the physics of elementary particles has been recognized through numerous prizes, among them the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Council (DFG), the High Energy Prize of the European Physical Society, and the Stern-Gerlach Medal of the German Physical Society (DPG). In addition to research papers, he has published books on the asymmetry of matter and anti-matter, particle detectors, and the politics of German energy policy.

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