The Day Without Yesterday

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The Day Without Yesterday Page 24

by Stuart Clark

Einstein’s face flashed into irritation ‘It would take me three days to give you even a short explanation.’

  ‘Well, what about the fourth dimension? Can you define the fourth dimension in a word?’

  ‘Ask a spiritualist.’ He stepped around the reporter and was just opening the door for Lemaître when the reporter called again,

  ‘What do you think of Adolf Hitler?’

  Einstein’s head turned. ‘He’s living off the empty stomach of Germany. As soon as economic conditions improve he will no longer be important.’

  The reporter’s eyes widened and he scribbled down the quote. He touched his hat and sprinted off.

  Inside the airy stone corridors there was a quiet buzz of conversation, as in a factory where one could hear the distant whirr of manufacturing machines, and the place smelled as fresh as the outdoors.

  ‘Do you honestly believe that about Hitler?’ asked Lemaître. Einstein’s brows knitted together. ‘What else can I believe?

  Germany is becoming more dangerous by the day, and not just to us Hebrews but to everyone.’

  Einstein did not have to open another door during their passage; students and staff would pause, waiting for him to step through when they saw him coming. Lemaître could not help but notice their reverence; they all but lowered their gaze as he passed.

  ‘I read an interview with your wife in Time on the train journey,’

  he said by way of small-talk.

  Einstein gave a small laugh. ‘Oh, that.’

  ‘Forgive my question, but does it bother you that they report the irony of your not being able to understand your household accounts? It seems intrusive.’

  ‘They are bizarrely fascinated with me; they’re like children.’ Einstein paused by an office with his name on it. ‘But I think I quite like it. And in answer to your question: no, it doesn’t bother me, because it’s true. I couldn’t tell you the price of a cauliflower.’ The office was large, with a wide window looking out on to the tree-clad mountains. Lemaître fancied it was the air rolling down from those peaks that filled this place with its fresh smell.

  ‘That’s a wonderful view,’ he said.

  Einstein glanced at it. ‘Yes, but I still prefer Princeton. Not quite so dramatic, not quite so … full of itself.’

  They settled themselves in easy-chairs.

  ‘Seems I owe you an apology, Georges. The universe is expanding after all.’ A look of genuine puzzlement crossed his face. ‘Who could have predicted it? Except you, of course.’

  ‘The expansion is not the most amazing part.’ Lemaître’s heart accelerated. ‘It leads to another hypothesis. Something more that I would like to talk to you about.’ Einstein nodded cagily for him to continue. ‘If the universe is expanding, carrying apart all the other galaxies, then it stands to reason that everything must have been much closer together in the past. If you go back far enough, all the stars will have been as crowded together as the automobiles I saw in Times Square.’

  Einstein’s face was blank. Deciding this was not the worst reaction he could have expected, Lemaître pressed on. ‘Go back further, and all the matter in the universe must have been compacted together into a single mass that exploded and set the expansion in motion. To give the stars and galaxies enough time to form, I calculate that the universe must be at least ten thousand million years old.

  ‘The universe is infinitely old.’

  ‘It can’t be. Hubble’s expansion proves that. Your equations prove that. Everything must once have been compacted together into some kind of primeval atom that split apart and led to the beginning of space and time, a moment at which the evolution of the cosmos began.’

  Clouds of suspicion had gathered on Einstein’s face. ‘You’re talking about the Creation?’

  ‘No, no, anything but that.’

  ‘Yes, you are. The beginning of space and time. Genesis. You’re trying to force your religious beliefs into science.’

  Lemaître met Einstein’s accusatory gaze. ‘Never. The conclusion is to be found in your own mathematics.’

  ‘One must never confuse science with religion. The Old One is to be found …’

  ‘The Old One?’ Lemaître lifted an eyebrow.

  ‘You of all people should be familiar with him.’

  ‘So you’re not an atheist then, after all?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Einstein said as if it were obvious. ‘My problem is with religion, not with God. I believe in a God who is Nature, and vice-versa.’

