The Einstein Tower: An Intertexture of Dynamic Construction, Relativity Theory, and Astronomy (Writing Science)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.68 (772 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0804728240 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 244 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-03-16 |
| Language | : | German |
DESCRIPTION:
Freundlich, who was the first German astronomer to show a genuine interest in Einstein's theory, managed to interest his architect friend Erich Mendelsohn in designing this unique building. Freundlich's researches were not a success; he came to doubt the very theory he was attempting to prove. This book focuses on the "Einstein Tower," an architecturally historic observatory built in Potsdam in 1920 to allow the German astronomer Erwin Finlay Freundlich to attempt to verify experimentally Einstein's general theory of relativity. (Adequate technology to test Einstein's theory lay many decades in the future.) By contrast, as an experiment in modernist architecture, the building led to international fame for Mendelsohn.To develop a full historical picture of this moment in the history of science, the book interweaves several descriptive levels: the biography of Freundlich; the social context in which he interacted with teachers, co-workers, students, his patrons (including Einstein), and scientific oppon
Eve Lehar said Fascinating read. This little book is a delight. Anyone who is fascinated with Einstein will love it. Highly readable, regardless of whether you are an armchair or professional scientist.
By deliberately focusing not on a theory, a person, or even an institution but rather a building, he is able to skip nimbly among these unusually disjoint subjects and approaches and to create a smooth and often fascinating, always illuminating, narrative out of these pieces.”Lorraine Daston, University of Chicago. In this compact and lively study, Hentschel weaves together elements of a story that conventional disciplinary divisionshistory of physics, history of architecture, history of institutionspull asunder