Jordan, Pauli, Politics, Brecht, and a Variable Gravitational Constant

OCT 01, 1999

Pascual Jordan was one of the great theoretical physicists of the century. But his attempt to modify general relativity with a variable gravitational constant did nothing to enhance his reputation. Nor did his conspicuous membership in the Nazi Party.

DOI: 10.1063/1.882858

Engelbert L. Schucking

November 1952: “Eisenhower Elected President” proclaimed the headline in Die Welt. Why did they do that, those crazy Americans? This will mean the Dulles brothers in power and Adenauer’s rearmament of Germany. But I put politics out of my mind and rang the doorbell of the apartment on Hamburg’s Bundesstrasse. A maid with a little white cap opened the door.

References

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2. K. Henschel, ed., Physics and National Socialism, Birk‐hauser, Boston (1996), appendix F, p. 35.
3. R. Beyler, “From Positivism to Organicism: Pascual Jordan’s Interpretations of Modern Physics in Cultural Context,” PhD thesis. Harvard U. (1994), p. 207.
4. M. N. Wise, in Science, Technology and National Socialism, M. Renneberg, M. Walker, eds., Cambridge U. P. Cambridge, England (1994), p. 226.
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7. P. A. M. Dirac, Nature 139, 323 (1937).https://doi.org/NATUAS
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9. P. G. Bergmann, Ann. Math. 49, 255 (1948).https://doi.org/ANMAAH
10. W. Pauli, Scientific Correspondence, K. v. Meyenn, ed., Springer, New York (1996), vol. 4, part 1, p. 737, and vol. 3, p. XXVIII.
11. P. Jordan, Schwerkraft und Weltall, 2nd ed., revised with E. Schucking, Vieweg, Braunschweig, West Germany (1955), p. 202.
12. K. Stellmacher, Mathematische Annalen 115, 136 (1937),
and K. Stellmacher, 115, 740 (1938).
13. B. Brecht, Gesammelte Werke, Suhrkamp, Berlin, (1988), vol. 4. (plays), p. 197.
14. E. Schucking, Z. Phys. 148, 72 (1957).https://doi.org/ZEPYAA
15. Y. Thiry, J. Math. Pures et Appl. 30, 275 (1951).
16. M. Fierz, Helv. Phys. Acta 24, 128 (1956).https://doi.org/HPACAK
17. P. Jordan, Z. Phys. 94, 531 (1935).https://doi.org/ZEPYAA
18. P. Jordan, J. vonNeumann, E. Wigner, Ann. Math. 35, 29 (1934).https://doi.org/ANMAAH

More about the Authors

Engelbert L. Schucking. New York University, New York City.