Einstein's Clocks and Poincare's Maps: Empires of Time

302 Pages·2004·4.37 MB·English

by  Peter Galison

More praise for Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps “This is how twentieth-
century science really began—not just in abstractions but in machines; not just in
Einstein’s brain but in coal mines and railway stations. Peter Galison’s book is
engaging, original, and absolutely brilliant.”
—James Gleick, author of Chaos
“Part history, part science, part adventure, part biography, part meditation on the
meaning of modernity, Dr. Galison’s story takes readers from the patent office to
lonely telegraphers sitting in the rain in the Andes, from the coal mines of
France to town councils in New England as it circles around the exploits of
Einstein and his rival. . . . In Dr. Galison’s telling of science, the meters and
wires and epoxy and solder come alive as characters, along with physicists,
engineers, technicians and others in the armies of modern science. . . . Experts
on relativity agree that Dr. Galison has unearthed fascinating material.”
—Dennis Overbye, New York Times
“Peter Galison provides a masterful and exciting account of the revolution in our
understanding of time that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Galison places Einstein and Poincaré at the crossroads of physics, philosophy,
and technology where the problem of coordinating distant clocks played a
crucial role in both the new physics and the new technology.”
—David Gross,
Director, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa
Barbara “In what amounts to a stroke of genius, Peter Galison employs his
unmatched ability to depict historical events on many levels and from many
vantage points, as well as his unique combination of historical, scientific, and
philosophical sophistication, to shed fresh light on the revolution in physics that
we associate with the word ‘Relativity.’ This is simultaneously an indispensable
book for the specialist, and a wonderful ‘read’ for anyone.”
—Hilary Putnam,
Cogan University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University “Peter Galison
manages to break through the noise and find a fresh, idiosyncratic take on the
great man: Einstein the clock-watcher. . . . What is extraordinary about
Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps is the colorful way Galison recreates a
forgotten world in which science and politics were transformed by the seemingly
simple desire to know what time it is.”
—Corey S. Powell, Newsday
“Peter Galison provides a unique and enlightening view on the origin of time as
we know it in the modern age. . . . We very rarely see Galison’s sort of
multilayered historical account of the momentous changes that do occur. . . .
Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps is a treat . . . packed with an abundance of
challenging philosophical thoughts and delightful historical connections, which
are worth pondering at length. Scientists, historians and philosophers of science,
and many nonspecialists will all find this book enlightening and enjoyable.”
—Hasok Chang, American Scientist
“With ease and authority, Galison cuts through the many layers of physics,
technology and philosophy. Brilliant.”
—Barbara Fisher, Boston Sunday Globe “An important addition to school and
community library History of Science collections, Einstein’s Clocks and
Poincaré’s Maps is an exciting, intriguing and enthusiastically recommended
coverage.”
—Library Bookwatch
“Galison offers a highly engaging and insightful account of the intersection of
science, technology, and social need that grounded new developments to
relativity theory, time keeping, and map making. This superb essay in the history
of science reveals a story in which physics, engineering, philosophy,
colonialism, and commerce collided. Highly recommended.”
—T. Eastman, Choice
“A richly detailed account of the interplay of scientific and technical issues at
the beginning of the modern era.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“By giving a fresh view . . . Galison’s enjoyable book stimulates us to reconsider
the underlying questions of modern physics.”
—Peter Pesic, Times Literary Supplement “Galison’s meticulously detailed
reconstruction gives a satisfyingly complete account of the two men’s
differences. This is perhaps the most sophisticated history of science ever
attempted in a popular science book. [A] wonderfully knowledgeable and
thoughtful portrait of what really mattered in the forging of a key aspect of the
modern world.”
—Jon Turney, The Guardian
“[Galison’s] insistence that the real world not only intruded into what historians
and scientists have commonly thought of as a theoretical and abstract
breakthrough in physics, but that the real world could have been essential for the
breakthrough, is [his] great contribution. He convincingly contends that the
growing insight into time coordination . . . was the result of a continuous
interplay between abstract thought and concrete application [and] offers a new
model for interpreting other events in this history of science.”
—Marc Rothenberg, Salem Press
“[I]f you want to know something about what goes on at the highest levels of
science . . . it is a terrific goad to mediation.”
—economicprincipals.com
ALSO BY PETER GALISON
How Experiments End
Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics COEDITED VOLUMES: Big
Science: The Growth of Large-Scale Research The Disunity of Science
Atmospheric Flight in the Twentieth Century Science in Culture
Picturing Science, Producing Art The Architecture of Science Scientific
Authorship: Credit and Intellectual Property in Science

For Sam and Sarah,
who have taught me the right use of time
C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1. SYNCHRONY
Einstein’s Times
A Critical Opalescence
Order of Argument
CHAPTER 2. COAL, CHAOS, AND CONVENTION
Coal
Chaos
Convention
CHAPTER 3. THE ELECTRIC WORLDMAP
Standards of Space and Time
Times, Trains, and Telegraphs
Marketing Time
Measuring Society
Time into Space
Battle over Neutrality
CHAPTER 4. POINCARÉ’S MAPS
Time, Reason, Nation
Decimalizing Time
Of Time and Maps
Mission to Quito
Etherial Time
A Triple Conjunction