Perspective

Ideas and Opinions contains English translations of materials excerpted from three major collections of the writings of the world-famous theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein (1879-1955), and adds some never-before published materials. The volume appears a year before Einstein's death. Just over half of the addresses and articles deal with Einstein's views on social topics: freedom, religion, education, politics, government, pacifism, disarmament, the fate of the Jewish people, Nazi Germany, and the likelihood of nuclear holocaust. The last section consists of addresses on the evolution of theoretical physics and his famous theory of relativity.

In the first section, Einstein writes apologetically about areas admittedly outside his area of expertise, but forcefully, for he cares passionately about these issues and perhaps hopes his monumental international fame as a physicist will provide the issues a boon. In those sections of the "scientific" section not addressed to colleagues, Einstein also writes apologetically, because...