Einsteins Progression to Scientific Purism: Relativity, the Quantum Conflict, and the Theory of Everything

Connor Brem April 19, 2010 APUSH Mr. Dinardo

Abstract:

5148 words

In this paper, I argue that, in addition to being world-renowned, Einstein held an exceptional philosophy on science. This philosophy developed throughout his life and was centered around a love for completeness and for objectivity. As Einsteins own work became more complete and objective, he also began to oppose theories that he saw as being incomplete and subjective. The most significant of these theories was the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, an ideology held by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. I trace the development of Einsteins philosophy from his work in special and general relativity, to this opposition of quantum theory, and finally to his ultimately unsuccessful attempts to create a theory of everything. While a good deal of my early research was biographical or involved reviewing various historians interpretations of Einsteins life, my later and more valuable research delved into the more technical aspects of the theories with which Einstein was involved. The development of Einsteins ideology is integral to the history of modern physics, as his unique approach to science was what allowed him to create what are still regarded as some of the most important ideas in modern physics. However, his relationship to history as a whole is more complicated. The effects of Einsteins work are much more apparent in the history of science than they are in history in general. Nevertheless, because of his uncommon scientist-celebrity status, Einstein is interesting to examine as a special, crosscultural case in history. Also, Einstein is an excellent example of early-20th century ambition and intellectualism.

Einstein is often remembered as a brilliant scientist, but little more. In the popular imagination, he has become the archetypical head-in-the-clouds genius, the lovable savant who, despite being able to rewrite the laws of physics, had little practical knowledge. This image of Einstein is certainly inspirational, but a good portion of it is false. Einstein was eccentric, but not only in the playful, impractical way that he is remembered today. He was undeniably quirky and individual in his mannerisms, but this individuality also manifested itself in the very deep political and philosophical opinions that he held. While Einstein spent much of his life publishing scientific papers, he also devoted much of his time to putting these opinions into writing, and in his own words, he lived a life divided between politics and equations.1 In addition to the approximately 300 scientific works that he published during his lifetime, Einstein authored around 150 scholarly but non-scientific works.2 The subject of a number of these works was Zionism. Einstein did not practice Judaism, but he was Jewish by heritage, he felt a connection to the Jewish community at large. It was the events of the World Wars, however, that led him gradually to identify with the Jewish community, and later [in his life] to become an outspoken supporter of Zionism.3 As Einsteins Zionist views matured, he was met with a significant amount of opposition. In 1933, while Einstein was in America, Nazi militia raided his house and confiscated his bank account4, an event which stands as yet another contradiction to the modern image of Einstein as merely an innocent and lovable scientist. Einstein was undeterred by this advance, and from his new residence in the United States, he continued to support Zionism, struggled with his views on pacifism, and published works pertaining to his philosophies on war, education, religion, and numerous other issues. Einstein was a man concerned with far more than just science, and his science, therefore, was quite untraditional. As his career as a scientist progressed, he distanced himself more and more from science by traditional experimentation, which he saw as subjective and incomplete, and came to embrace a scientific objectivism that is, a desire to make theories as complete and universal as possible which often flirted with philosophy. This brand of distinctly Einsteinian thought was evident in some of his most early work, but became most obvious during his later life in his opposition to quantum theory and search for a unified theory of everything.

Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes (New York: Bantam Books, 1988), 177. 2 Albert Einstein, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein (accessed April 17, 2010). 3 Hawking, 177-78 4 Ibid

