Einstein on science—— I believe intuition and inspiration 节选部分： I look at the picture, but my imagination can not describe the appearance of its creators.I watch, but I can not imagine is how to create the watchmaker's appearance .Human intellect can not accept four-dimensional.How can he understand God?For God is a thousand years and a thousand dimensions are presented. You see only in the survival of the Earth's surface completely squashed bug=方 . Only bug may have been given to the analysis of the rational, to study physics, even writing a book. It will be a two-dimensional world. Thought and mathematics, it can even understand the third dimension, but it can not be a third dimension intuitively imagined. On exactly the same with only unfortunate bug, in this case, the only distinction In mathematics , one can imagine the fourth dimension, but physically, people can not see and intuitively imagine a fourth dimension . For him, the fourth dimension is only in mathematics there. His intellect does not understand the fourth dimension. 在数学中， 一 能成象四维，但在物理上 人 不能看到与直观地想象一个四分之一的尺度。 上面这句是我的翻译，One应当是数字一，而非一个人。 Mathematical concept mathematics from wiki The first reference to spacetime as a mathematical concept was in 1754 by Jean le Rond d'Alembert in the article Dimension in Encyclopedie . Another early venture was by Joseph Louis Lagrange in his Theory of Analytic Functions (1797, 1813). He said, " One may view mechanics as a geometry of four dimensions, and mechanical analysis as an extension of geometric analysis" . “ 一 ” 可以看做四维的几何结构（具体形状），以及几何扩展的结构分析 。 这个“一”是什么呢？！
人死如灯灭：爱因斯坦很超脱 爱因斯坦生前不要虚荣，死后更不要哀荣。他留下遗嘱，要求不发讣告，不举行葬礼。他把自己的脑供给医学研究，身体火葬焚化，骨灰秘密的撒在不让人知道的河里，不要有坟墓也不想立碑。在把他的遗体送到火葬场火化的时候，随行的只有他最亲近的 12 个人，而其他人对于火化的时间和地点都不知道。 爱因斯坦在去世之前 , 把他在 普林斯顿 默谢雨街 112 号的房子留给跟他工作了几十年的秘书杜卡斯小姐，并且强调： “ 不许把这房子变成博物馆。 ” 他不希望把默谢雨街变成一个朝圣地。他一生不崇拜偶像，也不希望以后的人把他当作偶像来崇拜。 爱因斯坦曾经说过： “ 我自己不过是自然的一个极微小的部分 ” ，他把一切献给了人类从自然界获得自由的征程，最后连自己的骨灰也回到了大自然的怀抱。但是正如英费尔德第一次与他接触时所感受到的那样： “ 真正的伟大和真正的高尚总是并肩而行的 ” ，爱因斯坦的伟大业绩和精神永远留给了人类。 http://baike.baidu.com/view/2218.htm ==================== http://timelines.com/1955/4/18/albert-einstein-dies The death of Albert Einstein came on April 18,1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. After a long illness, he died peacefully in hissleep. The listed cause of death is a ruptured artery in his heart. Upon hisrequest in his will, there was no funeral, no grave, and no marker. His brainwas donated to science and his body was cremated and his ashes were spread overa near-by river. Source: home.pacbell.net http://home.pacbell.net/kidwell5/aebio.html ============================= On 17 April 1955, Albert Einstein experiencedinternal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, whichhad previously been reinforced surgically by Dr. Rudolph Nissen in 1948. Hetook the draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearancecommemorating the State of Israel’s seventh anniversary with him to thehospital, but he did not live long enough to complete it. Einstein refusedsurgery, saying: I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolonglife artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do itelegantly. He died in Princeton Hospital early the next morning at theage of 76, having continued to work until near the end. Einstein’s remains werecremated and his ashes were scattered around the grounds of the Institute forAdvanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. During the autopsy, the pathologist ofPrinceton Hospital, Thomas Stoltz Harvey removed Einstein’s brain forpreservation, without the permission of his family, in hope that theneuroscience of the future would be able to discover what made Einstein sointelligent. Source: UsefulTrivia.com http://www.usefultrivia.com/celebrity_trivia/ce. On April 17, 1955, the great mathematician andphysicist Albert Einstein was admitted to Princeton Hospital complaining ofchest pains. He died early the next morning (April 18) of a burst aorticaneurysm. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in an undisclosedlocation. Before the cremation, however, his brain was removed by Dr. ThomasHarvey, a pathologist at the hospital who wanted to know what it was that madeEinstein a genius. Harvey did not have permission to remove the brain, and whenthe fact came to light and he refused to return the specimen, he was dismissedfrom the hospital. For almost three decades, Harvey kept Einstein's brain inhis home, constantly on the lookout for researchers willing to study it. Most,however, dismissed the idea that Einstein's brain was physiologically differentin any meaningful way. In the early 1980s, however, Harvey was contacted byMarian Diamond, a neuroscientist from UCLA who proposed to count certain cellsin the scientist's brain and compare them with normal specimens. Although otherscientists questioned the validity of her methods, she found that Einstein didindeed have an unusual neuron-to-glial-cell ratio in one key area of his brain.Finally, in 1997, Harvey embarked on a cross-country road trip to return thebrain to Einstein's granddaughter in California. Ironically, she didn't want itand the great scientist's brain was eventually returned to the same pathologylab at Princeton Hospital where it's strange journey had begun more than fortyyears earlier. Source: UsefulTrivia.com http://www.usefultrivia.com/celebrity_trivia/ce... ===== AlbertEinstein was born at Ulm, Wuerttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. His boyhoodwas spent in Munich, where his father, who owned electro-technical works, hadsettled. The family migrated to Italy in 1894, and Albert was sent to acantonal school at Aarau in Switzerland. He attended lectures while supportinghimself by teaching mathematics and physics at the Polytechnic School at Zurichuntil 1900. Finally, after a year as tutor at Schaffthausen, he was appointedexaminer of patents at the Patent Office at Bern where, having become a Swisscitizen, he remained until 1909. It was in this period that he obtained his Ph.D. degree at theUniversity of Zurich and published his first papers on physical subjects. These were so highly esteemed that in 1909 he was appointedExtraordinary Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich. In1911 he accepted the Chair of Physics at Prague, only to be induced to returnto his own Polytechnic School at Zurich as full professor the next year. In1913 a special position was created for him in Berlin as director of the KaiserWilhelm Physical Institute. He was elected a member of the Royal PrussianAcademy of Sciences and received a stipend sufficient to enable him to devoteall his time to research without any restrictions or routine duties. Source: THE NEW YORK TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisd.. ================================
NYTimesOBITUARY : Albert Einstein http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0314.html April 19, 1955 OBITUARY Dr. Albert Einstein Dies in Sleep at 76; World Mourns Loss ofGreat Scientist By THE NEW YORK TIMES Albert Einstein was born at Ulm,Wuerttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. His boyhood was spent in Munich,where his father, who owned electro-technical works, had settled. The familymigrated to Italy in 1894, and Albert was sent to a cantonal school at Aarau inSwitzerland. He attended lectures while supporting himself by teachingmathematics and physics at the Polytechnic School at Zurich until 1900.Finally, after a year as tutor at Schaffthausen, he was appointed examiner ofpatents at the Patent Office at Bern where, having become a Swiss citizen, heremained until 1909. It was in this period that heobtained his Ph.D. degree at the University of Zurich and published his firstpapers on physical subjects. These were so highly esteemed that in1909 he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Theoretical Physics at theUniversity of Zurich. In 1911 he accepted the Chair of Physics at Prague, onlyto be induced to return to his own Polytechnic School at Zurich as fullprofessor the next year. In 1913 a special position was created for him inBerlin as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute. He was elected amember of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences and received a stipendsufficient to enable him to devote all his time to research without anyrestrictions or routine duties. Elected to Royal Society He was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Society in 1921 , having also been made previously amember of the Amsterdam and Copenhagen Academies, while the Universities ofGeneva, Manchester, Rostock and Princeton conferred honorary degrees on him. In1925 he received the Copley Medal of the Royal Society and in 1926 the GoldMedal of the Royal Astronomical Society in recognition of his theory of relativity. He received a Nobel Price in 1921. Honors continued to be conferred onhim. He was made a member of the Institute de France, one of the few foreignersever to achieve such a distinction. Other great universities throughout theworld, including Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Zurich,Yeshiva, Harvard, London and Brussels, awarded honorary doctorates to him. One of the highest Americanscientific honors, the Franklin Institute Medal, came to him in 1935, when hestartled the scientific world by failing to deliver more than a merethank-you in lieu of the scientific address customary on suchoccasions. He made up for it later by contributing an important paper to theJournal of the Franklin Institute dealing with ideas, he explained, that werenot quite ripe at the time he received the medal. Dr. Einstein married Mileva Marec, afellow-student in Switzerland, in 1901. They had two sons, Albert Einstein Jr.,an electrical engineer who also came to this country, and Eduard. The marriageended in divorce. He married again, in 1917, this time his cousin, ElsaEinstein, a widow with two daughters. She died in Princeton in 1936. To Institute at Princeton in '32 When the Institute for Advanced Studywas organized in 1932 Dr. Einstein was offered and accepted, the place ofProfessor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and served, also, as the Headof the Mathematics Department. The institute was situated at Princeton, N.J.,and Dr. Einstein made plans to live there about half of each year. These plans were changed suddenly.Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany and essential human liberty, even forJews with world reputations like Dr. Einstein, became impossible in Germany. Heannounced that he would not return to Berlin, sailed for Europe and went toBelgium. Immediately many nations invited himto make his home in their lands. In the late spring of 1933 Dr. Einsteinlearned, in Belgium, that his two step-daughters had been forced to fleeGermany. Not long after that he was notifiedthrough the press that he had been ousted from the supervising board of theGerman Bureau of Standards. His home at Caputh was sacked by Hitler BrownShirts on the allegation that the world-renowned physicist and pacifist had avast store of arms hidden there. The Prussian Academy of Scienceexpelled him and also attacked him for having made statements regarding Hitleratrocities. His reply was this: I do not want to remain in astate where individuals are not conceded equal rights before the law forfreedom of speech and doctrine. In September of 1933 he fled fromBelgium and went into seclusion on the coast of England, fearful that the Nazishad plans upon his life. Then he journeyed to Princeton and made his homethere. He bought a home in Princeton and settled down to pass his remainingyears there. In 1940 he became a citizen of the United States. Einstein Noted as an Iconoclast In Research,Politics and Religion His EarlySpare-Time Reflections in Bern Led to Strong Belief in Social Equality and Hopefor a World Government In 1904, Albert Einstein, then anobscure young man of 25, could be seen daily in the late afternoon wheeling ababy carriage on the streets of Bern, Switzerland, halting now and then,unmindful of the traffic around him, to scribble down some mathematical symbolsin a notebook that shared the carriage with his infant son, also named Albert. Out of those symbols came the mostexplosive ideas in the age-old strivings of man to fathom the mystery of hisuniverse. Out of them, incidentally, came the atomic bomb, which, viewed fromthe long-range perspective of mankind's