The Atom Bomb

Einstein foresees the release of atomic energy within his lifetime, but not the first chain reaction which makes it possible. He calls President Franklin D. Roosevelt's attention to the danger of this technology being used by Nazi Germany to develop the ultimate weapon of World War II. After the war, Einstein hopes the bomb's menace, when plentiful and cheap, will intimidate the human race into organizing international affairs to outlaw war. Otherwise, the victor will subjugate all other survivors.

Davos

A Swiss resort for tubercular patients, Davos in 1928 institutes international university courses and invites Einstein to lecture on the fundamental concepts in physics and their development. He precedes his paper with an appreciation for this innovative program.

The Ether

An invention by eighteenth/nineteenth-century physicists to avoid the absurdity of attributing physical functions or states to space, "the ether" is understood as a medium pervading...