Is Einstein\'s Theory of Relativity Jewish Science?

¶ … Einstein's Theory of Relativity Jewish Science?

This study examines the work of Gimbel (2012) entitled "Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and Religion" and specifically pages 112-217 and seeks to answer the question of how the categorization of Einstein and others functions from a sociological perspective. This study seeks to answer as to if Einstein as a second-class Jewish citizen also resounded in the Jewish community itself and particularly among the Jewish intelligentsia and how important this is for understanding the nature of religion? This study will answer as to whether there are Jewish aspects to liberal universalism and if so what was found in the reading of Gimbel. Finally, this study will answer as to what was found to be most interesting and most insightful and what was found to be contentious in Gimbel's work.

Gimbel: Categorization of Einstein and Function from Sociological Perspective

Gimbel conducts an examination of whether relativity is such that can be labeled a Jewish science through analyzing whether "it was a part of the discourse among contemporary Jewish intellectuals" and while deciding that the theory of relativity did not have any impact on the philosophy of the Jewish people claims that the theory of relativity did indeed assimilate Jewish intellectuals and of these "Einstein was crucial." (p.175) According to Gimbel "Einstein was doing Aryan science" since "Einstein seems to be more of an Aryan thinker than a Jewish one by the Nazi's [sic] own lights." (p. 151-53)

The work of Weinstein and Kakai (nd) writes that Einstein upon returning to Germany in 1914 was appalled to realize that "worthy Jews [were] basely caricatured and commented on how the educational institutions, comics, and other major mediums of communication in the Gentile majority served to tear down the confidence of "even the best of my fellow Jews." (p. 28) Weinstein and Kakai writes that anti-Semitism, during the Weimar Republic "was even more precocious during the years of hyperinflation between 1919 and 1923 than in 1933, the year Hitler finally came to power." (nd, p. 29)

A top scientist of the day, Lenard was highly offended by Einstein's "politics and rise to stardom, a rise that occurred in part because of the work of Eddington, A Brit." (Gimbel, ) According to Gimbel Einstein's demeanor was held by Lenard to be "arrogant, indicative of someone who put self-aggrandizement before nation, something that made him ore British than German." (Gimbel, 2012)

Negative consequences arose from the actions of Lenard who was a "German patriot" and specifically, when the Kaiser was selling government bonds to fund the war, Lenard bought them and spent all of his gold. The bonds were viewed as a Je3wish government under the Weimar rule and the bonds became worthless due to inflation from reparation payments and Lenard went bankrupt. He viewed the Jewish administration of corruptness as an extension of Einstein.

Rosenkranz notes that the examples that Einstein provides of Jewish intellectuals does not seem real as Gimbel note the positive affect of Hans Reichenbach (half Jewish) and Moritz Schlick (not Jewish) and finally the way Einstein was negatively received by Edmund Husserl (who was baptized). (Rosenkranz, 2013, paraphrased)

While Einstein may not have considered himself a Jew as such, the Jewishness of Einstein had its repercussions on a political level as all Jews were considered second class citizens at the time that Hitler came into power. Lenard and others apparently used the Jewishness of Einstein as an attempt to discredit his theory of relativity and Gimbel appears to have himself attached on to this idea in his writing. Gimbel writes that the anthropology of Immanuel Kant states the claim that there "are found distinct human races" including: (1) Whites; (2) Negroes; (3) Hunnics; and (4) Hindus and that each of these distinct races "had different 'natural dispositions' that is, properties that are particular to each race." (Gimbel, 2012) Gimbel writes that Kant held that some of the properties were visible such as skin color or intellectual capacity while other properties were unable to be seen. (paraphrased)

The thought of Nazi scientists was that the scientific heroes were "great men of Aryan descent" and that Jewish science was a threat to this science. Gimbel relates the statement of Philipp Lenard Institute for Physics in Heidelberg in 1935 in which Stark "decried the formalistic nature of the Jewish approach to science" and stated that Jewish science had the tendency to believe that in physics the only way to have a solid theory was to use "sensational formulations." (Gimbel, 2012) Gimbel relates that Lenard spoke directly of Einstein stating: