Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Einstein
John Horgan, formerly an editor @ Scientific American, suggested awhile back that we are witnessing the “end of science”. It was the title given his book by his publisher (he didn't like it) which suggested that all the big theories in science have been established and all that was left was filling in the blanks. He never suggested this was a trivial enterprise; in a radio debate I heard at the time of publication he was criticized for what seemed to some scientists a preposterous idea.
Horgan held his own. Very smart and clear, he presented a reasonable defense, though I doubt the proposition myself; who knows if dark energy or dark matter truly will fit the Procrustean bed of current frameworks? Who knows if the jaw-dropping voids between galactic superclusters will cause Einstein's relativity to spring leaks?
In this article, a true pleasure to read, once again for its clarity and crackling intelligence, Horgan considers two recent books about Einstein.
Einstein navigated the tumult of the 20th century with extraordinary grace. He weighed in on all the divisive isms of his time — communism, fascism, McCarthyism, capitalism, anti-Semitism, Zionism, racism — and, for the most part, history has confirmed his Solomonic choices. How many of his contemporaries have fared so well? How many modern opinion leaders will?
…he believed that humanity would achieve peace only if nations surrendered their sovereignty to a global body that adjudicated conflicts. Does anyone have a better idea?
…He advocated sex education, and he defended the right of women to have abortions, of homosexuals to live in peace, of blacks to receive equal treatment with whites. He backed up his words with actions. In 1937, when the Nassau Inn, in Princeton, refused to give a room to the black singer Marian Anderson, Einstein put her up at his home.
I remember a cartoon in which some beings in a future visitation from another galaxy come upon Earth, upon which is emblazoned, “Einstein Lived Here.”