Einsteins Early Work, Special Relativity and Thought Experimentation In 1905, often known as Einsteins miracle year,5 Einstein published four very notable papers. Among these were one on the photoelectric effect, which was instrumental to the eventual development of quantum theory, and two on special relativity.6 At this point in Einsteins life, his scientific objectivity was not yet mature, and therefore was not very apparent in his paper on the photoelectric effect. His work in relativity, however, was distinctly Einsteinian, especially because of Einsteins use of thought experiments in developing it. Einsteins paper on the photoelectric effect was truly one of the first steps, if not the first, in quantum theory. In this paper, which Einstein based of the work of Max Planck, another man often credited with initiating quantum theory, Einstein proposed the radical idea that light was not emitted in waves, but in discrete packets, which Einstein called photons and which are called quanta today. Interestingly, Einstein did absolutely no physical experiments to reach this conclusion his paper was entirely based off of his interpretations of Plancks work. In 1900, in his work with atoms, Planck had realized that, whenever atoms gave off energy, they gave off amounts that could be expressed as multiples of around 6.62607 x 10-34 Joule seconds.7 At the time, Planck thought nothing of this fact, and considered it to be nothing more than a mathematical contrivance,8 a convenient coincidence that made observing atoms simpler. Einstein, however, thought differently, and after observing Plancks work, deduced that light and energy were not continuous, but had discrete, elementary (or smallest) units. Einstein took Plancks mathematical coincidence and drew conclusions from it about the nature of light and the electromagnetic field itself.9 The paper that Einstein published concerning these findings earned him great acclaim in fact, he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for this and subsequent work on the photoelectric effect10 but this work did little to represent his scientific philosophy, as this philosophy was not entirely mature yet. The idea of the photon was a very revolutionary idea, but nevertheless only an idea Einsteins paper was only a very, very small piece of the puzzle, and provided no theory or equations for understand atoms or light in general. While Einsteins paper on the photoelectric effect was brilliant, it proposed no complete theories, and therefore cannot be considered a truly Einsteinian work. However, the beginnings of his scientific philosophy were there, and later in 1905, Einstein published his first work complete and objective enough to be considered Einsteinian. This was none other than his theory of special relativity.
5 6

Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 3. The Great Works I, AIP Center for History of Physics, http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/great1.htm (accessed April 17, 2010), 1-2. 7 Isaacson, 95-96 8 Ibid, 99 9 Ibid, 99 10 Wikipedia, Albert Einstein

Special relativity is a very abstract concept, and it is nearly as difficult to grasp today as it was when Einstein first proposed it. Its basic conclusion is that time and distance, instead of being absolute, are relative and vary for every individual depending on where he is and how he is moving.11 One of the key phrases here is how he is moving special relativity states that the distortion of space and time becomes exponentially greater as and individual approaches the speed of light, and as a result of this distortion, it is impossible for any massive particle (as opposed to a massless particle, like the photon) to travel at or faster than the speed of light. At this point, special relativity is already starting to look very Einsteinian, especially if compared to Einsteins proposal of the existence of photons. While photons were only one suggestion about the nature of the atom and of light, special relativity was an entirely new idea of the nature of time, and an idea that Einstein backed up with a number of equations. Because special relativity described the manner in which a whole system (time) worked, it was certainly very universal and complete. But Einsteins brilliance is most apparent in special relativity in the theorys objectivity. The physical experiments that provided the statistics Einstein used to derive the idea of the photon were inevitable subjective after all, they involved human measurement of natural phenomena. Special relativity, on the other hand, was much more objective. This objectivity was largely a result of the fact that special relativity was derived through thought experimentation. Thought experiments are devices of the imagination used to investigate the nature of things.12 They resemble traditional, physical experiments only in name: physical experiments involve that interplay of an experimenter and an experimentee and are used to produce values thought experiments, on the other hand, involve the interplay of initial assumptions and the logic of the experimenter and produce only assumptions. The thought experiments that Einstein did to reach his idea of special relativity, for example, were based on two assumptions.13 Einsteins first assumption was that principle of the relativity of motion was correct (it should be noted that relativity of motion and special relativity are different concepts). This principle, which had been around since the time of Galileo and Newton,14 stated that an objects motion can only be described in terms of its movement relative to another object15. Einsteins second assumption was that James Clerk Maxwells statement that light did not respect relativity of motion,16 but instead had a constant velocity regardless of the motion of a reference object, was also
11 12

