Out of My Later Years

A stitched-together volume of Albert Einstein’s letters, essays, and scientific work. There was quite a diversity of stuff in here, ranging from his philosophical views of perception-reality, some quantum mechanics writing, and a lot about Einstein’s geopolitical views.

I was surprised about the degree to which Einstein endorsed a singular world government — one that would have essentially strengthened the power of the United Nations to add military and legislative abilities, and to combine the power of the United States and Russia, amongst other ideas. The book includes rebuttals to Einstein’s views, as well as Einstein’s responses back. I wonder if, were he alive today, Einstein would hold those same views.

A common thread throughout the book is Einstein’s perspective on whether scientists should play a role in the implementation of social, political and military policy. It was worthwhile to hear his (correct) reasoning, which touches upon the downsides of silo-ed thinking and the upsides of intellectually diverse bodies addressing societal issues.