Alone against gravity : Einstein in Berlin: The turbulent birth of the theory of relativity, 1914-1918 / Thomas De Padova.

"Marking the 100th anniversity of WWI 1918-2018."-Cover.

Translation of: Allein gegen die Schwerkraft.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Thomas De Padova's biography sheds new light on Einstein's general theory of relativity and its emergence in the midst of the First World War. The book focuses on a pivotal period of four years, 1914-1918, in the life and work of Albert Einstein in Berlin. The years between 1914 and 1918 were years of scientific wonder. Einstein completed and presented his general theory of relativity; his most significant scientific achievement that opened science a completely new perspective on space and time and the structure of our universe. His linking of space and time, matter and gravity, introduced questions that occupy physicists and philosophers to this day. (Only recently in 2017, proving the ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein's theory, won the Nobel Prize for physics). But these were also years of horror, of unleashing the violence of nationalism. Einstein's idyllic research institute transformed into a lab that developed the first weapons of mass destruction. "Our highly acclaimed technological progress, our civilization in general, is like an ax in the hands of a pathological criminal," Einstein declared bitterly in the midst of the war. Witnessing his colleagues' chauvinism and the events of the war politicized Einstein who became an active pacifist. Using parallel events, Thomas De Padova takes us into the historical and social context of World War 1, unfolding the story of Einstein's inner and outer worlds; his scientific struggle to decipher and resist gravity and his social struggle to resist nationalism and violence."-- Provided by publisher.