Hawking, 33 James R. Brown, Thought Experiments, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thought-experiment/ (accessed April 13, 2010). 13 George F. Smoot, Introduction to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, Smoot Group, http://aether.lbl.gov/www/classes/p139/exp/introduction.html (accessed April 13, 2010). 14 AIP Center for History of Physics, Great Works, 2 15 Smoot, 1 16 AIP Center for History of Physics, Great Works, 2

correct.17 Like relativity of motion, Maxwells statement was generally accepted as fact (largely because it was based on an experiment performed by Michelson and Morley in 183118), but unlike relativity of motion, it could not be explained. In addition to this, Maxwells idea on the non-relative nature of light seems to contradict relativity of motion. Einsteins special relativity thought experiments, therefore, were built around Einsteins meditation on how to reconcile the relativity of motion with James Clerk Maxwells theory of electromagnetism.19 Einstein found that these two ideas could only be reconciled if a different understanding of time that is, the understanding suggested by special relativity was adopted. Einstein reached this conclusion through doing literally nothing more than turning over the implications of relativity of motion and the non-relativity of light in his mind again and again he did no physical experimentation at any point in the process. The equations that he produced to describe special relativity were therefore not an expression of what he had observed nature to be, but of what he believed nature must be. This freedom from subjective physical experimentation and reliance only on the interplay of assumptions to reach conclusions was what made special relativity so objective. While Einsteins paper on the photoelectric effect had been only an incomplete suggestion and had been based on subjective physical experimentation, his theory of special relativity suggested a new and complete understanding of space and time and was based only on data-free thought experimentation, and therefore was significantly Einsteinian. Though Einsteins scientific philosophy was not fully mature at this point in his career, its development was greatly apparent in special relativity. General Relativity and Fame Despite his success with special relativity, Einstein was unsatisfied. Special relatively was accurate in most situations, but Einstein was quick to find flaws in it. The most glaring of these was the fact that special relativity did not take into account the force of gravity.20 In 1915, Einstein solved this problem with the creation of his general theory of relativity. By incorporating gravity, he was able to make general relativity even more objective than special relativity had been. General relativity was extremely abstract, but when a 1919 experiment claimed to confirm it, Einstein and his theory were rocketed to fame. The general theory of relativity has long been considered Einsteins biggest contribution to the physics community, his crowning glory21 even. And this community is very
17 18

Ibid Smoot, 1 19 Smolin, 1 20 Lee Smolin, Einstein's Legacy: Where are the Einsteinians? Logos 4, no. 3 (August 15, 2005): www.logosjournal.com/issue_4.3/smolin.htm. 21 Isaacson, 3

thankful to him for it, as many physicists hold that, while the theory of special relativity would have developed without Einstein, general relativity was entirely his.22 However, had it not been for Einsteins desire for completeness and objectivity, general relativity may not have been created. This desire, this Einsteinianism, had shown itself briefly in his creation of special relativity, but with his progress to general relativity, it quickly matured. Special relativity was extremely complete and objective, but it wasnt quite good enough for Einstein. According to Smolin, Einstein had convinced himself it was wrong within two years of publishing it. He rejected his theory, even before most physicists had come to accept it.23 Einstein realized that special relativity was a very good approximation of the nature of space and time in most situations, but because he had failed to consider gravity in its special relativitys creations, his thought experimentation, while objective, had been incomplete. For eight years after his 1907 rejection of special relativity, Einstein made a number of unsuccessful attemptsto find a theory of gravity that was consistent with special relativity.24 Finally, in 1915, he settled upon his theory of general relativity. While general relativity shared some of its name and ideas with special relativity, when Einstein completed it, it proved to be much different from his previous theory. While special relativity had been a theory about the nature of space-time, general relativity was first and foremost a theory about gravity, but one which Einstein had been able to explain as a product of space-time. In general relativity, Einstein introduced the idea that, in addition to being relative and variable (as he had proved in special relativity), space-time (a four-dimensional construct consisting of the three special dimensions and a time dimension) was also curved. And not only that he also suggested that space-times curvature was a result of the distribution of mass and energy in it.25 Einstein concluded that what we perceive as the force of gravity is actually a result of our inability to follow a straight line through a curved space-time.26 By the time Einstein was finished with general relativity, it was much more Einsteinian than special relativity had ever been. As it was able to interweave gravity and spacetime, whereas special relativity was confined simply to the nature of space-time, general relativity provided a more complete picture of the workings of the universe. General relativity also stayed true to the spirit of objectivism that Einstein had showed in special relativity: in creating general relativity, Einstein again used only thought experimentation. In fact, general relativity was the source of Einsteins most famous thought experiment in this experiment, Einstein imagined himself riding an elevator27
22
23

