The Evolution Of Physics

Leopold Infeld

Albert, Einstein

History

Franklin Classics Trade Press

Best known for his collaboration with Einstein in the 1930s on the nature of motion in the general theory of relativity, and for their Evolution of Physics (1938), in the present volume Infeld continues his autobiographical account from the point he left it in his highly acclaimed Quest (1941). The title is taken from one of the several essays in the book which is of considerable historical interest. In it Infeld describes his life as a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Toronto (1938-1950), and the transition to his native Poland. Because of his outspoken opposition to nuclear weapons (of which the West then had a monopoly), he was attacked by various sectors of the Canadian press, parliament, and self-appointed hate mongers. It was argued that if he were allowed to accept an invitation to visit the communist Poland, he would carry with him the secret of the atomic bomb, which he had learned from Einstein. The fact that neither had access to information about the bomb's construction was ignored. Infeld went abroad, nevertheless, and was sufficiently inspired by the efforts to rebuild the country, with generous support for science, that he agreed to return permanently. A strong sense that he must do his share to create a school of theoretical physics in Poland marked this final stage of Infeld's career. Throughout the volume, which includes articles on his teacher Natanson, and on Einstein, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Planck, and others, Infeld displays his perception of the psychology of fellow scientists as well as introspection regarding his own actions. He clearly is a man disposed to think his own thoughts, who rebelled against the slavish deference given to scientific work in the Soviet Union and criticism of Western research as "idealist." Implicit comparisons of science in communist and noncommunist countries, presented in Infeld's highly readable, anecdotal fashion, make this volume far more than a story of the personal trials of one man.

Why I Left Canada: Reflections on Science and Politics

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

McGill-Queen's University Press

Quest: An Autobiography

Leopold Infeld was one of the nine eminent scientists who, together with Albert Einstein, signed Bertrand Russell's famous letter warning that in this nuclear age, only a ban on war itself could save this planet (July, 1955). Infeld was born in the Jewish ghetto of Cracow, Poland in 1898, and this autobiography contains a vivid description of this long-since-vanished world. He was assistant to and then a scientific collaborator with Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ (1936-1938), and this collaboration continued for twelve years while Infeld was at the University of Toronto. In 1938 he wrote a book together with Albert Einstein that became a number one bestseller, The Evolution of Physics. Infeld was lecturer and then Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Toronto from 1938-1950. From 1945-1950 he gave many lectures all over Canada on the elementary physics of the atom bomb, warning that Russia would soon have the bomb and urging that the short period of U.S. monopoly be used constructively, for peace. In 1950 he left Canada to become Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Warsaw as well as the founding director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at that university, where he remained until 1967, the year before he died.

Science & Math

Mathematics

American Mathematical Society

hardcover 1st edition; like new dust jacket (amhbx14)

The Evolution of Physics: From Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta

History & Philosophy

Simon&Schuster

Albert Einstein

Bilgi Yayınevi

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Books by Leopold Infeld