《爱因斯坦的时钟与庞加莱的地图》内容简介
“时间”究竟是什么？时钟如何同步？怎样绘制出精确的地图？让我们穿越回19世纪末20世纪初，探寻时间的本质，感受人类伟大智慧的碰撞与融合。
19世纪末的挑战为相对论这一巨大的理论突破提供了不可或缺的现实背景。在现代科学的基石上，有两位巨人正在一步一步地寻找答案：一位年轻的、默默无闻的德国物理学家——爱因斯坦，正在尝试通过电报网络和火车站时钟的协调来测量时间；知名数学家、法国经度局局长——庞加莱，则正在绘制跨越大洲的时间坐标。他们都发现，要理解这个新兴的全球化世界，必须确定是否存在一个纯粹的时间，其中同时性是绝对的，时间是相对的。
哈佛大学科学史系、物理系教授，美国科学史与科学哲学领域领军人彼得·伽里森通过罕见的照片、被遗忘的专利和未公开的档案，为读者挖掘到新的信息，讲述了两位科学家引人入胜的故事，他们默默地竞赛着，希望创立一种能够征服时间帝国、解开时间之谜的理论。
作者简介
彼得·伽里森（PeterGalison）
美国科学史与科学哲学领域领军人，哈佛大学科学史系、物理系教授，相对论首屈一指的解读者；哈佛大学约瑟夫·佩里戈里诺讲席教授；“黑洞倡议”计划创始人之一；主要研究领域为20世纪物理学史。
曾获得德国洪堡基金会洪堡研究奖、美国麦克阿瑟基金会“天才奖”、马克斯·普朗克科学奖、亚伯拉罕·派斯物理学史奖、基础物理学突破奖等。
著有《图像与逻辑》《实验是如何终结的？》《客观性》《爱因斯坦与21世纪》等著作，其中《图像与逻辑》获得美国科学史学会辉瑞奖，被评为当年科学史领域蕞佳图书。
Einstein's Clock and Poincare's Map
What is "time" anyway? How are the clocks synchronized? How to make an accurate map? Let's travel back to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century to explore the nature of time and feel the collision and fusion of human wisdom.
The challenges of the late 19th century provided the indispensable practical background for the great theoretical breakthrough of relativity. At the cornerstones of modern science, two giants were searching for answers step by step: a young, unknown German physicist, Albert Einstein, was trying to measure time through the coordination of telegraph networks and railway station clocks; The famous mathematician and director of the French Bureau of Longitude, Poincare, is plotting time coordinates across continents. They both discovered that to understand this newly globalized world, one must determine whether there is a pure time in which simultaneity is absolute and time is relative.
Through rare photographs, forgotten patents, and unpublished archives, Peter Galison, a professor of the history of science and physics at Harvard University and a leader in the history and philosophy of science in the United States, uncovers new information for readers and tells the fascinating story of two scientists who silently race to create a theory that will conquer the empire of time and unlock its mysteries.
About the author
PeterGalison
American leader in the history and philosophy of science, professor in the history of Science and physics department of Harvard University, a leading interpreter of relativity; Professor Joseph Perigorino, Harvard University; Co-founder of the Black Hole Initiative; His main research interests are the history of 20th century physics.
He has received the Humboldt Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation in Germany, the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award in the United States, the Max Planck Prize for Science, the Abraham Pais Prize for the History of Physics, and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
He is the author of Images and Logic and How Does the Experiment End? "Objectivity", "Einstein and the 21st Century" and other books, including "Image and Logic" won the Pfizer Prize of the American Society for the History of Science, was named the year's best book in the field of science history.
