Heisenberg in the Atomic Age: Science and the Public Sphere

Abstract

The author, a professor of history, provides a unique perspective on Werner Heisenberg’s role in shaping science in the post–World War II Federal Republic of Germany. The book offers an historical analysis of his life set in the sociocultural environment of twentieth century Germany. Meticulously researched, the work explains the influence of the Third Reich on Heisenberg‘s politics and physics in the post–war period. It shows how his writings and public lectures led to his status as German science’s public philosopher. In addressing Heisenberg’s role in the German atomic bomb project, the author attempts to place him in the context of the great philosophical questions raised by his work and by the bomb project itself. Her careful examination of Heisenberg’s public face presents new insights into a complex scientist and into the post–World War II nation of West Germany, as both attempted to come to terms with the legacy of the Nazi regime.