  Lemaître deliberately softened his voice. ‘We have more in common than you think.’

  ‘No! I will have nothing to do with your God. He is too personal for my taste.’

  ‘Personal?’

  ‘Too full of petty human emotions to be anything other than a construction of man’s.’

  ‘How can you say that? The Trinity is there to explain both personal and impersonal aspects of God. You are prejudiced. Perhaps it is you that confuses science with religion. Science is not a route to salvation. Remember what Galileo is reputed to have said: the Bible tells us how to go to Heaven, not how Heaven goes.’

  ‘And look what your lot did to him.’ Einstein jabbed a finger towards the flash of white at Lemaître’s throat.

  Though the insult cut, Lemaître let it pass. ‘If we reverse that sentiment, then we see that general relativity is not essential for our salvation. If it had been, it would have been revealed truth and described in the Gospels. It isn’t, yet we still pursue such knowledge because it comforts and informs us. It’s entirely different from religion. I would never mix the two. They are quite separate.’

  ‘Religion means nothing to me, in fact worse than nothing. On my voyage back from Japan I was persuaded to stop in Palestine and see the construction taking place for the new Jewish state.’

  Lemaître held himself rigid, wishing to betray nothing. He had come here to discuss science, not religion.

  ‘I visited the Holy Wall,’ continued Einstein, ‘and I looked on in horror at the worshippers, wailing and weeping.’ He made an harrumphing noise in the back of his throat. ‘Complete loss of dignity. Religion is nothing but the sum of human weakness, if you ask me.’ Einstein stood up, pointing angrily. ‘And now you come here, trying to … to … infect science with Genesis. False! A scientist should never work to belief. It cripples his objectivity and leaves a poor taste in the mouth.’ He took out his pipe and began patting down his pockets for tobacco.

  ‘Why persist with your unified theory?’ asked Lemaître.

  ‘Because Nature loves the beauty of simplicity.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I feel it.’

  ‘A belief ? In a scientist?’

  Einstein shook his finger. ‘An intuition, Georges. Nothing to do with religion.’

  ‘And neither is the primeval atom.’

  ‘Not that again!’ Einstein waved dismissively, growing more agitated in his search for tobacco.

  Lemaître was determined now. ‘Think about radioactivity. On average, a radium atom sits around for seventeen hundred years before it splits apart. What if everything was contained in a single primeval atom that split apart and began the universe? No religion there.’

  ‘But if it’s an atom, that would mean the beginning of the universe was governed by quantum laws.’

  ‘Then so be it. It’s the place where relativity and quantum theory collide. Any unified theory must be capable of addressing the beginning of space and time. We are pursuing the same end, just along different paths. My agenda is not religious. It comes from your mathematics. Nothing else. It means that once, in the distant past, there was not the Biblical creation but a beginning.’ Blood pounded in Lemaître’s veins. He thought furiously, desperate for the words that could encapsulate his insight and placate Einstein at the same time. On the verge of despair, he found the words he had been searching for. ‘There was once a day without yesterday.’

  The room filled with silence. Einstein was motionless, empt
y pipe in hand, eyes fixed on a point on his desk. It took him several moments to realise that the conversation had faltered.

  Lemaître’s chest heaved; his host had not even been listening.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Einstein, ‘I had some bad news this morning.’

  ‘Anything you would like to talk about?’

  ‘No,’ said Einstein quickly, then added, ‘my younger son has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia.’

  Lemaître bowed his head. ‘I’m truly sorry to hear that. Perhaps we should postpone our discussion to another day.’

  ‘No, no.’ Einstein gestured for him to remain seated. ‘Listen to me. A Jew confessing to a Catholic priest.’ He began searching his desk again and pulled out an empty tobacco pouch from under the papers. ‘My wife rations me. Says it’s making me cough.’

  Lemaître fumbled in his pocket and passed over some cigarettes. ‘Have one of these.’

  A boyish giggle escaped Einstein. It collapsed the moment after it was born. ‘I don’t laugh as much as I used to.’

