[see attached for complete text] This is a unique collection of essays dealing with the formative years of the young Einstein, most of which have never been published elsewhere. The editors, Stachel & Howard, are among the world's experts on the history of 20th century physics and on Einstein himself, and both are editors of the well-known Einstein Studies Series. Topics in this volume cover Einstein's early readings, his university education, crucial influences that shaped his views on relativity, his youthful vision of a unified foundation for physics, and his personal life: his first wife, love letters, poetry.

Zusammenfassung

"What was Einstein like for the first thirty years of his life? Who were the personalities who guided him? What did he read? This book, which hopes to shed light on these questions, is a sequence of academic articles written by Einstein specialists for the Birkhäuser Einstein Studies series. ...The [book] is remarkably readable and informative. ...Indispensable for Einstein disciples, the book is also accessible to the general reader. The presentation is excellent and the editing conducted to a high standard. ...Extensive references are given after each essay and an index of names is provided."

--The Mathematical Gazette

Inhalt

1. Introduction to 'Einstein: The Formative Years', John Stachel 2. The Mysteries and Wonders of Natural Science: Aaron Bernstein's Naturwissenschaftliche Volksb=81cher and the Adolescent Einstein, Frederick Gregory 3. The Young Einstein's Physics Education: H.F. Weber, Hermann von Helmholtz, and the Zurich Polytechnic Physics Instititue, David Cahan 4. Kant's Impact on Einstein's Thought, Mara Beller 5. Einstein's Controversy with Drude and the Origin of Statistical Mechanics: A New Glimpse from the 'Love Letters', Juergen Renn 6. Physical Approximations and Stochastic Processes in Einstein's 1905 Paper on Brownian Motion, Sahotra Sarkar 7. The Construction of the Special Theory: Some Queries and Considerations, Robert Rynasiewicz 8. Einstein's Light Quantum Hypothesis: Or Why Didn't Einstein Propose a Quantum Gas a Decade-and-a-Half Earlier?, John Stachel Index