Books by Peter Galison
Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps
by Peter Galison
This is an absolutely brilliant investigation into two related discoveries that deal with how you define what is simultaneous. Poincaré helped us get to the notion of time zones and longitude in the 19th century. Einstein was working as a patent clerk in 1905, and Galison’s wonderful research shows how he was looking at a lot of applications for ways to synchronise clocks. They tended to require sending a light or radio signal between two distant clocks, and this helped inform Einstein’s thought experiments that led to his special theory of relativity.
Interviews where books by Peter Galison were recommended
The best books on Einstein, recommended by Walter Isaacson
From the Swiss patent applications that helped inspire his thinking on relativity to the scientist he fell madly in love with but later divorced, biographer Walter Isaacson recommends books on the life and work of Albert Einstein. (Isaacson’s biography of Einstein was described as “a thorough exploration of his subject’s life, a skilful piece of scientific literature and a thumping good read” in a Guardian review and has also been recommended by novelist Ian McEwan on Five Books.)
