Einstein and socialism
DOI: 10.1063/1.3248456
In his review of the book Einstein and Oppenheimer: The Meaning of Genius (PHYSICS TODAY, April 2009, page 60 ), Robert Schulmann accuses the book’s author, Silvan Schweber, of the “jarring misinterpretation” of referring to Albert Einstein as a socialist in later life. If Schulmann meant to deny that Einstein was a socialist or was so in later life, then he is surprisingly misinformed.
In 1949 Einstein published an article that leaves no doubt about his political stance at the time. Its title was “Why Socialism?” and it appeared in the inaugural issue of the American journal Monthly Review; it is available online at http://www.monthlyreview.org/598einstein.php .
More about the authors
Rafael Sorkin, sorkin@physics.syr.edu Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada .
