A. J. Kox's Biography of H. A. Lorentz Released October 11th

A. J. Kox is Pieter Zeeman Professor of History of Physics, Emeritus, at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands and Visiting Associate in History at Caltech. Since 1985, Kox has worked with the Einstein Papers Project as an editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. His most recent book ‘Een levend kunstwerk.' Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, physicist 1853-1928 was released last week by Balans. This most recent work follows the release of Kox's 2018 publication The Scientific Correspondence of H. A. Lorentz: Volume 2, the Dutch Correspondents.

As described on the Balans website:
He won the Nobel Prize, was a member of the Royal Society and laid the foundation for Einstein's theory of relativity: Lorentz was one of the greatest physicists the Netherlands has ever known. When he died in 1928, telegraph services were stopped for three minutes. Extra trains had to be used to get all interested people to the cemetery on time. Queen Wilhelmina's husband, Prince Hendrik personally came to offer condolences to Lorentz's widow, Aletta Catharina Lorentz.

Lorentz was an icon. Einstein called him a living work of art, a perfect personality, a genius. He was a wise, good person, bridge builder, grandmaster.

For twenty-five years, biographer A. J. Kox immersed himself in Lorentz's life and work. He discovered a person behind the facade of admiration. Clear and nuanced, Kox describes Lorentz's passion, his unique place in science, the importance of his ideas, his international actions just after the First World War, his friendship with Albert Einstein, of whom he was both teacher and critic, his work in Teylers Museum, and his tireless loyalty to a large group of scientists, nationally and internationally.

‘Een levend kunstwerk.' Hendrik Antoon Lorentz 1853-1928 is an extremely important book about a great man who profoundly influenced international science and played a major social role in the Netherlands.