  ‘It’s like riding a bike. You never forget how.’

  ‘I used to tell my boys that life was like riding a bike, you had to keep going forward in order to retain your balance.’

  ‘I used to ride, years ago. I liked to stop every now and again and look around. The more we look, the more we discover.’

  Einstein was splitting open the cigarettes and stuffing the contents into his pipe. ‘Do you think we will ever understand it all?’ he asked.

  ‘There’s only one being who knows the answer to that.’ Einstein’s lips moulded themselves into a crooked smile. ‘Well,

  it certainly isn’t Heisenberg.’ He lit the pipe and leaned back in his chair. ‘Tell me again about your primeval atom. I would like to understand your ideas before your lecture.’

  The car dropped Einstein at his hotel. His thoughts were so full when he arrived at the top floor that he failed at first to notice the open packing-cases strewn about the suite. He was shaken out of his reverie by Elsa’s shrill voice ordering the maid about.

  ‘What on earth is going on?’ he roared.

  His wife came running from the bedroom. ‘Thank God you’re home. We have to go, we have to get back to Berlin.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Margot. The apartment’s been broken into.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Raided. Margot was there, alone. Can you imagine? She must be a nervous wreck. Says they came back a second time and searched again.’ Elsa was throwing things into the cases without any attempt at sorting them. ‘We must go home.’

  ‘Elsa, wait. If they’re raiding the apartment, they’re looking for a reason to arrest me. We can’t go running into their arms.’

  ‘But Margot …’

  ‘Dimitri will look after her.’

  ‘He wasn’t there. He was out. That’s another story. There was a riot. He was caught in it, nearly hurt.’

  ‘Nazis again?’

  ‘Who else?’ she spat.

  ‘Elsa, please think about this.’ He tugged a chair free from under the table and sat down heavily. ‘Firstly, how do you know all this?’

  Elsa showed him the telegram. He picked it up and read the terse message. Instead of the dread he expected, it brought about a great sense of calm. He now understood the phrase ‘cold rationality’. All his science had been conducted with rationality, yes, but there was nothing cold about it when he calculated. It was laced with the bright stuff of passion, but now he sensed clarity, even destiny. The feeling worked through him, into his very bones.

  ‘Come and sit down, Elsa.’

  She seemed to sense it too. She stepped over the packing and sat at the table, close to him.

  He put his hand on hers. ‘Our time in Germany has come to an end.’ She stared at him blankly. ‘We’ve both known this has been coming, ever since Rathenau. We just haven’t been able to decide where or when. Now the decision is made for us. It’s time to accept one of the American offers.’

  ‘We can’t leave the girls.’

  ‘They’re adults, and married. They can choose to come with us or not. But it is time for us to leave. Berlin is no longer the same as it was, and it’s only going to get worse.’

  She nodded dumbly, and they sat for what seemed like an age. Her eyes were full of tears.

  ‘Elsa, I’ve been married twice, and neither time have I made a very good job of being a husband. There’s nothing I can do about my first marriage, and, to be honest, worrying about it has probably not helped me concentrate on my second. But, if we start again on this side of the Atlantic, at least I’ll no longer have that distraction. Perhaps I can begin to make amends with you.’

  The maid appeared with a pile of clothing. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the scene at the table.

  Elsa’s cheeks were streaked with tears. Einstein tried to smile at her. ‘Tell me, Elsa. Should I telegram Princeton?’

  She sniffed loudly and produced a handkerchief. Dabbing her eyes, she turned to the maid. ‘Take those back to the wardrobe, please. We’re staying.’

  Einstein could see Lemaître pacing nervously outside the lecture hall, reciting key parts of his presentation. As he approached he said, ‘So, a day without yesterday, you say?’ Lemaître nodded cautiously. ‘Even if I were to accept that your beginning of the universe is to be found in my theory, how could we prove it?’

