As humans, we are influenced by all aspects of life. Since its conception, the advancement of science has been influenced indirectly by the cultural and religious realms. In the beginning of the book, Einstein’s Jewish Science, Steven Gimbel talks about defining Einstein as a jew, understanding if his theory of relativity has jewish influences and why Einstein, of all people, formulated the ground-breaking theory.
Science has Einstein to thank for his huge advancements in understanding how the universe works. His upbringing, indirectly influenced the creation of the theory of relativity. When he was a young boy, his relative taught him judaism. From these lessons, Einstein became an orthodox jew for several years (25). Though, it was for
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Each person is a mold of their emotional reactions to interactions with people and events, making every individual unique. However, despite the uniqueness, these experiences of life can influence everyones thinking, both directly and indirectly. Einstein was influenced not only by religion and his culture but also by previous scientists, religious figures, and events. Some of which were talked about throughout the book. The event that took place with the compass when he was a child, as well as the event when the jewish student gave him his first math book when he was a kid both influenced him, enormously. Religious figures like Spinoza gave him the cosmic religion to admire, influencing his thinking about the universe. Scientific figures like Heinrich Antoon Lorentz, Ernest Mach, and eventually his former teacher Herman Minkowski to name a few, all influenced his thinking, as well. Lorentz wondered about the properties of light and gave a new way of looking at the problem. Mach wrote about the philosophy of physics and thought about real existence in a way that it could only be confirmed through “observations, measurements, experiences, and sensations” (59). Einstein expanded on both Lorentz and Mach’s ideas. Minkowski expanded the theory of relativity by viewing it from a geometric point of view. Through Minkowski, Einstein learns more about his own theory through the work or influence of his former professor. Einstein’s science was indeed jewish science because he himself would use “pronouns like “we” and “us” in addressing jewish audiences” (34). He also took the time to explain what a cultural jew would have in their character separating themselves from other cultures. If he believed that he was a jew, it is part of his identity and the experiences of his life were colored with the idea that he was a jewish boy who was a born german citizen. This leads to the influence of
Since his birth, Albert Einstein has had the most beneficial effects on the events of the world. Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1979 and as a boy displayed an unquenchable curiosity for understanding science and all of its mysteries. As Albert Einstein’s life progressed, he found himself working as a patent clerk in Bern. While working as a patent clerk in Bern, Albert Einstein had a plethora amount of time which was devoted to formulating his theories. Also during this time, Albert Einstein received his Doctorate degree and started working on one of his most influential papers, which was the Special Theory of Relativity. After Einstein completed his Special Theory of Relativity, he moved onto creating the General Theory of Relativity which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. With the creation of both the General Theory of Relativity and the Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein was able to create his Theory of Relativity which comprises of both theories. Other scientific discoveries that Einstein made are the existence of the photon, the theory of Brownian motion, the concept of Mass-energy equivalence, the photoelectric effect, the first quantum theory of specific heats, the Einstein-Brilloui-Keller method for finding the quantum mechanical version of a classical system , Bose-Einstein statistics and Bose-Einstein condensates, the EPR paradox, and although his efforts were unsuccessful, in his last thirty years of life Einstein explored various classical unified field theories that could account for both electromagnetism and gravitation and possibly quantum mechanics.
Albert Einstein may have helped to pave the path for modern civilization with his theory of relativity, however, there was more to this man than mere physics and science (Franklin, 2007, para. 2). He was awarded Time Magazine’s “Person of the Century” in 2000 as just one of the many recognitions he has received beyond his intellectual accomplishments (Lanouette, 2008, para. 1). In fact, the work in which he partook, combined with his just priorities and beliefs, fell clearly in line with the teachings the Catholic church strives to encourage. The following paper will prove how Albert Einstein’s ethic and moral actions clearly promoted three of the ten principles of Catholic social teachings.
In his response to a question asked by sixth grade student Phyllis regarding “Whether or not scientists pray?”, Einstein successfully employs rhetorical methods such as tone, diction, ethos, and logos to support and make the claim that scientists do not pray. By doing so he makes for a well written and rhetorically effective response. Einstein effectively utilizes logos in his writing by stating facts and calling upon logical reasoning to support his claim: that scientists do not pray. An example of this can be found in the first paragraph, where he writes, “... a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer”. He backs up this claim using logical reasoning, “Scientific research is based on the idea that everything takes place is determined by laws of nature”.
Einstein became a hero, and the myth building began. Headlines appeared in newspapers all over the world. On November 8, 1919, for example, the London Times had an article headlined: "The Revolution In Science/Einstein Versus Newton." Two days later, The New York Times' headlines read: "Lights All Askew In The Heavens/Men Of Science More Or Less Agog Over Results Of Eclipse Observations/Einstein Theory Triumphs." The planet was exhausted with World War I, eager for some sign of humankind's nobility, and suddenly here was a modest scientific genius, seemingly interested only in pure intellectual pursuits.
