The Physicist and the Philosopher

Azal biguna, 488 orrialde

English hizkuntza

2016ko api. 1a(e)an Princeton University Press(e)n argitaratua.

ISBN:: 978-0-691-17317-7

(berrikuspen 1)

On April 6, 1922, in Paris, Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson publicly debated the nature of time. Einstein considered Bergson’s theory of time to be a soft, psychological notion, irreconcilable with the quantitative realities of physics. Bergson, who gained fame as a philosopher by arguing that time should not be understood exclusively through the lens of science, criticized Einstein’s theory of time for being a metaphysics grafted on to science, one that ignored the intuitive aspects of time. The Physicist and the Philosopher tells the remarkable story of how this explosive debate transformed our understanding of time and drove a rift between science and the humanities that persists today.

Jimena Canales introduces readers to the revolutionary ideas of Einstein and Bergson, describes how they dramatically collided in Paris, and traces how this clash of worldviews reverberated across the twentieth century. She shows how it provoked responses from figures such as …

On April 6, 1922, in Paris, Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson publicly debated the nature of time. Einstein considered Bergson’s theory of time to be a soft, psychological notion, irreconcilable with the quantitative realities of physics. Bergson, who gained fame as a philosopher by arguing that time should not be understood exclusively through the lens of science, criticized Einstein’s theory of time for being a metaphysics grafted on to science, one that ignored the intuitive aspects of time. The Physicist and the Philosopher tells the remarkable story of how this explosive debate transformed our understanding of time and drove a rift between science and the humanities that persists today.

Jimena Canales introduces readers to the revolutionary ideas of Einstein and Bergson, describes how they dramatically collided in Paris, and traces how this clash of worldviews reverberated across the twentieth century. She shows how it provoked responses from figures such as Bertrand Russell and Martin Heidegger, and carried repercussions for American pragmatism, logical positivism, phenomenology, and quantum mechanics. Canales explains how the new technologies of the period—such as wristwatches, radio, and film—helped to shape people’s conceptions of time and further polarized the public debate. She also discusses how Bergson and Einstein, toward the end of their lives, each reflected on his rival’s legacy—Bergson during the Nazi occupation of Paris and Einstein in the context of the first hydrogen bomb explosion.

The Physicist and the Philosopher is a magisterial and revealing account that shows how scientific truth was placed on trial in a divided century marked by a new sense of time.

2 edizio

Marek (e)k Jimena Canales(r)en The Physicist and the Philosopher liburuaren kritika egin du

A rich, nonlinear history of the struggle for the mindscape of the 20th century.

4 izar

This is a superbly presented history of the long-running debate on what is ostensibly about the nature of time, but in fact is substantially about the relevance and value of different ways of understanding the world, and the extent to which science and philosophy in particular are valid modes of investigating the world and experiences.

Though Bergson and Einstein are at its centre, they are just the core of a complex set of relationships. Canales teases apart several strands - the people (almost entirely men), the institutions, the technologies and objects, historical events - that all play a role in how the debate unfolds over decades. The chapters are kept relatively short and focused, and the narrative shuttles back and forth across time and social groups. (Though it is anchored by a particular date when the Einstein and Bergson met, the 6th April 1922, the richness of the discussion happens …

This is a superbly presented history of the long-running debate on what is ostensibly about the nature of time, but in fact is substantially about the relevance and value of different ways of understanding the world, and the extent to which science and philosophy in particular are valid modes of investigating the world and experiences.

Though Bergson and Einstein are at its centre, they are just the core of a complex set of relationships. Canales teases apart several strands - the people (almost entirely men), the institutions, the technologies and objects, historical events - that all play a role in how the debate unfolds over decades. The chapters are kept relatively short and focused, and the narrative shuttles back and forth across time and social groups. (Though it is anchored by a particular date when the Einstein and Bergson met, the 6th April 1922, the richness of the discussion happens elsewhere.)

I learned a lot about a number of different disciplines here, and am motivated to read more about those involved. Highly recommended.

Gaiak

Einstein, albert, 1879-1955
Bergson, henri, 1859-1941
Time
Relativity (physics)
Physicists, biography
Philosophers, france
Philosophers, biography