"Albert Einstein - The World As I See It" - читать интересную книгу автора (Einstein Albert)

THE WORLD AS I SEE IT
Albert Einstein



PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION

Only individuals have a sense of responsibility. --Nietzsche

This book does not represent a complete collection of the articles, addresses,
and pronouncements of Albert Einstein; it is a selection made with a definite
object-- namely, to give a picture of a man. To-day this man is being drawn,
contrary to his own intention, into the whirlpool of political passions and
contemporary history. As a result, Einstein is experiencing the fate that so
many of the great men of history experienced: his character and opinions are
being exhibited to the world in an utterly distorted form.

To forestall this fate is the real object of this book. It meets a wish that has
constantly been expressed both by Einstein's friends and by the wider public.
It contains work belonging to the most various dates-- the article on "The
International of Science" dates from the year 1922, the address on "The
Principles of Scientific Research" from 1923, the "Letter to an Arab" from
1930--and the most various spheres, held together by the unity of the
personality which stands behind all these utterances. Albert Einstein believes
in humanity, in a peaceful world of mutual helpfulness, and in the high mission
of science. This book is intended as a plea for this belief at a time which
compels every one of us to overhaul his mental attitude and his ideas.

J. H.


INTRODUCTION TO ABRIDGED
EDITION

In his biography of Einstein Mr. H. Gordou Garbedian relates that an
American newspaper man asked the great physicist for a definition of his
theory of relativity in one sentence. Einstein replied that it would take him
three days to give a short definition of relativity. He might well have added
that unless his questioner had an intimate acquaintance with mathematics and
physics, the definition would be incomprehensible.

To the majority of people Einstein's theory is a complete mystery. Their
attitude towards Einstein is like that of Mark Twain towards the writer of a
work on mathematics: here was a man who had written an entire book of
which Mark could not understand a single sentence. Einstein, therefore, is
great in the public eye partly because he has made revolutionary discoveries
which cannot be translated into the common tongue. We stand in proper awe
of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range, whose
achievements can be measured only by the few who are able to follow his
reasoning and challenge his conclusions.