intellectual and spiritual history mayturn out, Einstein fervently hoped, to have been just a minor by-product. With those symbols Dr. Einstein wasbuilding his theory of relativity. In that baby carriage with his infant sonwas Dr. Einstein's universe-in-the-making, a vast, finite-infinitefour-dimensional universe, in which the conventional universe--existing inabsolute three-dimensional space and in absolute three-dimensional time ofpast, present and future--vanished into a mere subjective shadow. Dr. Einstein was then building hisuniverse in his spare time, on the completion of his day's routine work as ahumble, $600-a-year examiner in the Government Patent Office in Bern. Published Four Papers A few months later, in 1905, theentries in the notebook were published in four epoch-making scientific papers.In the first he described a method for determining molecular dimensions. In thesecond he explained the photo-electric effect, the basis of electronics, forwhich he won the Nobel Prize in 1921. In the third, he presented a molecularkinetic theory of heat. The fourth and last paper that year, entitledElectrodynamics of Moving Bodies, a short article of thirty-one pages,was the first presentation of what became known as the Special RelativityTheory. Three of the papers were published,one at a time, in Volume 17 of the German scientific journal, Annalen derPhysik, leading journal of physics in the world at the time. The fourth wasprinted in Volume 18. Neither Dr. Einstein, nor the world he lived in, norman's concept of his material universe, were ever the same again. Many other scientific papers, ofstartling originality and intellectual boldness, were published by Dr. Einsteinin the succeeding years. The scientific fraternity in the world of physics,particularly the leaders of the group, recognized from the beginning that a newstar of the first magnitude had appeared on their firmament. But with thepassing of time his fame spread to other circles, and by 1920 the name ofEinstein had become synonymous with relativity, a theory universally regardedas so profound that only twelve men in the entire world were believed able tofathom its depths. Legend Grew With Years Paradoxically, as the years passed,the figure of Einstein the man became more and more remote, while that ofEinstein the legend came ever nearer to the masses of mankind. They grew toknow him not as a universe-maker whose theories they could not hope to understandbut as a world citizen, one of the outstanding spiritual leaders of hisgeneration, a symbol of the human spirit and its highest aspirations. The world around Einstein haschanged very much since he published his first discoveries * * * but his attitudeto the world around him has not changed, wrote Dr. Phillipp Frank, Dr.Einstein's biographer, in 1947. He has remained an individualist whoprefers to be unencumbered by social relations, and at the same time a fighterfor social equality and human fraternity. Many famous scholars live inthe distinguished university town, (Princeton) Dr. Frank continues,but no inhabitant will simply number Einstein as one among many otherfamous people. For the people of Princeton in particular and for the world atlarge he is not just a great scholar, but rather one of the legendary figuresof the twentieth century. Einstein's acts and words are not simply noted andjudged as facts; instead each has its symbolic significance * * * Saintly,noble and lovable were the words used to describe himby those who knew him even casually. He radiated humor, warmth and kindliness.He loved jokes and laughed easily. Princeton residents would see himwalk in their midst, a familiar figure, yet a stranger, a close neighbor, yetat the same time a visitor from another world. And as he grew older hisotherworldiness became more pronounced, yet his human warmth did not diminish. Outward appearance meant nothing tohim. Princetonians, old and young, soon got used to the long-haired figure inpullover sweater and unpressed slacks wandering in their midst, a knittedstocking cap covering his head in winter. My passionate interest insocial justice and social responsibility, he wrote, has alwaysstood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct associationwith men and women. I am a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem orteam work. I have never belonged wholeheartedly to country or state, to mycircle of friends, or even to my own family. These ties have always beenaccompanied by a vague aloofness, and the wish to withdraw into myselfincreases with the years. Such isolation is sometimesbitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathyof other men. I lose something by it, to be sure, but I am compensated for itin being rendered independent of the customs, opinions and prejudices ofothers, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shiftlessfoundations. Center of Controversies It was this independence that madeDr. Einstein on occasions the center of controversy, as the result of hischampionship of some highly unpopular causes. He declared himself a stanchpacifist in Germany during World War I and brought down upon his head a stormof violent criticism from all sides. When outstanding representatives of Germanart and science signed, following the German invasion of Belgium in violationof treaty, the Manifesto of Ninety-two German Intellectuals,asserting that German culture and German militarism are identical,Dr. Einstein refused to sign and again faced ostracism and the wrath of themultitudes. But he never wavered when hisconscience dictated that he take a course of action, no matter how unpopular.One of these occasions came on Jan. 12, 1953, when he wrote to President HarryS. Truman: My conscience compels me tourge you to commute the death sentence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, thetwo convicted atomic spies who were executed five months later. In June, 1953,he wrote a letter to a school teacher in which he characterized certain tacticsof a Congressional investigating committee as a kind of inquisitionthat violates the spirit of the Constitution, and advised theminority of intellectuals to refuse to testify on the ground thatit is shameful for a blameless citizen to submit to such aninquisition. Faced with this evil, he said, he could see only therevolutionary way of non-cooperation in the sense of Gandhi's. Later that year Dr. Einstein adviseda witness not to answer any questions by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, Republicanof Wisconsin, relating to personal beliefs, politics, associations with otherpeople, reading, thinking and writing, as a violation of the First Amendment,which provides constitutional guarantees of free speech and associations. Thewitness, in refusing to cooperate with the subcommittee then headed by SenatorMcCarthy, said he was doing so on the advice of Dr. Einstein, who confirmed thewitness's statement. He was a severe critic ofmodern methods of education. It is nothing short of a miracle, hesaid, that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangledthe holy curiosity of inquiry. For this delicate little plant, aside fromstimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom. His political ideal, he emphasizedfrequently, was democracy. The distinctions separating the social classes, hewrote, are false. In the last analysis they rest on force. I am convincedthat degeneracy follows every autocratic system of violence, for violence inevitablyattracts moral inferiors * * *. For this reason I have always been passionatelyopposed to such regimes as exist in Russia and Italy today. This was written in 1931, two yearsbefore Hitler came to power. Dr. Einstein believed that asocialist planned economy was the only way to eliminate the inequalities ofcapitalism. However, he fully recognized that planned economy as such maybe accompanied by the complete enslavement of the individual. His love for the oppressed also ledhim to become a strong supporter of Zionism. In November, 1952, following thedeath of Chaim Weizmann, Dr. Einstein was asked if he would accept thePresidency of Israel. He replied that he was deeply touched by the offer butthat he was not suited for the position. He never undertook functions he couldnot fulfill to his satisfaction, he said, and he felt he was not qualified inthe area of human relationships. Chairman of Atomic Unit On Aug. 6, 1945, when the world waselectrified with the news that an atomic bomb had exploded over Japan, thesignificance of relativity was intuitively grasped by the millions. From thenon the destiny of mankind hung on a thin mathematical thread. Dr. Einstein devoted much of his timeand energy in an attempt to arouse the world's consciousness to its dangers. Hebecame the chairman of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, organizedto make the American people aware of the potential horrors of atomic warfareand the necessity for the international control of atomic energy. He believedthat real peace could be achieved only by total disarmament and theestablishment of a restricted world government, asupranational judicial and executive body empowered to decide questionsof immediate concern to the security of the nations. The hydrogen bomb, hesaid in 1950, appears on the public horizon as a probably attainablegoal. * * * If successful, radioactive poisoning of the atmosphere, and henceannihilation of any life on earth, has been brought within the range oftechnical possibilities. He found recreation from his laborsin playing the grand piano that stood in the solitary den in the garret of hisresidence. Much of his leisure time, too, was spent in playing the violin. Hewas especially fond of playing trios and quartets with musical friends. In my life, he said once,explaining his great love for music, the artistically visionary plays nomean role. After all, the work of a research scientist germinates upon the soilof imagination, of vision. Just as an artist arrives at his conceptions partlyby intuition, so a scientist must also have a certain amount ofintuition. While he did not believe in a formal,dogmatic religion, Dr. Einstein, like all true mystics, was of a deeplyreligious nature. He referred to it as the cosmic religion, which he defined asa seeking on the part of the individual who feels it to experience thetotality of existence as a unity full of significance. I assert, he wrote forThe New York Times on Nov. 9, 1930, that the cosmic religious experienceis the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research. Noone who does not appreciate the terrific exertions and, above all, the devotionwithout which pioneer creation in scientific thought cannot come into being canjudge the strength of the feeling out of which alone such work turned away asit is from immediate, practical life, can grow. The most beautiful and profoundemotion we can experience, he wrote is the mystical. It is thesource of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, whocan no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: hiseyes are closed. This insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it bewith fear, also has given rise to religion. To know that what is impenetrable tous really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiantbeauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitiveforms--this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. Inthis sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of devoutly religiousmen. I cannot imagine a God whorewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeledafter our own--a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human fraility.Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body,although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism.It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuatingitself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of theuniverse which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even aninfinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature. My religion consists of ahumble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in theslight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. Thatdeeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power,which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. The most incomprehensible thingabout the world, he said on another occasion, is that it iscomprehensible.
