Product Overview
This is a fascinating account of the impact of Einsteins work and outlook upon contemporary culture and upon the scientific enterprise itself.
Following a brief, nontechnical explanation of the significance of Einsteins achievements, Prof. Cassidy takes the reader on an intriguing journey through the uses and abuses of Einsteins relativity theory in such widely diverse settings as political ideology, philosophy of science, literature, art, religion, and the individual in an age of dictatorship, genocide, and weapons of mass destruction. Cassidy explores how Einsteins work spread throughout the physical sciences, leading to a new conception of the theoretical physicist as both physicist and cultural figure. While public fascination with Einsteins achievements grew, his authority as an influential spokesman for human dignity, intellectual freedom, and world peace continued to the end of his life.
This new edition, besides updating and revising the content of the first edition, includes a number of important new topics that could not be included in the original edition: more on Einsteins personal life in the light of recent revelations; a new section on Einstein and peace; and an assessment of Einsteins continuing influence in the post-September 11 era.
