Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider
Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider (25 April 1891 – 6 February 1990) was a German-Australian physicist and philosopher. She is best known for her collaboration and correspondence with physicists Albert Einstein, Max von Laue, and Max Planck.[1][2][3] Rosenthal-Schneider earned a PhD in philosophy in 1920 at the University of Berlin, where she first met Albert Einstein. After leaving Nazi Germany and emigrating to Australia in 1938, she became a tutor in the German department at the University of Sydney in 1945 and taught history and philosophy of science.[4][5] In the 1940s and 1950s, she exchanged a series of letters with Albert Einstein about philosophical aspects of physics, such as theory of relativity,[6] fundamental constants and physical reality.[7][8][9][10] She remained in contact with Einstein through correspondence until the death of Einstein in 1955.[11] Rosenthal-Schneider contributed various articles and book reviews to the history of science journal Isis.[12]
Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 April 1891 Finsterwalde, Brandenburg, German Empire |
| Died | 6 February 1990 (aged 98) Sydney |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin, Germany |
| Spouse | Hans S. A. Rosenthal (1890–1968) (m. 26 August 1922) |
| Children | Stephanie |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, philosophy |
| Institutions | Germany, United Kingdom, University of Sydney, Australia |
| Thesis | Die Beziehungen der Einsteinschen Relativitätstheorie zur Philosophie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kantischen Lehre [The relationship of Einstein's theory of relativity to philosophy, with special reference to the Kantian doctrine (1920) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alois Riehl, Max von Laue |
Notable works
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider (1 January 1980). Thomas Braun (ed.). Reality and Scientific Truth: Discussions With Einstein, Von Laue, and Planck (Records and correspondence). Wayne State University Press, 1980. original from the University of Michigan. ISBN 9780814316504. OCLC 6222962.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider (1988). Begegnungen mit Einstein, von Laue und Planck : Realität und wissenschaftliche Wahrheit (in German). Braunschweig ; Wiesbaden : Vieweg, cop. 1988. ISBN 9783528089702. OCLC 64797021.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider. Das Raum-Zeit-Problem bei Kant und Einstein (in German). Berlin : Springer, 1921. OCLC 749766417.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider. Lingua Latina Medicinalis = Lateinisches Lehrbuch für Mediziner (in Latin). Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, 1965. OCLC 802874015.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider. Presuppositions and anticipations in Einstein's physics. New York, NY, 1949. OCLC 315045254.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider. Albert Einstein : 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955. Sydney, 1955. OCLC 315045356.
- Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider. Leteinische Satzlehre (in German). Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, 1970. OCLC 802118103.
- Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse (1980). Harry Woolf (ed.). "Reminiscenses of Einstein". Some Strangeness in the Proportion. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts: 521. Bibcode:1980ssp..conf..521R.
Quote of a discussion with Albert Einstein, November 1919
Plötzlich unterbrach Einstein die Lektüre and übergab mir ein Telegramm, das er vom Fensterbrett genommen hatte, mit den Worten: "Dies könnte Sie interessieren." Es war ein Telegramm von Eddington mit den Resultaten der berühmten Expedition zur Sonnenfinsternis. Voll von Begeisterung rief ich aus: "Wie wunderbar, dies ist fast der Wert, den Sie berechnet haben." Völlig ruhig bemerkte er: "Ich wusste, dass die Theorie richtig ist. Haben Sie daran gezweifelt?" Ich antwortete: "Nein, natürlich nicht. Doch was hätten Sie gesagt, wenn die Bestätigung nicht so ausgefallen wäre?" Er antwortete: "Da könnt' mir halt der liebe Gott leid tun, die Theorie stimmt doch." Hier verwendetete er - wie so oft - das Wort "Gott" statt "Natur". |
- Suddenly Einstein stopped reading and handed me a telegram he had picked up from the window sill, saying, "You might be interested in this." It was a telegram from Eddington with the results of the famous eclipse expedition. Full of excitement, I exclaimed, "How wonderful, this is almost the value you calculated." Completely calm, he remarked, "I knew the theory was correct. Did you doubt it?" I replied, "No, of course not. But what would you have said if the confirmation hadn't been so?" He replied: "I could just feel sorry for dear God, the theory is correct." Here he used - as so often - the word "God" instead of "nature". |
| —Begegnungen mit Einstein, von Laue und Planck: Realität und wissenschaftliche Wahrheit, p. 60, Springer-Verlag, 13.03.2013 [13] |
References
- Denz, Cornelia; Vogt, Annette (2005). "Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider – eine Frau interpretiert Albert Einstein" [Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider: A woman interprets Albert Einstein] (PDF). Einsteins Kolleginnen – Physikerinnen gestern und heute [Einstein's (female) colleagues: (Women) physicists yesterday and today] (in German). pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-3933476081. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- Mehra, Jagdish; Rechenberg, Helmut (25 August 2000). The Probability Interpretation and the Statistical Transformation Theory, the Physical Interpretation, and the Empirical and Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics: 1926 – 1932 (illustrated ed.). Springer Science & Business Media, 2000. p. v. ISBN 9780387989716.
- Stephen G. Brush (1989). "Prediction and Theory Evaluation: The Case of Light Bending". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 246 (4934): 1124–9. Bibcode:1989Sci...246.1124B. doi:10.1126/science.246.4934.1124. JSTOR 1704755. PMID 17820957. S2CID 22145570.
- "Rosenthal Schneider, Ilse". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "Physics". Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- "Hens, eggs, elephants and fear of stupid questions". The Irish Times. 5 October 2006. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014 – via HighBeam.
- Begegnungen mit Einstein, von Laue, und Planck (Vieweg Verlag 1988) by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider, English edition: Reality and Scientific Truth : Discussions with Einstein, von Laue, and Planck (Wayne State Univ Pr, 1910)
- Susan S. Lukesh (6 September 1999). "Email and potential loss to future archives and scholarship". First Monday. 4 (9). Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- I. Bernard Cohen (1951). "Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist by Paul Arthur Schilpp". Isis. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society. 42 (1): 77. JSTOR 226691.
- Max Jammer (5 September 2011). Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology (reprint ed.). Princeton University Press, 2011. p. 53. ISBN 9781400840878.
- Albert B. Stewart (1982). "Reality and Scientific Truth by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider". The Antioch Review. Antioch Review, Inc. 40 (3): 362. JSTOR 4611136.
- For instance, Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse (February 1948). "Review: Geschichte der Physik by Max v. Laue". Isis. 38 (3–4): 258–260. doi:10.1086/348092. JSTOR 226134. and Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse (December 1950). "Review: Vorträge der aus Anlass seines 300. Geburtstages in Hamburg abgehaltenen wissenschaftlichen Tagung by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz". Isis. 41 (3–4): 310–313. doi:10.1086/349209. JSTOR 227066.
- Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse (13 March 2013). Begegnungen mit Einstein, von Laue und Planck: Realität und wissenschaftliche Wahrheit. Springer-Verlag. p. 60. ISBN 9783663018841. Retrieved 17 June 2022.