沈惠川：著名物理学家对 Einstein 的评价 创建一般相对论时的 Albert Einstein @ 要对 Einstein 的理论作出中肯评价的话，那么可以把他比作 20 世纪的 Copernicus ，这也正是我所期望的评价。 —— Max Planck @ 古来一切自然科学的思想和一切科学的哲理学说，都没有比 Einstein 的思想更高超的。他在现代物理学的思想中唤起革命，比 Copernicus 在他的时代创造的地动说还更广阔，更精深。 —— Max Planck @...... 他的非凡的天才使他不能成为一个好的导师，他的天才对希望赶上他的学生来说可能是不利的。 —— Max von Laue @ 自从 19 岁我开始转向理论物理学研究以来，我一直是 Einstein 及其学术工作的狂热崇拜者。我知道这位杰出而仍还年轻的学者在他 25 岁时已经将一些极富革命性的概念引入了物理学，使物理学的面貌焕然一新，他本人也因此成了当代科学中的 Newton 。 —— Louis de Broglie (1979) @Schrodinger 和我都深深崇敬 Einstein ，将他视为导师和科学泰斗。 —— Louis de Broglie @...... 在与 Einstein 的每一次接触中，我们大家都会得到启示；能够从这种启示中获得裨益对我是何等地重要啊！ —— Niels Bohr @ 在我们这一时代的物理学史中， Einstein 的地位将在最前列。他现在是，并且将来也还是人类宇宙中有着头等光辉的一颗巨星。很难说，他究竟是同 Newton 一样伟大，还是比 Newton 更伟大；不过，可以肯定地说，他的伟大是可以同 Newton 相比拟的。按我的见解，他也许比 Newton 更伟大，因为他对于科学的贡献更深入到人类思想基本概念的结构中。 —— Paul Langevin (1931) @Einstein 的工作从根本上带有开创性的特征。他从意想不到的方向打开新的思路；他创造了奇迹。 —— Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (1979) @ 关于他的学问，特别是广义相对论，那是天才的伟业；我现在有了更深的感受。在 20 世纪的许多出色的物理学家中，我认为他是高出一格的伟人。 —— 汤川秀树 @ 我们当中有一位物理学家：他的地位是因为其工作主导着两个世纪以来的时空哲学。这是我们这一代人特殊的荣幸。 …… 对 Einstein 理论的哲学做出贡献的有许多人，但是 Einstein 却只有一个。 —— Hans Reichenbach （ 1959 ）
沈惠川译： Albert Einstein 给 Hugh Everett III 的一封信 Albert Einstein 沈惠川譯：Albert Einstein給Hugh Everett III的一封信 1943年6月11日 亲爱的Hugh: 人不可能是万能的和常胜的。但人可以通过坚持不懈的努力，克服重重困难以达到胜利的目的。 忠实于您的 A.Einstein AlbertEinstein给HughEverettIII的信的原文 AlbertEinstein给HughEverettIII的信的原文 June 11, 1943 Dear Hugh: There is no such thing like an irresistible force and immovable body. But there seems to be a very stubborn boy who has forced his way victoriously through strange difficulties created by himself for this purpose. Sincerely yours, A. Einstein Hugh Everett III 注：“There is no such thing like an irresistible force and immovable body. ”亦可译为“决不可能有体积（质量）力和固定物体这样的东西。”或“绝无可能存在无所不在的神力和一成不变的东西。”
沈惠川译： Albert Einstein 给 Louis de Broglie 的两封信 Albert Einstein Einstein的第一封信 1953年5月 亲爱的deBroglie： 您建议以如下形式来表示物理学中的实在（完备描述）： 在此乘积中，一个因子代表粒子的结构，另一个代表波的结构。毫无疑义，其中包含着的双重结构的观念是令人满意的而且是我们在实验上可以接受的。这才真正是一个新的理论，而不是对旧理论的修修补补。我不明白的是，您是否认为，是整个乘积满足Schrodinger的原始方程式，抑或仅仅是该乘积中的“波动”因子或者两个因子都应当具有这种属性？ 如果这一乘积被换成是某种函数的和的话，您的目标仍可达到。用一个唯一的函数（一个组成部分）来最后表示一切只是必要的，因为也可以用几个组成部分的和来表示这一切。 您很清楚，这种选择上的任意性对于理论家来说是很大的不幸，因为它会使我们忐忑不安，所以我要寻找一种原理在形式上来约束它。现在我已顺利地克服了这种复杂性，也许用的是完全人工的方法。 但是，我们两人都持这种观点，即应当尽可能地捍卫对物理学中的实在的充分客观的诠释。 致以 友好的敬礼！ 您的A.Einstein 译注：此信中部分内容已被沈惠川的“德布罗意的非线性波动力学” 所引用。 Einstein的第二封信 1954年2月15日 亲爱的deBroglie： 昨天我读到了我久仰的您的那篇题名为“量子物理是非决定论的吗？”文章的德文译文，您的思想的鲜明性使我尤为高兴。令人惊讶的是，当我看到一切都是用母语表达出来时，我仍觉得它是那么地优美和生动！ 今天我给您写这封信，是源于一个特别的原因。我想与您扯一下，是何事情形成了我的方法论。确实，我可能仿佛是沙漠中的一种鸟——鸵鸟，总是将脑袋埋入相对论的沙土中，以避免与可恶的量子打照面。事实上，我与您一样，深信有必要探索一些基本的东西；然而眼下采取统计形式的量子力学却将这一必要性巧妙地掩盖了起来。 但是，我很久之前就已确信，不可能根据从经验得来的物理学对象的某种运动，用思辨的方法取得这些经过脑力劳动后便可提升人类智力的基本东西。这并非是我的无所作为之说，而是根据我多年努力对引力论的实践得到的结论。引力场方程式的发现只是基于纯粹形式上的原理（一般协变性），亦即基于自然法则赖以建立的有最大可能的逻辑简单性。由于，显而易见，引力论只是迈向发现包括磁场在内的更一般的最简单定律的第一步；所以，开始我认为，在获得解决量子问题的希望之前，应当沿着这条逻辑路线走到底。正是源于如此，我才成了“逻辑简单性”的狂热信奉者。 的确，现代物理学家们大多认为，通过这种途径是不可能到达原子和量子结构理论的。也许他们在这一问题上是正确的。可能根本就不存在量子场论。在这种情况下，我的努力就不可能解决原子理论的问题，或许甚至连我们接近它们也不可能。然而，这种否定论在其本身的结构上只有直观的根据，而无客观的根据。此外，我看不到除了逻辑简单性还有任何一条阳光大道。 这只是为了说明鸵鸟政策。我想，过去的一切从心理学的观点来讲可能会使您感兴趣，更何况您已再次丧失了对统计学方法终极价值的信念。 致以 诚挚的敬礼！ 您的A.Einstein 译注：“量子物理是非决定论的吗？”的法文原版题名为“Laphysiquequantiquerestera-t-elleindeterministe?”（Revued’histoiredesSciencesetdeleursapplications，V，1952，p289）。后，deBroglie又与J.-P.Vigier合作，仍以“Laphysiquequantiquerestera-t-elleindeterministe?”为书名，于1953年在Gauthier-Villars出版社出版。 Louis de Broglie
沈惠川译： Louis de Broglie 给 Albert Einstein 的信 Louis de Broglie 1954年3月8日 尊敬的Einstein先生： 拜读和回味您的来信是我深感兴趣的事。来信支持我继续更加深入研究我早在1927年就已提出的那些模糊的设想。您知道，现在我正在同几位青年助手共同研究，如何更加准确地说明和拓展这些概念；而且在这方面业已取得某些我认为是鼓舞人心的成果。 但是，您十分清楚，依然还有一些远未解决的重大难题。然而，我仍然认为，目前采用的统计诠释是“不完备的”，应当探索能够证明在量子力学中由统计规律造成的“波粒”二象性的精确的时空形式。 您在来信中谈到您对量子问题的态度和对“逻辑简单性”方法的信念，这引起了我的深思。确实，我认为，那些使您取得广义相对论和统一场论辉煌成就的普遍逻辑关系，在将来可以使人们更好地理解量子和波粒二象性的意义。 在我当前的研究工作中，我产生了这样的想法，即为了取得波粒二象性的概念，应当发展建立在非线性方程式上的量子力学，其中通常的线性方程式只是在一定的条件下才是近似正确的。然而，为了在这方面取得进展，必须在准确地说明这些未知的非线性方程式的类别上得到顺利的发展。这是一个非常困难的课题；而我看不出，仅仅依靠物理学的成果，怎样能够来解决它。我同意您的看法，解决这一课题，只能采取类似您取得广义相对论方程式的方法，即运用逻辑简单性的思想…… 我再次万分感谢使我受益匪浅的您的珍贵来信，感谢您对我的最新工作所给予的巨大支持。 Einstein先生，请接受我诚挚的敬意。 LouisdeBroglie Albert Einstein
立委按：镜兄点名了，还是说几句吧。请立委处理的段落，并无异议，放下。后一段则有说法。如果各位的引用（包括标点）是确切的话，即： It did not last. The devil, howling Ho! Let Einstein be ! restored the status quo ，就绝无上帝遣出爱因斯坦的可能：语言学上通不过。这段根本就没提上帝，何来上帝说？尽管诗文是可以出格的（叫 poetic license），也断无如此的无理。这句在语言结构上是如此清晰，我的自动语言分析器也会轻易解构： 恢复原状 的是魔鬼（主语）， 吼叫着让老爱来吧 ，是ING伴随情况状语，可以理解为魔鬼恢复原状所使用的工具是爱因斯坦。句法语义的语言学分析之后，剩下的就是各自理解的问题了。窃以为，镜兄的理解最贴切，而且高妙（ 于是自然又回到了自然， 及其诠释）。二傻的严复式翻译（ 亢龙有悔，否极泰来，氤氲蔽日，斗转星移。撒旦震怒，老爱出马，黯者复黯，明者复明！ ），雅有余而信不足，颇具古风，也自有其妙，可居第二。刘译韩译都是跛脚的，而且太白太陋（就恢复到这个样子等），不适合墓志铭的翻译氛围。立委胡评，如有冒犯，各位老师包涵。 究竟是谁说：Let Einstein be? 作者: mirror 日期: 12/05/2010 23:21:54 这是科网刘老师的博文 究竟是谁说：Let Einstein be? 。顺着链子，又看到了刘老师精彩的考证 牛顿墓志铭：Let Newton be？ 。本来是随便捧个场，说了两句话。但是又看了看文章，发觉事情好象并不是谁说了的那么简单。是教授们都错了呢？还是镜某想歪了呢？ Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night. God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.的说法中，采用了英文诗的写法，镜某评价不了，尤请立委处理。刘老师给出的多种译法中也没有什么优劣之分，不过是喜欢哪个罢了。天不生牛顿万古长如夜也是个温故知新。 问题是后来的 It did not last. The devil, howling Ho! Let Einstein be ! restored the status quo.韩刘两位就谁说的Ho! Let Einstein be !问题，官司打到了科网上。 两位共同的问题是如何理解restored the status quo。不久，黑暗再次降临。 魔鬼咆哮道：嚯！让爱因斯坦降生吧， 于是一切又成为光明。是刘译，光明并不长久，魔鬼又在咆哮。上帝说：呵！让爱因斯坦降生吧，就恢复到这个样子是韩译。 也许镜某与John Collings Squire有相似的思路，镜某以为刘老师错了两处，韩老师也错了两处。镜某的理解（翻译）是：可好景不长。魔鬼咆哮道：嚯！让爱因斯坦降生吧， 于是自然又回到了自然。 如果这段话是John Collings Squire所说，那么就要考察他的政治立场，所谓的政审。政审的结果，很有可能由于他的意识形态，导致他讨厌上帝的说法。因此，让爱因斯坦降生吧一定是魔鬼说的。对应着上帝的意识，老牛绝对的时空间说法，老爱相对论的说法无疑是一种魔鬼的声音。这个声音让自然回归到了自然。从这个理解上看，二傻的译法亢龙有悔，否极泰来，氤氲蔽日，斗转星移。撒旦震怒，老爱出马，黯者复黯，明者复明！ 无疑是很高明了。 这里又出现了时空的问题。4维空间在3维里面的投影的呢？吴嫂问了这个问题。镜某以为飞矢不动悖论的化解方法在于此。3维空间在2维里面的投影比较好理解。不能一个球投成一个圆了，很多在球体里的运动，投影过去就变成静止的了。比如沿着投影光线的运动投在投影平面上就是个静止的点。 自然回归到了自然如何理解呢？时间空间在牛顿那里是人（上帝）的理性，是非物质性的存在。这样使人类明白了物理。而到了老爱的时代，时间空间又被赋予了物质的属性，很多事情又在高档次上不明白了。至少对于大众而言，今天的物理不如牛顿时代明白了。 ---------- 就是论事儿，就事儿论是，就事儿论事儿。
学了地质干了没有几年，但对岩石还是情有独钟的。偶尔发现了一些石头，觉得很有趣，拍下来上课用，还可以做个留念。不过有些不认识，请行家里手教俺一教哦。 1. 看看这两块，是袈裟还是岩石，叫啥名？ 2. 这叫什么岩石？还是化石？ 3. 从哪来的？不知道，但知道在哪里看到的，请看： 4. 在地质之角的北端，发现了七石之阵，什么意思、什么含义俺统统不知道，更参不透。但看到了两块石上刻着字，又教育了俺一把。 A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer live are based on the labors of other men, living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in that same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
爱因斯坦大脑研究 http://www.gopubmed.org/web/gopubmed/1?WEB01eots5sgxboqoIwI1pI0 Einstein's Brain 19 documents semantically analyzed Top Years Publications 1999 5 2009 3 2001 2 2008 1 2007 1 2006 1 2004 1 1998 1 1996 1 1992 1 1985 1 Top Countries Publications USA 9 France 1 Australia 1 Argentina 1 Japan 1 Top Cities Publications Charleston 1 Tallahassee 1 Gif-sur-Yvette 1 Sydney 1 Buenos Aires 1 St. Louis 1 Tucson 1 Portland 1 Jackson 1 New York 1 Birmingham, USA 1 Osaka 1 Top Journals Publications Lancet 3 Med Hypotheses 2 Ann Ny Acad Sci 2 Exp Neurol 2 Plos One 1 Front Evol Neurosci 1 Bull Mem Acad R Med Belg 1 J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1 Brain Res Rev 1 Exp Gerontol 1 Nature 1 J Neurosci 1 Neurosci Lett 1 1 2 3 ... 8 Top Terms Publications Humans 13 Brain 8 Physics 7 Famous Persons 7 Cerebral Cortex 6 Intelligence 5 Neurons 4 Aged 4 Gravitation 4 Animals 3 Models, Neurological 3 Middle Aged 3 Semicircular Canals 3 Particle Accelerators 3 Acceleration 3 Evaluation Studies as Topic 2 Thinking 2 Neuroglia 2 European Continental Ancestry Group 2 Optics 2 1 2 3 ... 