Dietrick E. Thomas, "Personality, Place and Physics," Science News, March 31, 1979, 212. Smolin, 2 24 Hawking, 22 25 Ibid, 29 26 Ibid 27 Brown

and, after some working over of assumptions and facts, deduced that being subjected to gravitation could be considered identical to accelerating. General relativity was truly a masterpiece, and it was not long before Einsteins brilliance was recognized. In 1919, Eddington and Dyson, two British scientists, set out to test some of the predictions made by general relativity. One of the most significant predictions that the theory made was that, since mass and energy bent space-time, they would also bend light. Therefore, to test the theory, Eddington and Dyson decided to measure the deflection of the light from distant stars as the sun passed in front of them. To allow the stars to still be visible when they were so close to the sun, Eddington and Dyson chose to make their measurements during a solar eclipse.28 Eddington and Dyson made their observations in May of 1919, and that November of the same year, they revealed to an audience of members of the British Royal Society and Astronomical Society that they had confirmed general relativity. The response that they received was dramatic to say the least: J. J. Thompson, the then-President of the Royal Society, apparently dubbed relativity one of the momentous, if not the most momentous, pronouncements in the history of human thought.29 In the days that followed, general relativity made headlines both in Europe and in the United States.30 However, despite this response, Eddington and Dysons experiment was by no means an unequivocal confirmation of Einsteins theory31 while they had certainly not disproven relativity, they had not proven it either. In what scientists Earman and Glymour called the creation of a false trichotomy,32 Eddington and Dyson claimed their experiment had only three possible results, each of which would lead to only one possible conclusion about the nature of light and gravity: starlight could be deflected by 0.87 arc seconds, which would suggest that light was effected by gravity as Newtonian physics predicted it should be, it could be deflected by 1.74 arc seconds, which would show that light interacted with gravity in accordance with general relativity, or it could not be deflected at all, which would suggest that light was something bizarre indeed.33 When light was in fact deflected by 1.74 arc seconds, Eddington and Dyson claimed that general relativity had been confirmed. This conclusion was a bit premature as Earman and Glymour pointed out, a deflection of this amount was could have, at the time, been attributed to a number of other phenomena. For example, as Alistair Sponsel pointed out in his essay Constructing a Revolution in Science, the deflection could have been a result of the presence of some

28

Alistair Sponsel, "Constructing a 'Revolution in Science': The Campaign to Promote a Favourable reception for the 1919 Solar Eclipse Experiments," The British Journal for the HIstory of Science 35, no. 4 (2002): 422. 29 Marshall Missner, Why Einstein Became Famous in America, Social Studies of Science, May 1985: 269. 30 Ibid 31 Sponsel, 440 32 Ibid, 442 33 Ibid, 448

