Privatdozent: The Privatdozent Podcast

Episode 8: Einstein and Hilbert's Relativity Race

Jørgen Veisdal — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 09:01:38 GMT

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the July 3rd 2021 newsletter 'Einstein and Hilbert's Relativity Race'. Read by Steve King, the episode is about events from November 1915 when Einstein and Hilbert were engaged in a race to find the correct mathematical foundation for the theory of general relativity.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Introduction (00:20), Timeline of Relativity Theory (02:37), November 2015 (08:45), The Dispute (16:12), What is Indisputable (21:16).

Episode 7: The Martians of Budapest

Jørgen Veisdal — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 18:21:16 GMT

John von Neumann, Paul Erdős, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller, Leó Szilárd, Theodore von Kármán, Paul Halmos, George Polya and John G. Kemeny

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the October 2nd 2021 newsletter 'The Martians of Budapest'. Read by Steve King, the episode is about nine Hungarian men who all made significant contributions to mathematics, physics and economics in the 20th century.

Transcript

Episode 6: The Einstein-Szilárd Letter

Jørgen Veisdal — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 14:07:53 GMT

Three frames of Albert Einstein and Leo Szilárd from the documentary film “Atomic Power” (1946) for TIME’s The March of Time series

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the June 7th 2021 newsletter 'The Einstein-Szilárd Letter'. Read by Steve King, the episode is about the period from the discovery of the nuclear fission in January of 1939 to the writing of the so-called Einstein-Szilárd letter for Frankling D. Roosevelt in July.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Leo Szilárd’s Role (01:11), Einstein’s Role (12:26), The Letter (12:40), The Einstein-Szilárd Letter (17:59)

Episode 5: The Eccentricities of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Jørgen Veisdal — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 19:38:51 GMT

Oppenheimer photographed in his office at the IAS in the 1960s (Photo: Marvin Koner)

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the July 23rd 2021 newsletter 'The Eccentricities of J. Robert Oppenheimer'. Read by Steve King, the episode is an introduction to the life of Julius Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Introduction (00:37), Early Life (03:28), At Harvard (11:09), At Cambridge (13:35), At Göttingen (20:17), Research (25:33), The Born-Oppenheimer Approximation (26:18), The Oppenheimer-Phillips Process (30:58), The Manhattan Project (33:58), The Trinity Test (40:24), The Institute for Advanced Study (46:06), FBI Investigation (47:37), Personality (49:36), Death (59:38), Clip from Interview with Edward R. Murrow (01:00:34).

Episode 4: The Bohr-Einstein Debate

Jørgen Veisdal — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 11:45:43 GMT

Colourized photograh of Bohr and Einstein at the home of Paul Ehrenfest in Leiden (1925)

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the May 25th 2021 newsletter ‘The Bohr-Einstein Debate'. Read by Steve King, the episode is about Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein's public debate about quantum mechanics, which began during the Solvay Conference in 1927.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Where it Started (02:27), The Copenhagen Interpretation (03:31), History (06:46), Einstein’s First Criticism (10:58), Bohr’s Response (12:55), Einstein’s Second Criticism (14:11), Bohr’s Triumph (16:12), Einstein’s Fourth Criticism (21:29), Bohr’s Response (26:23), Epilogue (27:30).

Episode 3: On Norbert Wiener's Relationship with Bertrand Russell

Jørgen Veisdal — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:56:36 GMT

This episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the March 22nd 2021 newsletter 'On Norbert Wiener's Relationship with Bertrand Russell'. Read by Steve King, the episode is about the period 1911-14 when Ludwig Wittgenstein and Norbert Wiener were students of Bertrand Russell at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Introduction (00:19), Young Norbert Wiener (00:45), Russell’s View in 1913 (05:22), The Other Boy Genius (07:29), Norbert’s Relationship with Leo (10:19), Wiener Arrives in Cambridge (13:06), Russell’s View (16:55), Wiener and Hardy (19:31).

Episode 2: Kurt Gödel's Brilliant Madness

Jørgen Veisdal — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 04:36:21 GMT

The second episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the June 21st 2021 newsletter ‘Kurt Gödel’s Brilliant Madness’. Read by Steve King, the episode is about Kurt Gödel, the human being.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Introduction (03:18), First Visit to America (11:11), First Mental Breakdown (13:43), Second Visit to America (19:15), Second Mental Breakdown (22:50), Third Visit to America (28:57), War (31:11), Emigration to America (32:01), Life in Princeton (38:01), Relationship with Albert Einstein (46:37), Third Mental Breakdown (50:12), Death (52:19).

Episode 1: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

Jørgen Veisdal — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 07:57:06 GMT

This inaugural episode of The Privatdozent Podcast is based on the May 19th 2021 newsletter ‘The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann‘. Read by Steve King, the episode aims to highlight some of the unbelievable feats of “Johnny” von Neumann’s mind.

Transcript

Chapters: Welcome (00:00), Introduction (00:31), Early Life (03:19), In University (09:27), In Göttingen (12:37), Set Theory (14:07), Game Theory (21.27), Quantum Mechanics (22:36), Operator Theory (29:25), At Princeton University (29:25), Ergodic Theory (30.31), At the Institute for Advanced Study (32:30), Geometry (34:45), The Manhattan Project (35:37), Work on Philosophy (37:24), Work on Computing (38:57), Consultancies (41:56), Personality (42:50), Later Years (47:04), Interview on Television (47:49).