The Theory of Relativity, proposed by the Jewish physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) in the early part of the 20th century, is one of the most significant scientific advances of our time. Although the concept of relativity was not introduced by Einstein, his major contribution was the recognition that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant and an absolute physical boundary for motion. This does not have a major impact on a person's day-to-day life since we travel at speeds much slower than light speed. For objects travelling near light speed, however, the theory of relativity states that objects will move slower and shorten in length from the point of view of an observer on Earth. Einstein also
agree that “physics is the manner in which we argue about the objective side of
such effects in relation to their own lives. This notion is accentuated through the combination of
In 1905 Einstein published the Annus Mirabilis papers. These papers explained each of his four main theories; the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, Special Relativity and Matter energy-equivalence. These four works created the foundation for modern day physics and brought a new view to space, time and matter. Brownian motion is the random movement of small particles in either a gas or a liquid caused by collisions with the particles around them. Albert Einstein came up with mathematical equations that allowed him to determine the exact size of atoms. With these equations Einstein essentially provided the first substantial evidence that atoms actually do exist. Einstein’s second paper was on the photoelectric effect. Until Einstein, the photoelectric effect went unsolved. Einstein concluded that when a photon hits a metal surface, the photoelectrons on the metals surface are emitted as certain light frequencies. Thus proving that light has quanta meaning it has packets of energy. This has brought huge technological advancements and has a lot to do with many things that surround us today. Old television used video camera tubes that required the photoelectric effect to charge the screen and transform the image...
Miller, A. (1975) Albert Einstein and Max Wertheimer: a Gestalt psychologist's view of the genesis of special relativity theory. History of science; an Annual Review of Literature, Research and Teaching 13 (2): 75–103.
In the past centuries scientific innovations have occupied people’s mind. People have been looking for answers about their existence with the help of science and the scientific method. But nothing has changed with people’s culture or behavior. However, something happened two thousand years ago that influenced and changed how some people perceive the world and self existence. It was the beginning of Christianity.
Stemming from the first years of the 20th century, quantum mechanics has had a monumental influence on modern science. First explored by Max Planck in the 1900s, Einstein modified and applied much of the research in this field. This begs the question, “how did Einstein contribute to the development and research of quantum mechanics?” Before studying how Einstein’s research contributed to the development of quantum mechanics, it is important to examine the origins of the science itself. Einstein took much of Planck’s experimental “quantum theory” research and applied it in usable ways to existing science. He also greatly contributed to the establishment of the base for quantum mechanics research today. Along with establishing base research in the field, Einstein’s discoveries have been modified and updated to apply to our more advanced understanding of this science today. Einstein greatly contributed to the foundation of quantum mechanics through his research, and his theories and discoveries remain relevant to science even today.
Another important individual who drove history was the Italian astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei. Galileo discovered something so important that it changed the selfish perspective that humans were the center of the universe and led to the growth of human knowledge. Utilizing mathematics and a telescope he had developed, Galileo observed that the planets revolved around the sun and not the Earth. This was a significant discovery because not only did it contradict what the church had taught, it also showed that the universe was not what it seemed. With this truth uncovered, many people began to fascinate over the universe. This triggered people to begin studying space extensively and eventually lead to present day space exploration. Galileo also left a lasting impression upon many great minds, such as Sir Isaac Newton, who used Galileo's research and theories to further his own studies such as the physical laws, and their properties.
At first glance, many facets of science and religion seem to be in direct conflict with each other. Because of this, I have generally kept them confined to separate spheres in my life. I have always thought that science is based on reason and cold, hard facts and is, therefore, objective. New ideas have to be proven many times by different people to be accepted by the wider scientific community, data and observations are taken with extreme precision, and through journal publications and papers, scientists are held accountable for the accuracy and integrity of their work. All of these factors contributed to my view of science as objective and completely truthful. Religion, on the other hand, always seems fairly subjective. Each person has their own personal relationship with God, and even though people often worship as a larger community with common core beliefs, it is fine for one person’s understanding of the Bible and God to be different from another’s. Another reason that Christianity seems so subjective is that it is centered around God, but we cannot rationally prove that He actually exists (nor is obtaining this proof of great interest to most Christians). There are also more concrete clashes, such as Genesis versus the big bang theory, evolution versus creationism, and the finality of death versus the Resurrection that led me to separate science and religion in my life. Upon closer examination, though, many of these apparent differences between science and Christianity disappeared or could at least be reconciled. After studying them more in depth, science and Christianity both seem less rigid and inflexible. It is now clear that intertwined with the data, logic, and laws of scien...
Up until the Enlightenment, mankind lived under the notion that religion, moreover intelligent design, was most likely the only explanation for the existence of life. However, people’s faith in the church’s ideals and teachings began to wither with the emergence of scientific ideas that were daringly presented to the world by great minds including Galileo and Darwin. The actuality that there was more to how and why we exist, besides just having an all-powerful creator, began to interest the curious minds in society. Thus, science began to emerge as an alternative and/or supplement to religion for some. Science provided a more analytical view of the world we see while religion was based more upon human tradition/faith and the more metaphysical world we don’t necessarily see. Today science may come across as having more solid evidence and grounding than religion because of scientific data that provides a seemingly more detailed overview of life’s complexity. “Einstein once said that the only incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible” (Polkinghorne, 62). Yet, we can still use theories and ideas from both, similar to Ian Barbour’s Dialouge and Integration models, to help us formulate an even more thorough concept of the universe using a human and religious perspective in addition to scientific data.
The relationship between science and religion has been debated for many years. With strong personal opinions and beliefs, it is not surprising that no progress has been made in this argument. In my opinion, I feel as though religion and science have to be related in some way. There is no possible way people can separate two things that attempt to prove the same facts. My belief is that a metaphorical bridge has to be formed to connect the two. Personally, I feel as though science can be a compliment to religion, and that the scientific discoveries can and should be used to prove that God exists, not disprove it. If science did this, then the relationship between science and religion could be a friendly one. If that happened, people could stop debating and fighting over the two, allowing priests and scientists to talk and work together peacefully.