refractive barrier between the stars and the Earth.34 Eddington and Dysons conclusion, therefore, involved a bit of artistic license. While the duo probably realized that they were jumping to their conclusion, it was not their intention to fool the public or the scientific community into believing a theory that they (Eddington and Dyson) didnt support themselves. After all, both were reputable scientists. Rather, as Sponsel argued, they were most likely convinced by the aesthetic beauty of the theory that it must be correct.35 General relativity was, in fact, very beautiful. And I dont mean this abstractly or nerdishly rather, beauty has a more technical meaning when used in the context of mathematics. A beautiful mathematic sentence is an equation, expression, or identity that is able to relate fundamental elements through simple terms while still reaching a complex conclusion.36 For example, Eulers Identity, ei +1=0, is extremely beautiful.37 Einsteins most famous equation, E=mc2, is also extremely beautiful, as it relates simple elements (energy, mass, and c, the speed of light) that reach a dramatic conclusion (in this case that mass is equivalent to energy). Most of Einsteins relativity equations were similarly beautiful, as they, like E=mc2, had been derived not through physical experimentation, which would certainly not have yielded whole numbers, but through Einsteins objective pondering of the fundamental nature of gravity and space-time. In this interaction, the same Einsteinianism that had led Einstein to create such beautiful theories was recognized and embraced by two scientists who, like Einstein, valued completeness and objectivity in science. Almost immediately (for special relativity states that all information-bearing radiation must travel must travel at exactly the speed of light, and therefore cannot reach any destination immediately) after Eddington and Dyson announced the results of their experiment, general relativity was rocketed to fame. The day after the meeting of the Royal and Astronomical Societies, the London times ran a headline which read: REVOLUTION IN SCIENCE/ New Theory of the Universe/ Newtonian Ideas Overthrown.38 The papers in major American cities followed with sometimes even more dramatic headlines just a few days later. The New York Times, for example, ran a story with a rambling, six-tiered headline on Einsteins theory three days later.39 Einsteins personal fame was, to a large extent, a result of the fame of his theory,40 and by the time that Einstein returned from his 1921 trip to America, he, not just his theory, was worldfamous. And this fame was well-deserved. General relativity was Einsteins greatest achievement, and while its initial 1919 confirmation was questionable, it has since held
34 35

Ibid Ibid, 440 36 Mr. Jackson 37 Ibid 38 Sponsel, 440 39 Isaacson, 265 40 Missner, 268

up to all but the most minute objections and, to this day, stands as the accepted theory of gravity. In its objectivity and sweeping implications, general relativity was also a statement to the coming-of-age of Einsteins scientific philosophy, and prepared his philosophy for the trials that it would undergo in the last few decades of his life. Quantum Theory and Stubbornness Einstein laid the groundwork for quantum theory in his 1905 paper on the photoelectric effect. However, while Einstein did some work involving quanta in the few decades that followed, it was work by other scientists that expanded Einsteins 1905 work into a fullblown theory. Out of this expansion came a dominant picture of quantum mechanics which today is called the Copenhagen Interpretation. However, the Copenhagen Interpretation was based on ideas that fell in stark contrast to Einsteinian objectivism, and by the time that Einstein immigrated to the United States in 1933, he had become one of the Interpretations most outspoken opponents. From the start, quantum theory was less complete than relativity. While Einstein defined almost all of the relativity that we know today in just a few papers, quantum theory started as one idea (Einsteins idea of the photon), and many physicists had to work to expand it. However, Einstein did not oppose quantum theory for the first few decades after he proposed it. He realized that quantum theory proposed some very powerful ideas and did not yet see a reason to distance himself from them. In 1916, Einstein famously proposed that, because of the nature of quanta, it would be possible to create what we know today as a laser.41 Einstein had little problem accepting that some of the implications of quantum theory were true his opposition began, however, when other scientists began to present quantum theory as a complete theory. Foremost among these other scientists were Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Bohr and Heisenberg were supporters of what is know today as the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics.42 The Copenhagen Interpretation had strong ties to Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle. This principle stated that, in any attempt to measure a small particle (that is, sub-atomic or smaller, the sizes of particles with which quantum theory deals), the [measuring] apparatus and the [particle] interact in an uncontrollable way, so that we are unable to measure the electrons momentum at the time.43 For this reason, Heisenberg believed that, at least with the technology of the time, it was impossible to discern the exact state of a particle only estimations of the general area in which a particle should be located were possible. As a result, all the wave equations (the equations describing the movement of particles on a quantum scale) of Einsteins time (as well as the todays wave equations) were built around probabilities.44
41 42

Quantum and Cosmos, 1 Jan Faye, Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-copenhagen/ (accessed April 13, 2010). 43 Ibid