8 1 2 Top Authors Publications Merfeld D 2 Angelaki D 2 Yuan T 1 LeBihan D 1 Summers F 1 Henry J 1 Phillips L 1 Crawford J 1 Kliegel M 1 Theodorou G 1 Rajkowska G 1 Colombo J 1 Reisin H 1 Miguel-Hidalgo J 1 Lipton R 1 Barzilai N 1 Rossetti L 1 Wei M 1 Hameroff S 1 Seitz J 1 1 2 http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/417/1 Closer Look at Einstein's Brain By Michael Balter Science NOW Daily News 17 April 2009 When a rare genius like Albert Einstein comes along, scientists naturally wonder if he had something special between his ears. The latest study of Einstein's brain concludes that certain parts of it were indeed very unusual and might explain how he was able to go where no physicist had gone before when he devised the theory of relativity and other groundbreaking insights. The findings also suggest that Einstein's famed love of music was reflected in the anatomy of his brain. When Einstein died in 1955 at Princeton Hospital in New Jersey, his brain was removed by a local pathologist named Thomas Harvey, who preserved, photographed, and measured it. A colleague of Harvey's cut most of the brain into 240 blocks and mounted them on microscope slides. From time to time, he sent the slides to various researchers, although few publications resulted. Harvey, who moved around the United States several times in the course of his career, kept the jar containing what remained of the brain in cardboard box. Finally, in 1998, Harvey--who died in 2007--gave the jar to the University Medical Center of Princeton, where it remains today. The first anatomical study of Einstein's brain was published in 1999, by a team led by Sandra Witelson, a neurobiologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Working from Harvey's photographs, which were all that remained of the whole brain, Witelson's team found that Einstein's parietal lobes--which are implicated in mathematical, visual, and spatial cognition--were 15% wider than normal parietal lobes. The team also found other unusual features in the parietal region, although some of these were questioned by other researchers at the time. One parameter that did not explain Einstein's mental prowess, however, was the size of his brain: At 1230 grams, it fell at the low end of average for modern humans. Now Dean Falk, an anthropologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee, has taken another crack at the brain. Working from the same photographs and comparing Einstein's brain with a set of 25 previously published photographs and measurements of brains from cadavers, Falk claims to have identified a number of previously unrecognized unusual features in Einstein's brain. They include a pronounced knoblike structure in the part of the motor cortex that controls the left hand; in other studies, similar knobs have been associated with musical ability. (Einstein had played the violin avidly since childhood.) Like Witelson's team, Falk found that Einstein's parietal lobes were larger; comparing the photographs of Einstein's brain with a second previously published set of 58 control brains, Falk also identified a very rare pattern of grooves and ridges in the parietal regions of both sides of the brain that she speculates might somehow be related to Einstein's superior ability to conceptualize physics problems. Indeed, during his lifetime, Einstein often claimed that he thought in images and sensations rather than in words. Einstein's talent as a synthetic thinker may have arisen from the unusual anatomy of his parietal cortex, Falk concludes in her report in press in Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience . Yet Falk concedes that her interpretation is still hypothetical. Marc Bangert, a neuropsychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, seconds that reservation, saying, It is very speculative, but this is what one has to deal with given the data available, some old photographs. Frederick Lepore, a neurologist at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, says that Falk appears to have accurately identified a number of new features in the physicist's brain, and he finds the correlation between the motor cortex knob and Einstein's violin training to be persuasive and intriguing. Nevertheless, Lepore says, he is uneasy with the suggestion that Einstein was a parietal genius who thought strictly in images and sensations, citing among other evidence his superior school grades in Latin and the sciences and mediocre marks in art and geography. Related site The story of Einstein's brain, by Frederick Lepore ( skip to comments for this article ) 相关研究论著： documents Title: Relativity theory and time perception: single or multiple clocks? PMID: 19623247 Related Articles Authors: Buhusi, C , Meck, W H Journal: PLoS One , Vol. 4 (7): e6268 , 2009 Abstract: BACKGROUND: Current theories of interval timing assume that humans and other animals time as if using a single, absolute stopwatch that can be stopped or reset on command. Here we evaluate the alternative view that psychological time is represented by multiple clocks, and that these clocks create separate temporal contexts by which duration is judged in a relative manner. Two predictions of the multiple-clock hypothesis were tested. First, that the multiple clocks can be manipulated (stopped and/or reset) independently. Second, that an event of a given physical duration would be perceived as having different durations in different temporal contexts, i.e., would be judged differently by each clock. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Rats were trained to time three durations (e.g., 10, 30, and 90 s). When timing was interrupted by an unexpected gap in the signal, rats reset the clock used to time the short duration, stopped the medium duration clock, and continued to run the long duration clock. When the duration of the gap was manipulated, the rats reset these clocks in a hierarchical order, first the short, then the medium, and finally the long clock. Quantitative modeling assuming re-allocation of cognitive resources in proportion to the relative duration of the gap to the multiple, simultaneously timed event durations was used to account for the results. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate that the three event durations were effectively timed by separate clocks operated independently, and that the same gap duration was judged relative to these three temporal contexts. Results suggest that the brain processes the duration of an event in a manner similar to Einstein's special relativity theory: A given time interval is registered differently by independent clocks dependent upon the context. Affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston , SC , USA . buhusi@musc.edu Wikipedia: Animal , Animalia , Critique , Evaluation , Evaluation research , Perception , Physic , Time Perception Title: New Information about Albert Einstein's Brain . PMID: 19597545 Related Articles Authors: Falk, Dean Journal: Front Evol Neurosci , Vol. 1 , 2009 Abstract: In order to glean information about hominin (or other) brains that no longer exist, details of external neuroanatomy that are reproduced on endocranial casts (endocasts) from fossilized braincases may be described and interpreted. Despite being, of necessity, speculative, such studies can be very informative when conducted in light of the literature on comparative neuroanatomy, paleontology, and functional imaging studies. Albert Einstein's brain no longer exists in an intact state, but there are photographs of it in various views. Applying techniques developed from paleoanthropology, previously unrecognized details of external neuroanatomy are identified on these photographs. This information should be of interest to paleoneurologists, comparative neuroanatomists, historians of science, and cognitive neuroscientists. The new identifications of cortical features should also be archived for future scholars who will have access to additional information from improved functional imaging technology. Meanwhile, to the extent possible, Einstein's cerebral cortex is investigated in light of available data about variation in human sulcal patterns. Although much of his cortical surface was unremarkable, regions in and near Einstein's primary somatosensory and motor cortices were unusual. It is possible that these atypical aspects of Einstein's cerebral cortex were related to the difficulty with which he acquired language, his preference for thinking in sensory impressions including visual images rather than words, and his early training on the violin. Affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Florida State University Tallahassee , FL , USA . Wikipedia: Ape , Cerebral Cortex , HomO , Hominid , Hominidae , Hominin , Hominini , Industrial Arts , Language , Neuroanatomy , Pongidae , ScienCe , Technology , Thinking Title: Einstein's brain : gliogenesis in autism? PMID: 19251376 Related Articles Authors: Yuan, T F Journal: Med Hypotheses , Vol. 72 (6): 753 , 2009 Abstract: The hypothesis is that the increased glia/neuron ratio in cortical areas of Einstein's brain is the sign of autism disorder rather than the evidence that more glial cells make a genius. Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Humans , Intelligence , Models, Neurological Wikipedia: Autism , Autistic Disorder , Early Infantile Autism , Glia , Glial Cells , Glial cell , Infantile autism , Kanner's Syndrome , Kanner Syndrome , Neuroglia Title: PMID: 18819231 Related Articles Authors: LeBihan, D Journal: Bull Mem Acad R Med Belg , Vol. 163 (1-2): 105-21; discussion 121-2 , 2008 Abstract: Among the astonishing Einstein's papers from 1905, there is one which unexpectedly gave birth to a powerful method to explore the brain . Molecular diffusion was explained by Einstein on the basis of the random translational motion of molecules which results from their thermal energy. In the mid 1980s it was shown that water diffusion in the brain could be imaged using MRI. During their random displacements water molecules probe tissue structure at a microscopic scale, interacting with cell membranes and, thus, providing unique information on the functional architecture of tissues. A dramatic application of diffusion MRI has been brain ischemia, following the discovery that water diffusion drops immediately after the onset of an ischemic event, when brain cells undergo swelling through cytotoxic edema. On the other hand, water diffusion is anisotropic in white matter, because axon membranes limit molecular movement perpendicularly to the fibers. This feature can be exploited to map out the orientation in space of the white matter tracks and image brain connections. More recently, it has been shown that diffusion MRI could accurately detect cortical activation. As the diffusion response precedes by several seconds the hemodynamic response captured by BOLD fMRI, it has been suggested that water diffusion could reflect early neuronal events, such as the transient swelling of activated cortical cells. If confirmed, this discovery will represent a significant breakthrough, allowing non invasive access to a direct physiological marker of brain activation. This approach will bridge the gap between invasive optical imaging techniques in neuronal cell cultures, and current functional neuroimaging approaches in humans, which are based on indirect and remote blood flow changes. Affiliation: NeuroSpin, Btiment 145, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif- sur -Yvette , France . Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Brain Edema , Humans Wikipedia: Axon , Brain ischemia , Cell Membrane , Cell membranes , Cells, cultured , Cerebral ischemia , Cytoplasmic membrane , Diffusion , Diffusion MRI , Displacement , Displacement (psychology) , Dropsy , Edema , Functional MRI , Hemodynamic , Hydrops , Ischemia , MRI scan , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Membrane , NMR imaging , Nerve cell , Neuron , Optic , Plasma membrane , Thinking , Tissue , Zeugmatography Title: Traumatic brain injury and prospective memory: influence of task complexity. PMID: 17564911 Related Articles Authors: Henry, J D , Phillips, L H , Crawford, J R , Kliegel, M , Theodorou, G , Summers, F Journal: J Clin Exp Neuropsychol , Vol. 29 (5): 457-66 , 2007 Abstract: A quantitative review indicated that prospective memory impairment is a consistent feature of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, evidence also suggests that manipulations that increase demands on controlled attentional processes moderate the magnitude of observed deficits. A total of 16 TBI participants were compared with 15 matched controls on a task in which the number of prospective target events was manipulated. This manipulation was of interest because two competing models make different predictions as to its effect on controlled attentional processes. In the context of Smith and Bayen's (2004) preparatory attentional processes and memory processes (PAM) model increasing the number of target events should increase requirements for controlled attentional processing. In contrast, McDaniel and Einstein's (2000) multiprocess framework assumes that distinct target events presented in focal awareness of the processing activities required for the ongoing task are likely to depend on automatic processes. This latter model therefore leads to the prediction that increasing the number of target events should not increase demands upon controlled attentional processes. Consistent with McDaniel and Einstein's (2000) multiprocess framework, TBI patients were significantly and comparably impaired on the one- and the four-target-event conditions relative to controls. Further, TBI deficits could not be attributed to increased difficulty with the retrospective component of the prospective memory task. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Affiliation: University of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia . julie.henry@unsw.edu.au Pubmed MeSH: Adult , Attention , Case-Control Studies , Humans , Intention , Memory , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Task Performance and Analysis Wikipedia: Brain Injuries , Brain Injury , Brain contusion , Brain laceration , Brain trauma , Client , Cortical contusion , Diffuse brain injury , Focal brain injury , Injuries , Injury , Patient , Trauma , Traumatic Brain Injury , Traumatic brain injuries , Wound , Wounds and injuries Title: Cerebral cortex astroglia and the brain of a genius: a propos of A. Einstein's . PMID: 16675021 Related Articles Authors: Colombo, J A , Reisin, H D , Miguel-Hidalgo, J J , Rajkowska, G Journal: Brain Res Rev , Vol. 52 (2): 257-63 , 2006 Abstract: The glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactive astroglial layout of the cerebral cortex from Albert Einstein and other four age-matched human cases lacking any known neurological disease was analyzed using quantification of geometrical features mathematically defined. Several parameters (parallelism, relative depth, tortuosity) describing the primate-specific interlaminar glial processes did not show individually distinctive characteristics in any of the samples analyzed. However, A. Einstein's astrocytic processes showed larger sizes and higher numbers of interlaminar terminal masses, reaching sizes of 15 microm in diameter. These bulbous endings are of unknown significance and they have been described occurring in Alzheimer's disease. These observations are placed in the context of the general discussion regarding the proposal--by other authors--that structural, postmortem characteristics of the aged brain of Albert Einstein may serve as markers of his cognitive performance, a proposal to which the authors of this paper do not subscribe, and argue against. Affiliation: Unidad de Neurobiologa Aplicada, UNA, CEMIC-CONICET, Av. Galvn 4102, C1431FWO Ciudad de Buenos Aires , Argentina . colombo@pruna.gov.ar Pubmed MeSH: Aged , Aging , Atrophy , Cell Shape , Cell Size , Famous Persons , Humans , Intelligence , Reference Values Wikipedia: Alzheimer's Disease , Alzheimer disease , Astrocyte , Astroglia , Cerebral Cortex , Desmin , Early onset Alzheimer disease , Glial fibrillary acidic protein , Mathematic , Peripherin , Presenile dementia , Proteins , Senile Dementia , Vimentin Title: Einstein's Institute for Aging Research: collaborative and programmatic approaches in the search for successful aging. PMID: 15036407 Related Articles Authors: Barzilai, N , Rossetti, L , Lipton, R B Journal: Exp Gerontol , Vol. 39 (2): 151-7 , 2004 Abstract: While aging research has been progressing rapidly recently, the involvement of multiple organs and systems in the aging process has hampered a comprehensive assessment of some of aging's basic features. In response to this problem, the Institute for Aging Research at Einstein did not emerge out of the traditional geriatric programs, but through enhanced collaborations between basic and clinical scientists who had successful careers in the research of a specific organ or system. The strength of the Center derives from three specific programs focused on a specific area of aging research. The programs focus on the Biology of Aging, Genetics of Aging and the Aging Brain . Each programmatic area is characterized by collaboration between basic and clinical scientists. In addition to addressing the traditional questions about the mechanisms of involution, the programs also examine the mechanisms for exceptional and healthy longevity. The mechanisms favoring longevity are being examined in models of caloric restriction (biological nutrient sensing pathways), in human centenarians (longevity genes), and in longitudinal studies identifying humans who maintain excellent cognitive function (protection from Alzheimer's). Each programmatic area is enhanced by common research core laboratory and by the creation of a scientific training program for new investigators. In addition to the investigators involved in the program project, the Institute for Aging Research includes other investigators with funded aging research who participate in journal clubs, seminars, and in specific