The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time (2016)
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 reveals how scientific truth was placed on trial in a divided century marked by a new sense of time.
...MoreEssay Review Antonio A. P. Videira (2017) Neither Einstein nor Bergson, but Both!. Science and Education (pp. 425-428).
Review Joseph D. Martin (2015) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 138-143).
Review Fynn Ole Engler (2017) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte (pp. 402-403).
Review Pete A. Y. Gunter; Aimee Slaughter (2015) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Physics in Perspective (pp. 259-263).
Review Marco Giovanelli (2017) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 732-733).
Review Tilman Sauer (2017) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". HOPOS (pp. 163-167).
Review Dimitris Kilakos (2017) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Almagest (pp. 129-132).
Review Emily Herring (2017) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology (pp. 86-87).
Review Daniel Wiley (2016) Review of "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate that Changed Our Understanding of Time". Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology (pp. 406-408).
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