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Subjective as they were, it was not these probabilities themselves or the mere idea of Uncertainty that perturbed Einstein rather, what Einstein did oppose was the idea that these probabilities were the only possible reality and that the Uncertainty Principle was simply impossible to circumvent. This idea that it was impossible to know anything more than the probable position of quantum-scale particles that quantum theory, with all its probabilities, was exact as it was ever going to get -- was the central idea of the Copenhagen Interpretation. Bohr, who eventually came to be a much more fundamental supporter of the Copenhagen Interpretation than Heisenberg,45 called this unknowability complementarity.46 He defined complementarity as the coexistence of two facts, each of which is inconclusive on its own, but which together suggest what he saw as only one possible conclusion. These two facts (significantly simplified) were: 1. the reality that, because of the implications of the Uncertainty Principle, measurements of quantum-scale particles often provided mutually exclusive47 results 2. and the fact that no objective knowledge48 can be gained about the nature of such particles. By considering these two facts together, Bohr concluded that, in the absence of objective knowledge, mutually exclusive results must point to an inherent lack of one definite position on the part of quantum-scale particles. Einstein objected to this idea of an inherent lack of position for two main reasons. First of all, it was a result of quantum theorys inclusion of probabilities in its equations, and because of these probabilities, its mathematics did not [and could not] describe individual events.49 Given a quantum-scale particle with certain characteristics, the equations of quantum theory would be utterly unable to predict definitively how it would react to interference. Secondly, the fact that quantum theory accepted the Uncertainty Principle (which describes the relationship between observer and observed) as fact meant that all of its predictions were based on how quantum-scale particles should appear to an observer to Einsteins horror, the theory was simply silent about what, if anything, was likely to be true [about these particles] in the absence of observation.50 Quantum theory made no predictions about how quantum-scale particles truly were it only dealt with how they appeared. In a letter to Max Born, another supporter of the Copenhagen Interpretation, Einstein famously said of quantum theory:
Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.51
44

Arthur Fine, The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-epr/ (accessed April 13, 2010). 45 Faye 46 Ibid 47 Ibid 48 Ibid 49 Quantum and Cosmos, 1 50 Fine 51 Quantum and Cosmos, 1

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In Einsteins eyes, quantum theorys reliance on probability, on Gods dice, made it incomplete, and its dependence on an observer prevented it from being objective, from revealing anything fundamental or secret about the universe. He did express the hope that someday a formulation would arise that would contain quantum mechanics as an incomplete part,52 but the Copenhagen Interpretations acceptance of quantum theory in its current state as a complete theory was something for which Einstein simply could not stand. His rejection of quantum theory showed that his scientific philosophy, had not only come of age, but had stayed of age. A Conclusion: Unified Field Theories and Einsteins Legacy The last few decades of Einsteins life, however, were devoted to more than just his opposition of the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics. While at Princeton, Einstein also labored to construct a theory of his own. He sought to combine his own theory of general relativity with existing theories of electromagnetism to create a unified field theory, or a theory of everything. Had Einstein discovered such a theory, it would have been the epitome of completeness and objectivism in physics. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, but his struggle has been taken up since then, most recently by a group of physicists known as string theorists. A unified field theory, should it ever be found, would be the ultimate expression of Einsteinianism in physics. Such a theory would describe two things. First of all, it would describe the relationship between the fundamental forces of nature according to our present understanding of physics, there are four such fundamental forces: the force of gravity, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. Presently, partial [field] theories that describe a limited number of happenings53 exist general relativity, for example, describes all happenings related to gravity. A unified field theory would combine these partial theories and describe the four fundamental forces in terms of each other. Secondly, just as general relativity, the accepted field theory of gravity, predicts how objects should act in a universe permeated by gravity, a unified field theory would predict how objects should act in a universe permeated by all four of these forces. Because of its inclusion of all four forces, a unified field theory would be truly complete it would be more complete than general relativity, which described gravity but failed to relate it to the other three fundamental forces, and it would have been more complete than special relativity, which described space-time but failed to consider the influence of gravity. Because of Einsteins desire for completeness, the idea of a unified field theory was extremely appealing to him. However, he doubted his ability to find this more complete theory.54 Einstein knew that such a theory would be a huge step in physics likely even greater than the step that he had taken in his creation of general relativity and acknowledged that the physics of his age was likely not advanced enough yet for this step to be taken.
52 53