collaborations. We suggest that this Institute serve as a model that gerontologists at other institutions should consider as they evaluate opportunities for collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches to enhance aging research. Affiliation: Department of Medicine, Institute for Aging Research, Belfer Bldg. #701, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA . barzilia@aecom.yu.edu Pubmed MeSH: Aged , Aging , Dementia , Humans , New York , Research Wikipedia: Academies , Academy , Biology , Caloric restriction , Centenarian , Cistron , Collaboration , Critique , Evaluation , Evaluation research , Food , Gene , Genetic material , Geriatrics , Gerontology , Institutes , Laboratories , Laboratory , Longevity , Nonagenarian , Nutrients , Octogenarian , Research institute Title: Vestibular discrimination of gravity and translational acceleration. PMID: 11710454 Related Articles Authors: Angelaki, D E , Wei, M , Merfeld, D M Journal: Ann N Y Acad Sci , Vol. 942 , 2001 Abstract: According to Einstein's equivalence principle, linear accelerations experienced during translational motion are physically indistinguishable from changes in orientation relative to gravity experienced during tilting movements. Nevertheless, despite these ambiguous sensory cues provided by the primary otolith afferents, perceptual and motor responses discriminate between gravity and translational acceleration. There is growing evidence to suggest that the brain resolves this ambiguity primarily by combining signals from multiple sensors, the semicircular canals being a main extra otolith contributor. Here, we summarize the experimental evidence in support of the canal influences on the neural processing of otolith cues, provide specific experimental results in rhesus monkeys, and discuss and compare previously proposed models that combine otolith and semicircular-canal signals in order to provide neural estimates of gravity and linear acceleration. Affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Biomedical Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis , Missouri 63110, USA . angelaki@thalamus.wustl.edu Pubmed MeSH: Animals , Models, Biological , Vestibule, Labyrinth Wikipedia: Acceleration , Anthropoidea , Anthropoids , Betatron , Discrimination , G Force , Gravitation , Gravity , Haplorhini , Linear Accelerator , Linear accelerators , Macaca mulatta , Monkey , Otoconia , Otolith , Otolithic membrane , Particle Accelerator , Physic , Rhesus Macaque , Rhesus Monkey , Rhesus macaques , Rhesus monkeys , Semicircular canal , Statoconia Title: Consciousness, the brain , and spacetime geometry. PMID: 11349432 Related Articles Authors: Hameroff, S R Journal: Ann N Y Acad Sci , Vol. 929 , 2001 Abstract: What is consciousness? Conventional approaches see it as an emergent property of complex interactions among individual neurons; however these approaches fail to address enigmatic features of consciousness. Accordingly, some philosophers have contended that qualia, or an experiential medium from which consciousness is derived, exists as a fundamental component of reality. Whitehead, for example, described the universe as being composed of occasions of experience. To examine this possibility scientifically, the very nature of physical reality must be re-examined. We must come to terms with the physics of spacetime--as described by Einstein's general theory of relativity, and its relation to the fundamental theory of matter--as described by quantum theory. Roger Penrose has proposed a new physics of objective reduction: OR, which appeals to a form of quantum gravity to provide a useful description of fundamental processes at the quantum/classical borderline. Within the OR scheme, we consider that consciousness occurs if an appropriately organized system is able to develop and maintain quantum coherent superposition until a specific objective criterion (a threshold related to quantum gravity ) is reached; the coherent system then self-reduces (objective reduction: OR). We contend that this type of objective self-collapse introduces non-computability, an essential feature of consciousness which distinguishes our minds from classical computers. Each OR is taken as an instantaneous event--the climax of a self-organizing process in fundamental spacetime--and a candidate for a conscious Whitehead occasion of experience. How could an OR process occur in the brain , be coupled to neural activities, and account for other features of consciousness? We nominate a quantum computational OR process with the requisite characteristics to be occurring in cytoskeletal micro-tubules within the brain 's neurons. In this model, quantum-superposed states develop in microtubule subunit proteins ( tubulins ) within certain brain neurons, remain coherent, and recruit more superposed tubulins until a mass-time-energy threshold (related to quantum gravity ) is reached. At that point, self-collapse, or objective reduction (OR), abruptly occurs. We equate the pre-reduction, coherent superposition (quantum computing) phase with pre-conscious processes, and each instantaneous (and non-computable) OR, or self-collapse, with a discrete conscious event. Sequences of OR events give rise to a stream of consciousness. Microtubule-associated proteins can tune the quantum oscillations of the coherent superposed states; the OR is thus self-organized, or orchestrated (Orch OR). Each Orch OR event selects (non-computably) microtubule subunit states which regulate synaptic/neural functions using classical signaling. The quantum gravity threshold for self-collapse is relevant to consciousness, according to our arguments, because macroscopic superposed quantum states each have their own spacetime geometries. These geometries are also superposed, and in some way separated, but when sufficiently separated, the superposition of spacetime geometries becomes significantly unstable and reduces to a single universe state. Quantum gravity determines the limits of the instability; we contend that the actual choice of state made by Nature is non-computable. Thus each Orch OR event is a self-selection of spacetime geometry, coupled to the brain through microtubules and other biomolecules. If conscious experience is intimately connected with the very physics underlying spacetime structure, then Orch OR in microtubules indeed provides us with a completely new and uniquely promising perspective on the difficult problems of consciousness. Affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Psychology, Center for Consciousness Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson , Arizona , USA . hameroff@u.arizona.edu, hameroff@arizona.edu Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Humans , Models, Neurological Wikipedia: ConsciousNess , G Force , Gamma tubulin , Gravitation , Gravity , Microtubule , Microtubule-associated proteins , Nature , Nerve cell , Neuron , Physic , Proteins , Quantum Theory , Tubulin Title: Driving mr. Albert: A trip across america with Einstein's brain PMID: 11017129 Related Articles Journal: Nat Med , Vol. 6 (10): 1090 , 2000 No abstract documents Title: Albert Einstein's brain . PMID: 10577670 Related Articles Authors: Seitz, J A Journal: Lancet , Vol. 354 (9192): 1822-3 , 1999 No abstract given. Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Creativeness , Famous Persons , Humans , Intelligence Title: Albert Einstein's brain . PMID: 10577669 Related Articles Authors: Salvatori, R Journal: Lancet , Vol. 354 (9192): 1821-2 , 1999 No abstract given. Pubmed MeSH: Academic Medical Centers , Brain , Famous Persons , Humans , New York Title: Albert Einstein's brain . PMID: 10577668 Related Articles Authors: Galaburda, A M Journal: Lancet , Vol. 354 (9192): 1821; author reply 1822 , 1999 No abstract given. Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Embryonic and Fetal Development , Famous Persons , Humans , Intelligence Title: Humans use internal models to estimate gravity and linear acceleration. PMID: 10217143 Related Articles Authors: Merfeld, D M , Zupan, L H , Peterka, R J Journal: Nature , Vol. 398 (6728): 615-8 , 1999 Abstract: Because sensory systems often provide ambiguous information, neural processes must exist to resolve these ambiguities. It is likely that similar neural processes are used by different sensory systems. For example, many tasks require neural processing to distinguish linear acceleration from gravity, but Einstein's equivalence principle states that all linear accelerometers must measure both linear acceleration and gravity. Here we investigate whether the brain uses internal models, defined as neural systems that mimic physical principles, to help estimate linear acceleration and gravity. Internal models may be used in motor contro, sensorimotor integration and sensory processing, but direct experimental evidence for such models is limited. To determine how humans process ambiguous gravity and linear acceleration cues, subjects were tilted after being rotated at a constant velocity about an Earth-vertical axis. We show that the eye movements evoked by this post-rotational tilt include a response component that compensates for the estimated linear acceleration even when no actual linear acceleration occurs. These measured responses are consistent with our internal model predictions that the nervous system can develop a non-zero estimate of linear acceleration even when no true linear acceleration is present. Affiliation: Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland 97209, USA . dan_merfeld@meei.harvard.edu Pubmed MeSH: Gravity Perception , Humans , Models, Neurological , Motion Perception , Semicircular Canals Wikipedia: Acceleration , Anxieties , Anxiety , Axis , Betatron , Compensation , Epistropheus , Eye movement , G Force , Gravitation , Gravity , Linear Accelerator , Linear accelerators , Nervousness , Particle Accelerator , Physic , Rotation Title: Computation of inertial motion: neural strategies to resolve ambiguous otolith information. PMID: 9870961 Related Articles Authors: Angelaki, D E , McHenry, M Q , Dickman, J D , Newlands, S D , Hess, B J Journal: J Neurosci , Vol. 19 (1): 316-27 , 1999 Abstract: According to Einstein's equivalence principle, inertial accelerations during translational motion are physically indistinguishable from gravitational accelerations experienced during tilting movements. Nevertheless, despite ambiguous sensory representation of motion in primary otolith afferents, primate oculomotor responses are appropriately compensatory for the correct translational component of the head movement. The neural computational strategies used by the brain to discriminate the two and to reliably detect translational motion were investigated in the primate vestibulo-ocular system. The experimental protocols consisted of either lateral translations, roll tilts, or combined translation-tilt paradigms. Results using both steady-state sinusoidal and transient motion profiles in darkness or near target viewing demonstrated that semicircular canal signals are necessary sensory cues for the discrimination between different sources of linear acceleration. When the semicircular canals were inactivated, horizontal eye movements (appropriate for translational motion) could no longer be correlated with head translation. Instead, translational eye movements totally reflected the erroneous primary otolith afferent signals and were correlated with the resultant acceleration, regardless of whether it resulted from translation or tilt. Therefore, at least for frequencies in which the vestibulo-ocular reflex is important for gaze stabilization (0.1 Hz), the oculomotor system discriminates between head translation and tilt primarily by sensory integration mechanisms rather than frequency segregation of otolith afferent information. Nonlinear neural computational schemes are proposed in which not only linear acceleration information from the otolith receptors but also angular velocity signals from the semicircular canals are simultaneously used by the brain to correctly estimate the source of linear acceleration and to elicit appropriate oculomotor responses. Affiliation: Department of Surgery (Otolaryngology), University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson , Mississippi 39216, USA . Pubmed MeSH: Animals , Cues , Ear, Inner , Macaca mulatta , Neural Analyzers , Orientation , Oscillometry Wikipedia: Acceleration , Betatron , Discrimination , Eye movement , G Force , Gravitation , Gravity , Linear Accelerator , Linear accelerators , Otoconia , Otolith , Otolithic membrane , Particle Accelerator , Physic , Primate , Reflex , Reflex, vestibulo-ocular , Semicircular canal , Statoconia , Vestibulo-ocular reflex , Vestibulo ocular reflex , Vestibuloocular reflex Title: Further on Einstein's brain . PMID: 9527906 Related Articles Authors: Hines, T M Journal: Exp Neurol , Vol. 150 (2): 343-4 , 1998 No abstract given. Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Pace University, Pleasantville, New York 10570-2799, USA . Pubmed MeSH: Brain , Cerebral Cortex , Famous Persons , Germany , United States Title: Alterations in cortical thickness and neuronal density in the frontal cortex of Albert Einstein. PMID: 8805120 Related Articles Authors: Anderson, B , Harvey, T Journal: Neurosci Lett , Vol. 210 (3): 161-4 , 1996 Abstract: Neuronal density, neuron size, and the number of neurons under 1 mm2 of cerebral cortical surface area were measured in the right pre-frontal cortex of Albert Einstein and five elderly control subjects. Measurement of neuronal density used the optical dissector technique on celloidin-embedded cresyl violet-stained sections. The neurons counted provided a systematic random sample for the measurement of cell body cross-sectional area. Einstein's cortex did not differ from the control subjects in the number of neurons under 1 mm2 of cerebral cortex or in mean neuronal size. Because Einstein's cortex was thinner than the controls he had a greater neuronal density. Affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294-0007, USA . brittuab@aol.com Pubmed MeSH: Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal , Cell Count , Cell Size , Famous Persons , Humans , Intelligence , Middle Aged , Physics , Tissue Fixation Wikipedia: Aged , Cerebral Cortex , Data quality , Elderly , Experimental Design , Experimental designs , Measurement , Nerve cell , Neuron , Optic , Prefrontal Cortex , Research design , Testing Title: Albert Einstein's dyslexia and the significance of Brodmann Area 39 of his left cerebral cortex. PMID: 1584096 Related Articles Authors: Kantha, S S Journal: Med Hypotheses , Vol. 37 (2): 119-22 , 1992 Abstract: By his own admission, Albert Einstein, 'started to talk comparatively late ... certainly not younger than three', and also had 'poor memory of words', during his childhood years. If lesions in Brodmann Area 39 of the cerebral hemisphere results in dyslexia, the 1985 report on the study of Einstein's brain that the neuron:glial ratio of Area 39 in the left cerebral hemisphere of the physicist was significantly smaller than that of the control values, provides a neuroanatomical clue to Einstein's childhood dyslexia. Though not discrediting this finding, some questions are raised in this paper regarding the controls employed in this 1985 report (1). Affiliation: Osaka BioScience Institute, Japan . Pubmed MeSH: Humans , Physics Wikipedia: Alexia , Cerebral Cortex , Cerebral hemisphere , Cerebrum , Dyslexia , Word blindness Title: On the brain of a scientist: Albert Einstein. PMID: 3979509 Related Articles Authors: Diamond, M C , Scheibel, A B , Murphy, G M , Harvey, T Journal: Exp Neurol , Vol. 88 (1): 198-204 , 1985 Abstract: Neuron:glial ratios were determined in specific regions of Albert Einstein's cerebral cortex to compare with samples from 11 human male cortices. Cell counts were made on either 6- or 20-micron sections from areas 9 and 39 from each hemisphere. All sections were stained with the Klver-Barrera stain to differentiate neurons from glia, both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Cell counts were made under oil immersion from the crown of the gyrus to the white matter by following a red line drawn on the coverslip. The average number of neurons and glial cells was determined per microscopic field. The results of the analysis suggest that in left area 39, the neuronal: glial ratio for the Einstein brain is significantly smaller than the mean for the control population (t = 2.62, df 9, p less than 0.05, two-tailed). Einstein's brain did not differ significantly in the neuronal:glial ratio from the controls in any of the other three areas studied. Pubmed MeSH: Aged , Brain , Famous Persons , Frontal Lobe , Humans , Middle Aged , Parietal Lobe Wikipedia: Astrocyte , Astroglia , Cell count , Cerebral Cortex , Glia , Glial Cells , Glial cell , Nerve cell , Neuroglia , Neuron , Oligodendrocyte , Oligodendroglia , Toco , Tocopherol , Vitae , Vitamine E given.
中文名称 ： BBC 爱因斯坦 死亡方程式 英文名称 ： BBC Einstein's Equation of Life of and Death 别名 ：爱因斯坦 死亡的公式 BBC Exlusiv Albert Einstein oder die Formel des Todes 版本 ：双语版 发行时间 ： 2005 年 地区 ：英国 , 德国 语言 ：英语 , 德语 首播： 2005 年 5 月 15 日上午 9 ： 40 － 10 ： 40 星期天 电视台： VOX 英语原版名： Einstein's Equation of Life of and Death 德语版片长： 44 分钟 制片： Aidan Laverty 出版： BBC Horizon （注： BBC 2 台科教片系列旗舰品牌，每集长度约为 50 分钟。） 视频链接：可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/video/54079.shtml 早在 1905 年，年仅 26 岁的爱因斯坦就已提出了狭义相对论。狭义相对论推倒了牛顿力学的质量守恒、能量守恒、质量能量互不相关、时空永恒不变的基本命题。这是一场真正的科学革命。 其后，爱因斯坦又经过 10 年探索，建立了广义相对论。自此，爱因斯坦相对论宣告完成。它奠定了 20 世纪物理学的基石。爱因斯坦仍不满足。他开始探索宇宙起源问题，并揭示出宇宙是 静态 的、有限无界的。他根据广义相对论，提出了三大命题：光线在太阳引力场中会发生弯曲；水星近日点运动规律；引力场中光谱线向红端移动。然而直到 1919 年 5 月之前，这些预言并未得到验证。许多科学家对此持怀疑态度。 经历了两次世界大战的惨败，德国人一直苦于自己的国家严重缺乏英雄人物，现在他们重新将艾伯特 爱因斯坦视为德国历史上最伟大的人物之一，尽管这位犹太裔物理学家曾因自己的血统遭到纳粹党人的仇视而流亡国外。 爱因斯坦生于德国，一个世纪前，他在瑞士发表了著名的相对论。 1955 年 4 月 18 日，他永远离开了这个世界。 50 年后的今天，他曾摒弃的国家为他重扬美名。 2005 年被称为 爱因斯坦年 ，世界各地纷纷展开各种庆祝活动。但是没有一个地方像德国一样，在对这位有着低垂眼睛和浓密灰发的老人予以盛赞的同时，还要肩负沉重的 历史包袱 。 德国政府开始竭尽全力了解爱因斯坦。 20 世纪早期，他关于宇宙、时间和相对论的理论给当时的物理学带来了颠覆性的变革，他也由此成为世界上第一位大众偶像级科学家。 这有点奇怪。 德国版爱因斯坦传记的作者于尔根 内费说。该书自从一月份出版以来，在畅销书榜上一直位居前列。 爱因斯坦憎恨纳粹，并将这种反感之情延伸到所有德国人身上，在他看来德国人造成了这一切。他确实非常讨厌德国，但是无论如何，他肯定会为德国最近 30 年来取得的发展感到欣慰的。 德国对爱因斯坦的 重新发现 始于 2003 年。在当时的一次调查中，他被数百万电视观众推选为德国历史上 最伟大的人物 之一。 1879 年，爱因斯坦出生于德国乌尔姆的巴伐利亚市， 17 岁时，为逃避服兵役，他移居瑞士。从苏黎世联邦工业大学毕业后，他供职于瑞士联邦专利局，并在业余时间撰写科学论文。 1905 年是爱因斯坦的 奇迹年 ，他创立了阐释时空关系的相对论，挑战了物理学巨人艾萨克 牛顿始创的宇宙观，那些理论 200 年来一直固若磐石。 1919 年，爱因斯坦的理论为科学家们所证实，一时他声名鹊起。 1921 年，他获得了诺贝尔物理学奖，随后德国和瑞士都争着说爱因斯坦是属于自己国家的。 但是爱因斯坦没有停滞不前。他的独特理论也给他最为著名的发现奠定了基础，那个发现就是 E=mc2 一个打开原子时代大门的方程式。全世界都知道这个公式，虽然没多少人能真正理解它。 1914 年，爱因斯坦回到德国，随后在柏林居住了 19 年，直到 1933 年为躲避希特勒的纳粹军团的迫害而逃亡国外。他曾在美国普林斯顿大学执教，并在那里度过了晚年。 他在柏林的住宅曾遭纳粹党人洗劫。 1932 年，爱因斯坦放弃了德国国籍，并于 1940 年加入美国国籍，成为一名美国公民。 In the summer of 1939 Albert Einstein was on holiday in a small resort town on the tip of Long Island . His peaceful summer, however, was about to be shattered by a visit from an old friend and colleague from his years in Berlin . The visitor was the physicist Leo Szilard. He had come to tell Einstein that he feared the Nazis could soon be in possession of a terrible new weapon and that something had to be done. Szilard believed that recent scientific breakthroughs meant it was now possible to convert mass into energy. And that this could be used to make a bomb. If this were to happen, it would be a terrible realisation of the law of nature Einstein had discovered some 34 years earlier. September 1905 was Einstein's 'miracle year'. While working as a patents clerk in the Swiss capital Berne Einstein submitted a three-page supplement to his special theory of relativity, published earlier that year. In those pages he derived the most famous equation of all time; e=mcsup2;, energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. The equation showed that mass and energy were related and that one could, in theory, be transformed into the other. But because the speed of light squared is such a huge number, it meant that even a small amount of mass could potentially be converted into a huge amount of energy. Ever since the discovery of radioactivity in the late 19th century, scientists had realised that the atomic nucleus could contain a large amount of energy. Einstein's revolutionary equation showed them, for the first time, just how much there was. However, at the time Einstein doubted whether that energy could ever be released. By 1935 he was convinced it would never be practical. At the Winter Session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Pittsburgh , he is quoted as telling journalists: The likelihood of transforming matter into energy is something akin to shooting birds in the dark in a country where there are only a few birds. Einstein was so sceptical because attempts to break open the atomic nucleus always required more far energy be put in than was ever released. Nuclear physicists like Ernest Rutherford were exploring the structure of the atom by bombarding atomic nuclei with alpha particles. Even when machines were built to accelerate the alpha particles to ever higher speeds they had only limited success in breaking apart the nucleus. In 1933 Rutherford dismissed talk of atomic power as 'moonshine'. One morning in September 1933 Szilard read Rutherford 's comments in The Times. Leaving his hotel and crossing the street, he had a brainwave. Alpha particles and the other particles that physicists had been using to bombard the nucleus were simply the wrong tool for the job, because he realised that they, like the nucleus, had a positive charge. Since like charges repel, Szilard thought, no matter how hard you fire them in, the majority would simply be deflected away. That morning he was one of the first to realise that the recently discovered neutron might be what was needed. The neutron, a subatomic particle like a proton but with no electric charge was discovered in 1932. With no charge, Szilard believed the neutron would simply slip into the heart of the atom undeflected. But he didn't stop there. Szilard thought that if an atom could be found that is split open by neutrons, not only would it release some of its huge store of energy, it might also release further neutrons, which could then go on and split further atoms, setting up a chain reaction leading to a truly vast release of energy. Szilard immediately saw the possible military applications and sought to patent the idea and have it made an official secret. But in 1933, the chain reaction only existed in Szilard's head. No one had yet found an atom that could be split by neutrons. These developments were happening against a background of extraordinary political turmoil in Europe . Hitler had come to power in Germany in January 1933. In 1938, less than a year before the outbreak of World War II, just such an atom was found, uranium. Working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin , the nuclear chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman found that when bombarded with neutrons, uranium split into two nuclei of roughly half the size. Not only that, but further calculations showed that a large amount of energy was also released - enough from a single nucleus to move a grain of sand. The first stage of Szilard's chain reaction had been achieved. When he heard the news Szilard, now in New York and working at Columbia University with Enrico Fermi, set about showing whether, as well as energy, further 'secondary' neutrons were released. By July 1939, when he first knocked on Einstein's door, he knew that they were and so the chain reaction was possible. Also, he and Fermi had settled on a design for the first nuclear reactor. During the course of their conversations in the summer of 1939, Szilard explained these new developments to Einstein and his fear that the Nazis might use them to create a nuclear bomb. Together they drafted a letter, signed by Einstein, to the American President, Franklin Roosevelt. The letter was delivered to the President on the 11 October 1939 and after reading it the President provided funding for research that would pave the way for the Manhattan Project and lead, ultimately to the construction of the first atomic bomb. After signing the letter, Einstein played no further part in the development of the bomb. With the first atomic explosion over Hiroshima , the power of e=mcsup2; had been graphically demonstrated to the world. Just 0.6 grams of mass, converted into energy, had been enough to destroy an entire city. Einstein was horrified when he heard that the bomb had been dropped. When they, wrote to the President, Szilard and Einstein advocated the development of an American bomb purely as a deterrent against the threat of a Nazi weapon. They had not conceived of its use as an offensive weapon, especially after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Einstein always saw e=mc2; as a purely theoretical insight and refuted any responsibility for the bomb but he did feel some responsibility for the letter he'd written to Roosevelt . A letter he would come to describe as the one mistake of his life. Einstein saw nuclear weapons and the nuclear arms race as a threat to the future of civilisation. In his final years he devoted much of his time and energy to issues dealing with the world's future - advocating pacifism and campaigning for the control of nuclear weapons, not by individual nations, but by a world government. The last document he signed, just a week before he died, was a manifesto drawn up by Bertrand Russell, renouncing war and nuclear weapons. As Russell said: Einstein was not only a great scientist he was a great man. He stood for peace in a world drifting towards war... But while the bomb proved e=mc2; to be the ultimate equation of destruction, only after his death has the role of Einstein's equation in the creation of the universe become clear. Just as mass can be turned into energy in a bomb, the pure energy generated in the Big Bang condensed into the matter that makes up our world. Almost a hundred years ago, with just six short pen stokes Einstein unlocked one of the most powerful truths about the universe. A truth that would change our world, both for good and ill.
标签: Einstein
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