46 pages • 1 hour read
Alan LightmanEinstein's Dreams
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Scientific Context: Relativity
In 1905 Albert Einstein, a 26-year-old patent clerk, developed a new theory of time. The theory was revolutionary, creating a single framework for understanding time as connected to the other laws of physics. Einstein’s believed in the existence of a Theory of Everything (TOE) that unifies all aspects of physics into one coherent idea. He studied time to creep closer this unifying theory. The theory of time he proposed in 1905 contained two postulates: 1) that the laws of physics take the same form in all inertial frames of reference; and 2) that the speed of light has the same value in a vacuum in inertial frames of reference (Einstein, Albers. “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” Annalin Der Physik, vol. 17, 1905, pp. 891-921). Before Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity, Newtonian physics, grounded in the laws of motion, couldn’t explain light, which didn’t behave according to the other laws of physics.
Einstein’s first postulate is extremely abstract in its foundation. Imagine a man sitting stationary on a moving train and a man standing stationary on a platform at a train station. Einstein’s underlying premise is that it’s impossible to tell which is moving, the inert man on the train or the inert man on the platform. The postulate claims that it doesn’t matter because the laws of physics are the same regardless of which object, the train or platform, is moving if the observer on each is inert. This theory appears in various forms in some of the dreamworlds in Einstein’s Dreams.
The second of Einstein’s relativity postulates concerns the equation: speed x time = distance (vt=d). The problem is that lightspeed doesn’t change. Lightspeed is a constant, and thus the vt=d equation doesn’t apply. This means that human understanding of time is incomplete, and a unified TOE is out of reach. Consequently, in 1905, Einstein began to tackle the problem of light. His second postulate states that time and distance, when impacted by light, are altered in the forms of time dilation and length contraction to allow for the speed of light to be constant. In this scenario, the concept of simultaneity is an impossibility because perception changes the outcome. This coherent theory is sometimes called space-time. The unifying theory of time in Einstein’s two postulates aids scientists in coming closer to a TOE.
Authorial Context: Alan Lightman
Born in 1948, Alan Lightman is a US physicist and author. Lightman was educated at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology. He completed his postdoctoral work at Cornell before teaching at Harvard and then the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was the first professor at MIT to teach in both the sciences and the humanities, and he cofounded a program there for writing about the sciences. In addition, Lightman is a member of the United Nations Science Advisory Board. His books include nonfiction, essays, and fiction works. He has received many accolades, including a 2017 Humanism in Literature Award.
Lightman’s work blends the sciences and the humanities to provide a more holistic understanding of reality. Like Einstein’s Dreams, his other works of fiction explore the intersection of humanism, the creative, and the mechanical: “I love physics, but what was even more important to me was leading a creative life,” Dr. Lightman said (Overbye, Dennis. “Time Is Still a Mystery to ‘Einstein's Dreams’ Author–Why Alan Lightman, Astrophysicist Turned Writer, Traded Black Holes for Black Ink.” The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2020).
In Einstein’s Dreams, Lightman’s adept use of prose and setting combine with his deep understanding of human nature, setting the novel apart for its beauty and insight. The creativity of each world, described in memorable detail, makes Lightman’s work both enjoyable and educational, a cross-section between the mechanical and artistic worlds.
