ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Why study Einstein's mathematical manuscripts?

• In Event: Mathematics in Manuscripts 2

English Abstract

Einstein's early research manuscripts and notebooks have been scrutinized and studied meticulously. A detailed line-by-line analysis of his so-called Zurich Notebook from the years 1912–1913 and related documents has revealed surprising details of how his heuristics played out in his search for a general theory of relativity. The breakthrough to his final gravitational field equations in the fall of 1915 has justified the efforts of trying to understand the stony path to a great achievement. Einstein's later years, on the other hand, were not crowned by a comparable glorious success. Nevertheless, Einstein continued steadfastly to pursue a research program of finding a mathematized unified field theory of the gravitational and electromagnetic field until his very final days in 1955. This search which never led to a result that satisfied Einstein's own ambitions is documented by a large amount of mathematical and calculational manuscripts. In my talk, I will reflect on the challenges provided by this archival material for a historical understanding of mathematical physics.

Author

• Tilman Sauer