New to the EPP: Mahmoud T. Jalloh
Dr. Mahmoud Jalloh joined the Einstein Papers Project this fall. A Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in History and Philosophy of Science, Dr. Jalloh will be working on scientific annotation of relativistic materials and unified field theory. We asked him a few "getting to know you" questions. His answers are illuminating and exciting. We are thrilled to have him as a colleague.
Describe the work you were doing or work roles you inhabited in recent years. How did that work lead you to joining the EPP?
I finished my PhD in philosophy at USC in 2023, then went on to be a teaching fellow at St. John's College in Santa Fe for two years.
While working on my dissertation, the history of science took on a growing role in the project. I was using dimensional analysis to address some contemporary metaphysical and epistemological issues. For a firm philosophical grounding in the method, I had to go into the foundational works of the early 20th century. I found a treasure trove of material and a rich philosophical debate, which mirrored many contemporary debates I was interested in.
My interest in history of science was further deepened, and broadened, by my time at St. John's. As a "great books" school, all courses are taught using primary sources, rather than textbooks. I taught several math and laboratory courses. We learned geometry from Euclid and Apollonius, astronomy from Ptolemy and Copernicus, mechanics from Galileo and Newton, and electromagnetism from Faraday and Maxwell.
While I still identify primarily as a philosopher, I think my path has led quite naturally to the Einstein Papers Project. I have a great love of looking at primary materials directly—letters, writings, schedules—and trying to make sense of them. To work directly with the materials of a world-historical figure like Einstein is an honor and a privilege. It is the ultimate opportunity to understand, with full historical context and ample philosophical motivation, some of the most important developments of modern physics.
How have The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (CPAE), or our archival database, piqued your interest while working at the EPP?
My dissertation asked (and partially answered) a question regarding the relationship between the constants of nature and the laws of nature. Einstein's 1945 correspondence (our volumes have a way to go until 1945!) with former student Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider directly addresses this issue. In that exchange, Einstein expressed the idea that constants, whose values could only be determined experimentally, introduced contingency into the laws of nature: "But I cannot imagine a unified and reasonable theory which explicitly contains a number which the whim of the Creator might just as well have chosen differently, whereby a qualitatively different lawfulness of the world would have resulted." I believe this view has a lot to do with Einstein's motivations for a unified field theory and also preempts contemporary concerns with "naturalness" in quantum field theories. This is a matter of ongoing research for me.
Do you see a relationship between teaching and editing? How might your recent teaching experience come to bear on your role as an editor of the CPAE?
I think the peculiarity of my past teaching assignments are quite apt to be compared to the sort of editing done on the CPAE. At St. John's a minimum of secondary texts are used, and, rather than being led by lectures, students work through material directly. Similarly, the annotations on the writings and correspondence of Einstein in the CPAE are to be kept at a minimum. Places, people, and papers are all to be identified. And the relationships between the different documents and their context are to be clarified. But generally, we aim to let Einstein and his associates speak for themselves.
While no editorial project can go without any interpretation, it at least involves deciding what is important, what might be confusing or confused, and so on—the more minimal the interpretation, the most likely it is to stand the test of time. This is a major, long-term project that aims to produce a collection of volumes that should be of value for centuries. Similarly: Plato remains, even if various fashions of interpreting his work have come and gone.
Was there a key moment in your formative years, or a particular educational experience that set you on the path to becoming a researcher or philosopher?
In my freshman year as an engineering major, at Northeastern, I took an elective on governments, markets, and economic justice with Stephen Nathanson---I believe it was the last course he taught before retiring. By the end of the semester, I was already thinking of switching to a philosophy major, maybe even going to graduate school. We had a little walk around the quad, and he gave me his opinion and advice. One thing that's always stuck with me was what he said his wife told him when he was considering graduate school: "At least you'll never be bored!" They were right.