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"EINSTEIN'S FIRST ATTEMPT AT A UNIFIED FIELD THEORY" (PAIS) HANS ALBERT EINSTEIN'S COPY OF THE PRESENTATION OFFPRINT. First edition, extremely rare author's presentation offprint ('Überreicht vom Verfasser'), and the copy of Einstein's son Hans Albert, of "Einstein's first attempt at a unified field theory" (Pais, Subtle is the Lord, p. 287). Once Einstein completed work on the general theory of relativity at the end of 1915, "his attention shifted to the search for a unified theory of the electromagnetic and gravitational fields, out of which he hoped to be able to explain the structure of matter. Quantum effects were to be derived from such a theory, rather than postulated ad hoc. This remained his approach for the rest of his life" (Cao, Conceptual foundations of quantum field theory, pp. 166-167). "As so often the case in relativity, the story of quantum gravity begins with Einstein himself. Soon after the final formulation of general relativity, he pointed out the need for a quantum modification of the theory. In his first paper on gravitational radiation [the 1916 paper 'Näherungsweise Integration der Feldgleichungen der Gravitation' ('Approximate Integration of the Field Equations of Gravitation')], Einstein argued that quantum effects must modify the general theory of relativity. Two years later, he reiterated this conclusion [the 1918 paper 'Über Gravitationswellen' ('On Gravitational Waves')]: 'As already emphasized in my previous paper, the final result of this argument, which demands a [gravitational] energy loss by a body due to its thermal agitation, must arouse doubts about the universal validity of the theory. It appears that a fully developed quantum theory must also bring about a modification of the theory of gravitation.' Einstein, writing in [the 1919 paper offered here], soon began to speculate whether gravitation plays a role in the atomistic structure of matter: 'There are reasons for thinking that the elementary formations which go to make up the atom are held together by gravitational forces. The above reflections show the possibility of a theoretical construction of matter out of the gravitational field and the electromagnetic field alone' In order to construct such a model of an 'elementary particle,' Einstein shows that it is necessary to modify the original gravitational field equations .The major interest of this paper is that his attention now shifted from possible quantum modifications of general relativity to the search for a unified theory of the electromagnetic and gravitational fields, on the basis of which he hoped to explain the structure of matter. Quantum effects are to be derived from such a theory, rather than postulated ad hoc. Einstein remained committed to this approach for the rest of his life: the search for a 'natural' mathematical extension of the general theory in the hope that such a theory would somehow explain the quantization of matter and energy" (Iyer and Bhawal, Black Holes, Gravitational Radiation and the Universe, pp. 525-526). Einstein's work on unified field theory was inspired by James Clerk Maxwell's success in finding a unified theory of electricity and magnetism, one of the greatest achievements of nineteenth century physics, which showed that light was a form of electromagnetic wave, and made possible modern inventios such as radio, television and the telephone. Einstein continued his attempts to devise a unified theory of gravitation and electromagnetism for the rest of his life; his contributions in this area represent about a quarter of his entire research output and half his scientific production after 1920. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful, a similar vision was realized in the decades after his death in the construction of the 'standard model', a unified theory of electromagnetism with the weak and strong nuclear forces (which were unknown in Einstein's time), and efforts to incorporate gravity into the model continue to this day. RBH lists three cop. Seller Inventory # 6166
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