杏吧原创

Einstein made huge deposits into the bank of human knowledge (Image: Lucien Aigner/CORBIS)

THESE are the good times. A few years ago, I was at a dinner during a Solvay Conference 鈥� the triennial gathering to discuss enduring problems in physics and chemistry. Looking around, I asked a physicist I knew who he thought was the smartest person there. Almost without hesitation, he pointed to a dark-haired young man a few tables away.

I was a little surprised. There were at least three Nobel laureates in the room for starters, plus a number of highly respected scientists that I knew by sight. I didn鈥檛 have a clue who the young, dark-haired man was. Now I do: the man was Juan Maldacena.

But in 100 years, will anyone write about Maldacena鈥檚 life in physics? Almost certainly not, because he is now 46 and no cult of personality has yet grown up around him. What鈥檚 more, his work is not easy to appreciate in terms non-physicists can understand. But the most crucial missing ingredient may be this: Maldacena doesn鈥檛 seem that concerned with self-promotion. In other words, he doesn鈥檛 have what set Albert Einstein and Erwin Schr枚dinger apart.

Paul Halpern鈥檚 fascinating book is, in many ways, a study of the long tail that marks many distinguished careers in science. In physics and mathematics, people tend to do their best work early on. What then? Strive for further accomplishments, or invest in the next generation?

There can be no doubt about the enormous scale of Einstein and Schr枚dinger鈥檚 contributions. Einstein deserves to be the world鈥檚 most famous physicist for his 1905 work alone. Special relativity, the photoelectric effect and his explanation of Brownian motion were all stunning contributions. This year we are celebrating the centenary of Einstein鈥檚 general theory of relativity. Created in his mid-30s, this was yet another gigantic deposit into the bank of human knowledge.

Schr枚dinger vied with Einstein for public adulation (Image: Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)

Schr枚dinger鈥檚 contribution was slightly less extraordinary 鈥揳lthough still more extraordinary than most physicists manage in a lifetime of research. His wave equation, describing the behaviour of quantum objects such as subatomic particles, revolutionised our understanding of, and our ability to manipulate, the fundamentals of matter.

Halpern, a professor of physics, takes the time to explain the intricacies and significance of the two men鈥檚 work in wonderfully clear ways. He employs helpful analogies and metaphors to lower the reader gently into a strange new world where electrons jump like dancers under strobe lights, and the mathematical metric tensor of general relativity is a sewing pattern for the canopy of space-time.

Neither Schr枚dinger nor Einstein liked what they found in the subatomic world. The particles exhibit properties that are not traceable to any cause, but take on random values. There is no certainty, only probability. Hence Einstein鈥檚 famous phrasing of his disbelief: God doesn鈥檛 play dice.

聯Neither Schr枚dinger nor Einstein liked what they found in the subatomic world聰

Schr枚dinger鈥檚 most famous cultural contribution 鈥� the cat that is simultaneously dead and alive because nothing has forced it to take on a definite character 鈥� was born out of a similar dismissal of what seemed absurd and unphysical in the theory both men had helped to create.

For most of their careers, Schr枚dinger and Einstein were convinced that quantum theory was in need of a major overhaul. Halpern reports how Einstein鈥檚 obsession showed during a lecture given in the presence of Danish physicist Niels Bohr, often considered the founding father of quantum theory. 鈥淎t the end of the talk,鈥� he writes, 鈥淓instein gazed directly at Bohr and said that his goal was to replace quantum mechanics. Bohr glared back but didn鈥檛 say a word.鈥�

Schr枚dinger and Einstein both spent far longer on the hunt for a unification of quantum physics and relativity than they had on the breakthroughs for which they are known. This quixotic quest forms the major part of Halpern鈥檚 book, and it makes for a tragic tale.

Einstein revised and rejigged his work, to the increasing ennui of his peers and the increasing adulation of the world. Schr枚dinger, never as famous, overstepped the mark, trying so hard to be taken seriously that he offended Einstein with public pronouncements about the superiority of his own work. For three years, Einstein didn鈥檛 return Schr枚dinger鈥檚 letters.

Their fellow physicists became more bewildered and irritated by the pair. It is tough for physicists to see the public offer awe and respect for ideas that are unproven speculation. It was especially galling when it became clear that both men were writing pre-publication summaries of their research for newspaper reporters to work from 鈥� then complaining about subsequent press attention.

As Halpern makes clear in entertaining and evocative prose, these were also frustratingly fruitless times for Einstein and Schr枚dinger. What鈥檚 more, very little of the scientific wisdom and insight the two men had amassed was passed to students or junior colleagues who might have helped take their work forward. The only real beneficiaries were the institutions whose reputations their presence enhanced.

Not that the legacy is totally lost. Maldacena is at one of these institutions 鈥� the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Unlike Einstein, though, he collaborates and publishes with colleagues on a wide range of topics. But Maldacena is just one of many fine minds who are making inroads where Einstein and Schr枚dinger made none.

Anyone given to muttering about things being better in the old days should read Halpern鈥檚 insightful book to appreciate that, relatively speaking, we鈥檝e never had it so good.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭he price of fame鈥