Einstein: Beyond the Myth - Techer Live

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Science, politics, and exile: What Einstein’s Caltech years reveal about the choices scientists face today. Albert Einstein, then professor in Berlin, spent three academic terms as a visiting scientist at Caltech during the years 1931 and 1933, the only US university at which he ever held an appointment (albeit a temporary one). His scientific links to Pasadena reached back to 1913, when he inquired of George Ellery Hale whether the bending of light in the vicinity of the Sun could be observed during daytime. During his visits, Einstein engaged in numerous scientific conversations and collaborations with colleagues. Among the various important topics, most prominent was a newly emerging cosmology founded on Edwin Hubble’s observational evidence for an expanding universe. Einstein also moved through Southern California’s civic life: he gave numerous public talks on international cooperation and pacifism, met with local leaders and students, as well as members of the Pasadena and Greater Los Angeles Black and Jewish communities. He played music with Charlie Chaplin and visited the desert. But beneath the glowing media coverage of a hectic professional and social schedule ran a more somber through-line often missed in popular accounts: as the international economic and financial situation worsened, and as Germany’s democracy foundered, Einstein was contemplating an escape that became inevitable during his last visit. He became a refugee. Diana Kormos-Buchwald has directed the

Published 2026-05-10 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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