Albert Einstein’s Change of Heart: From Pacifism to the Atomic Bomb
Beyond doubt, Albert Einstein is one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century. His name is the first one that comes to mind when one looks for genius. This is not without reason since we owe him most of what we know about space and time. Even though he usually appears with his smiling face, fluffy white hair and pipe in his photographs, when one looks deep into his eyes, it is striking to sense some sort of sorrow (Rooney, 2006, Cover photo). There one finds resentment vested with heavy marks from dark times he had to go through. The heaviest among them seems to stem from the turn his pacifism had to take vis-à-vis Nazis.
His childhood and adolescence were without …show more content…
He maintained such stance not only before, but also after the end of the First World War. From the beginning of the 1920s into the Second World War, nationalistic sentiments and social and racial disparities were on the rise and Jews, pacifists, communists etc. were blamed for everything that was going wrong in Germany. Even though he had never considered himself primarily as a Jew - but mostly a European before anything else (Holton, 2008, p.4) - such catastrophic atmosphere invited him to take a more political stance (Reiser, 1930, p.131-132, 136). Starting from the early Weimar period, Einstein voiced significant criticisms on nationalism and militarism on every possible platform he was invited to with the help of his fame. “He traveled extensively, speaking out not only about physics, but also in support of disarming nations; on the evils of the military; and on his fears for his homeland” (Fox & Keck, 2004, p. 122). Along with Marie Curie, he supported the foundation of the League of Nations fashioned to keep the world at peace (Fox & Keck, 2004, p. 200). Although, Einstein’s politically active stance was applauded by many, he has been criticized by some (Pais, 2005, p. 320) for the lessening of his creative powers in the field of physics as a cost of his worldwide fame along with the impact of his age, administrative responsibilities, violence of the era
Beyond doubt, Albert Einstein is one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century. His name is the first one that comes to mind when one looks for genius. This is not without reason since we owe him most of what we know about space and time. Even though he usually appears with his smiling face, fluffy white hair and pipe in his photographs, when one looks deep into his eyes, it is striking to sense some sort of sorrow (Rooney, 2006, Cover photo). There one finds resentment vested with heavy marks from dark times he had to go through. The heaviest among them seems to stem from the turn his pacifism had to take vis-à-vis Nazis.
His childhood and adolescence were without …show more content…
He maintained such stance not only before, but also after the end of the First World War. From the beginning of the 1920s into the Second World War, nationalistic sentiments and social and racial disparities were on the rise and Jews, pacifists, communists etc. were blamed for everything that was going wrong in Germany. Even though he had never considered himself primarily as a Jew - but mostly a European before anything else (Holton, 2008, p.4) - such catastrophic atmosphere invited him to take a more political stance (Reiser, 1930, p.131-132, 136). Starting from the early Weimar period, Einstein voiced significant criticisms on nationalism and militarism on every possible platform he was invited to with the help of his fame. “He traveled extensively, speaking out not only about physics, but also in support of disarming nations; on the evils of the military; and on his fears for his homeland” (Fox & Keck, 2004, p. 122). Along with Marie Curie, he supported the foundation of the League of Nations fashioned to keep the world at peace (Fox & Keck, 2004, p. 200). Although, Einstein’s politically active stance was applauded by many, he has been criticized by some (Pais, 2005, p. 320) for the lessening of his creative powers in the field of physics as a cost of his worldwide fame along with the impact of his age, administrative responsibilities, violence of the era