New to the EPP: Zachary Hall
Zachary Hall joined the Einstein Papers Project late in the summer. He originally hails from Maine and moved to Southern California to work with the project after completing his graduate studies at Stanford. We asked him a few "getting to know you" questions.
Describe the work you were doing, the work roles you inhabited in recent years, and how that work led you to working at the EPP. What appealed to you about joining us at the EPP?
During my PhD, I was equal parts educator and researcher. I studied the history and foundations of contemporary physics, as well as the relation of physics to metaphysics and other perennial branches of philosophy. My studies continually put me in touch with Einstein's work, both on quantum physics and on special and general relativity.
Working at the EPP, I value the exposure to Einstein's deep preoccupations with the relation of philosophy to physics, the detective work involved in editing, and the opportunity to improve my German. Collaborating with experienced senior colleagues on a long-running group project is already honing my skills as a historical researcher.
In what ways does your previous research dovetail with or diverge from what we work on at the project?
I am interested in the development of Einstein's ideas about the relation of non-gravitational to gravitational physics. These are essential to getting contemporary quantum and gravitational theory on better speaking terms. On the face of it, synthesizing these theories' underlying concepts is difficult, but we think they should be synthesized since they're about the same things. Einstein emphasized that gravitational and non-gravitational physics must agree about measures of time (the number of ticks of a clock) and space (the length of a ruler). By focusing on that injunction, we might find some headway in connecting such theories more broadly. I'm also excited to explore the depths of Einstein's problems with early quantum theory as his conception of physics develops.
My PhD work tended towards bigger-picture interpretation and arguments about issues in foundations or history of physics. By contrast, our work at the project is to share the context of Einstein's written record with minimal interpretation. Utilizing editorial precedents of the EPP will however orient me to different issues in the history of physics and enable me to develop research skills complementary to my training as a philosopher.
Have you had occasion or reason to make use of the CPAE at all in your former work? If so -- would you elaborate on how or why the material was useful to you and if your prior experience using the research tools of the project -- i.e. the volumes or the Digital Einstein Papers or the public database may have piqued your interest in the EPP?
At Stanford for my PhD studies, I saw how often secondary literature cited the CPAE and then began using the books too. I found them extremely helpful for finding various statements of Einstein's thought on unifying gravitational and non-gravitational physics. I was impressed with how valuable a resource the project can be for anybody trying to give Einstein a hearing on certain unresolved foundational issues in physics, as well as how valuable it can be to do so. That added to the appeal of joining the project. Working here provides me with the opportunity to read rich and perceptive materials on the foundations of physics and provide additional context to aid our readers in doing the same.
Do you see a relationship between teaching and editing? How might your recent work experience – the mechanics of the teaching practice, come to bear, if at all - on your role as an editor of the CPAE?
Effective teaching requires laying out primary material and facilitating students' conversation. Overinterpreting material before first presenting it risks shutting out valuable, diverse student contributions. Like teaching, editing requires humble, minimal interpretation in presenting the material---having Einstein speak for himself through our volumes allows for diverse, robust scholarly engagement.
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?
My first exposure to quantum and relativistic physics as an undergraduate was definitively a pivotal moment. I chose to study physics because it satisfied my urge to understand the how-why-and-what of the world around me. When I took an introductory modern physics class (quantum mechanics and special-relativistic physics), I found I couldn't digest the material to the point of really understanding the how-why-and-what. This in turn made it difficult to master the material in the way I had been able to do while learning classical physics. Around the same time, my brother gave me a copy of Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Reading it put philosophy sufficiently on my radar that I started looking further into it, which in turn put the history and philosophy of physics on my radar. Conversations with faculty with expertise in that area (Alisa Bokulich and John Stachel) gave me the sense that learning from that discipline might help me with some of those difficulties in learning modern physics.
I decided to explore the discipline through a philosophy minor while finishing my physics degree. I also undertook a directed study with John Stachel on the history and foundations of the general theory of relativity. (Given John's role as first editor of the project, joining the EPP is a full circle moment for me.) Both through my fascinating and intensive study under John and through my first general philosophy course, I could quickly tell that studying philosophy, physics, and the history of physics in concert was necessary for continuing to study physics in the way that satisfied me. From that point on, my fate was sealed as a historically minded philosopher of physics. I rounded out the philosophy minor into a major, eventually applying for philosophy PhD programs.