  ‘I’ve been reading about balloon experiments that show increasing amounts of radiation at high altitude. If the universe began in fireworks, I think these cosmic rays may be the leftover sparks. And that makes all the stars and galaxies the smoke remaining from that great beginning.’

  Einstein puffed out his cheeks. ‘You don’t think in small measures, do you?’

  ‘Neither do you.’ Lemaître felt a little bashful. ‘Your unified theory.’

  Einstein’s eyes were suddenly alight. ‘You pursue your primeval atom; I’ll search for my unified theory. And let us hope that at least one of us finds the Promised Land.’

  ‘Agreed.’

  Einstein stepped away from the door. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Aren’t you coming, too?’

  ‘I’ll slip in at the back. I’ve arranged for the press to come and listen to you. They’ll make sure your ideas are widely heard this time, but if I come in with you, they’ll only be interested in me. So, you’re on your own. Tell them about the beginning of the universe. I want some peace and quiet. Now, in you go.’ He opened the door to a wall of men with cameras and notebooks.

  ‘They want to hear about the day without yesterday.’

  Lemaître stepped through and the first flashbulb went off like a star. The world was about to change.

  Epilogue

  Georges Lemaître’s idea of a beginning to space and time created a wave of scientific and public interest. However, his hypothesis that the cosmic rays were the leftover embers of a beginning did not stand up to scientific scrutiny, and academic opinion turned against this idea.

  In 1936 Lemaître became a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science, later rising to its presidency. In 1951, however, following a meeting of the Academy in Rome, Pope Pius XII publicly inferred that Lemaître’s ideas could be equated to the Biblical Genesis. The claim made headlines around the world.

  At a private audience with the Pope a few months later Lemaître explained his position on keeping science and religion separate. This seems to have been the catalyst for decades of internal discussions at the Vatican that culminated in 1987 when Pope John Paul II issued a letter to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Newton’s work on gravity. It stated: science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.

  Nevertheless, back in the 1950s, for Lemaître the damage had been done. To many it confirmed their suspicion that he was in fact trying to foist religion onto science.

  In 19
66, as he lay in hospital suffering from leukaemia, word reached him of an incredible discovery. Two radio engineers had serendipitously discovered that the universe was bathed in a glow of microwave energy. These microwaves outnumbered atoms by a staggering billion to one and carried so much energy that they could only have been created at the beginning of space and time. It was the proof that Lemaître had been right after all, that space and time had a beginning. We now call this beginning the Big Bang.

  A few days after receiving his vindication Lemaître passed away. In 1933 Albert and Elsa Einstein moved to America to begin the formal process of obtaining permanent residency. Upon hearing that the couple could no longer return to Germany, Mileva offered them refuge in Zurich. They declined and settled in Princeton, New Jersey. Elsa died just three years later from heart disease.

  Although Einstein came to Europe often, his visits to Eduard dwindled to nothing. His correspondence with Mileva remained cordial, occasionally warm, as she devoted herself to Eduard’s care until her death in 1948. By this time Eduard was residing in the Burghölzli sanatorium in Zurich, where he spent the rest of his life.

  Einstein maintained a relationship with Hans Albert, especially after his elder son moved permanently to America in 1938 and built a successful career in hydraulics. Married with three children, Hans Albert travelled the world to supervise construction projects.

  Einstein never accepted the quantum theory and worked on its possible replacement until his final day. He died in the early hours of 18 April 1955, having spent the previous evening with Hans Albert, talking and performing calculations.

  To this day no one knows how to reconcile general relativity with quantum theory. They are fundamentally incompatible. Trying to resolve this dichotomy lies at the heart of modern physics.

  Acknowledgements

  First things first: a special thank-you to Nikki, my wife, for seeing this trilogy through with me.This book is dedicated to her.

  As with the previous two books in this series, bringing the characters in this novel to life would have been impossible without the exemplary work of previous biographers, translators and historians. Two particularly rich volumes are Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson and The Day Without Yesterday: Lemaître, Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology by John Farrell. As you can see, both John and I were equally struck by Lemaître’s most famous phrase.

 

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