Thomas, 213 Hawking, 155 54 Science and Philosophy, 2

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In retrospect, Einstein was correct in this assumption. The physics of Einsteins time really only understood gravity and electromagnetism the other two forces of nature, the strong and weak nuclear forces, were comparatively very poorly understood.55 Even if Einstein would have been able to unite gravity and electromagnetism under one theory, his result would have been far from a theory of everything. Still, Einstein pursued his theory, and over the last few decades of his life, Einstein proposed unified field theories in various mathematical forms.56 However, ever the perfectionist, Einstein found flaws in theory after theory.57 After 40 years of chasing a unified field theory,58 Einstein died in his house at Princetons Institute for Advanced Study. Despite his efforts, his predictions of his own limitations had held true, and he had been unable to unite even gravitation and electromagnetism. But, particularly by Einsteins definition, these later years of his life had been far from wasted. After all, he had not really expected to find such a theory. Rather, what he had worked for those past forty years was the opportunity to continue his quest for completeness, his quest for Einsteinianism. And in this respect, he was very successful. To quote the man himself,
I am satisfied with the mystery of lifes eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existenceas well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.59

Einstein possessed an insatiable scientific romanticism, which he lived out literally until the day that he died. Einsteins wake was an extremely difficult one in which to follow. However, since his death, a number of physicists have picked up his cause of creating a unified field theory. And so far, they have been fairly successful. Recent experiments have pointed the way to new mathematical rules, which cover both electromagnetic forces and the [strong and weak] nuclear forces that shape the cores of atoms.60 These rules, however, are far from theories and leave much to be explained also, they lack a method of including Einsteins own relativistic gravity.61 Unfortunately, despite this progress, modern physics has, for the most part, ventured away from Einsteinianism. Recent stabs at theories of everything have included such things as spontaneous symmetry breaking, which would have appalled him.62 And in a shift of opinion that would have horrified Einstein, most modern physicists have accepted the aspects of quantum theory that he so opposed. Stephen Hawking, one of todays most prominent physicists, believes that it seems that the uncertainty principle is a

55 56

Hawking, 155 Science and Philosophy, 1 57 Ibid 58 Thomas, 212 59 Albert Einstein, The World as I See It: An Essay by Einstein, AIP Center for History of Physics, http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay.htm (accessed April 17, 2010). 60 Science and Philosophy, 2 61 Ibid 62 Thompson, 213

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fundamental feature of the universe we line in. A successful unified theory must therefore incorporate this principle.63 But still, a glimmer of hope for Einsteinianism remains on the horizon. Recently, a number of string theories have emerged. These theories suggest that all matter is composed of one-dimensional strings, fundamental particles [shaped like] tiny loops, which vibrate like violin strings in a fantastic multi-dimensional space.64 String theories have yet to be supported by experimentation,65 but unlike other attempted unified field theories, they seem so far to accommodate, and even to necessitate, the force of gravity.66 Though Einstein likely never dreamed of string theory, the complete, bottom-up revision of physics that it suggests and its development without dependence on physical experimentation would certainly have pleased him. As of yet, however, neither string theory nor any other brand of modern physics has offered up another Einstein. Einstein far surpasses any physicists that have emerged since him in originality, in scope of influence, and in fame. However, as the Einstein of the early twentieth century fades away and the Einstein of fame and of twenty-first century popular culture moves to take his place, we must not forget that he was a man of principle. Einstein was a man who, over the course of his life, developed a driving distaste for science that avoided a complete or objective picture of the universe and instead devoted his intellect to the pursuit of something universal. Einsteins passions lead him to whole-heartedly oppose the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics, despite the fact that he had laid the foundations for quantum mechanics himself years before. These same passions sent him on a trek for completeness, on which he wound though special and general relativity before finally settling in unified field theory. Ultimately, these passions led Einstein, a wanderer in the woods of Reason, to lose himself in the mysteries of the universe. But he would have wanted nothing else.

63 64

Hawking, 155-156 Science and Philosophy, 2 65 Ibid 66 Ibid

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67Cover Page Photo

This is one of the pictures taken by Eddington as part of his 1919 bid to confirm Einsteins theory of general relativity. Source: Wikipedia, Albert Einstein Back Page Photo This was just a nice picture of Einstein enjoying life. Source: Science and Philosophy, 1

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