Physics and national socialism: an anthology of primary sources. Transl. by Ann M. Hentschel (Q636723)

Aim of this careful historical edition of original texts and sources on the situation of physics in the ``Third Reich'', which originally appeared in 1996 (see Zbl 0846.01027), is ``to introduce the English speaking public to the wide spectrum of texts authored predominantly by physicists portraying the actual and perceived role of physics in the Nazi state.'' (xv) The editor Klaus Hentschel, a prominent historian of physics at Stuttgart, prefers half-popular texts over more technical ones. However the technical competence of the editor is needed for instance in commenting on Heisenberg's long report ``On the works for technical utilization of atomic energy in Germany'' from 1946 (doc. 115). Of the published 121 documents about one third had not been published before 1996. All documents appear in careful English translation by Ann Hentschel. The texts in chronological order comprise the period 1920-1948. They are of varying length, ranging from letters of a few lines to 19 printed pages. All documents have received careful and extensive annotations. Above all the volume contains a long historical introduction by the editor of almost one hundred pages. The international comparison of German and in particular American physics at the time is a recurring theme in that introduction as well as the emigration of leading German, for the most part Jewish physicists and the failed German atomic bomb project. Also the prehistory of the conflicts in the 1930s, in particular between experimental and theoretical physics in Germany in the 1920s and the role of anti-Semites such as Johannes Stark in this is discussed. The editor draws here particular on his competence and publications on the reception of Einstein's general theory of relativity. The edition is enriched by 31 diagrams or portraits and has a 36page appendix with short biographies. The bibliography comprises 969 titles. The volume has been justifiedly included in the publisher's new series ``Modern Birkhäuser Classics'' and will continue to serve its purpose both for students and researchers. The only point of criticism is that the publisher has not done any effort to correct typos or smaller factual errors from the first edition and reprints the book after 15 years without any change. This seems to be based on purely commercial reasons, taking into consideration also that the new edition, although a paper back, is as extremely costly as the original.