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Diana Kormos Buchwald

Robert M. Abbey Professor of History; Director and General Editor, The Einstein Papers Project
B.Sc., Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 1981; M.Sc., Tel Aviv University, 1983; A.M., Harvard University, 1985; Ph.D., 1990. Instructor, Caltech, 1989-90; Assistant Professor, 1990-96; Associate Professor, 1996-2005; Professor, 2005-2017; Abbey Professor, 2018-.

Profile

Diana Kormos Buchwald is a historian whose interests span science, politics, and culture between 1895 and 1945. Her research concerns the development of scientific ideas, experiments, instruments, and technologies. She analyzes the textual representation of science, and controversies involving science, religion, and authority. As the director and general editor of the Einstein Papers Project since 2000, her work has focused on Albert Einstein's life and work. Kormos Buchwald is also the co-editor of the documentary edition of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, leading the project, spearheading fundraising efforts, and overseeing the English language translation. She has been a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften in Vienna, the University of Amsterdam, the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. She is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Research Summary
History of Physics; History of Science; European Intellectual History; Germany, History; Biography
Selected Awards
  • 2021 Member, American Philosophical Society
  • 2016 Member, International Advisory Board, Yehuda Elkana Center for Higher Education, Central European University, Budapest
  • 2015 Membre correspondant de l'Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences
  • 2013 Fellow, American Physical Society
  • 2011 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2009 Society of Indexers, Wheatley Medal for Indexing Excellence
  • 1993 Graves Award
  • 1992–93 Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
  • 1992 Marc-Auguste Pictet Prize, Societé de physique et d'histoire naturelle, Genève
Caltech Affiliations
External Affiliations
  • Member, American Philosophical Society
  • Board Member, Global Observatory on Academic Freedom, Vienna
  • Member, The Association of Documentary Editing
  • Member, The American Physical Society
  • Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • Member, History of Science Society

Featured News

Einstein Papers Project's Newest Volume: Einstein Wrestles with Politics and Physics, 1929–1930
September 03, 2024
Volume 17 of the Einstein Papers Project continues the documentary history of Einstein's writings during his last years living full time in Berlin.
Why Einstein First Visited Caltech
July 10, 2024
Diana K. Buchwald, Caltech’s Robert M. Abbey Professor of History and director and general editor of The Einstein Papers Project, delivered a Watson Lecture during the 2023–24 season detailing Albert Einstein’s early connections to Caltech.
Watson Lecture: Diana K. Buchwald Reveals Details from Albert Einstein's Time at Caltech
February 28, 2024
In this Watson Lecture, Diana K. Buchwald, Robert M. Abbey Professor of History and director and general editor of the Einstein Papers Project at Caltech, will describe her work delving into Einstein’s massive written legacy. In particular, the lecture will explore the diaries he kept during his visits to the Institute and the dual roles he played as a professor in Germany during the early rise of the Nazi Party and a celebrity scientist traveling the world.
Read more news

Selected Publications

  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 16, Documentary Edition (1,100 pp.), Princeton University Press, published, 2021.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 16, English Translation (600 pp.), Princeton University Press, published, 2021.
  • Einstein Was Right, ed. By J. Z. Buchwald, "Foreword" and Chapter 8. Princeton University Press, Oct. 2020.
  • Thinking About Space and Time: 100 Years of Applying and Interpreting General Relativity, Series editor, Birkhäuser. 1st ed. 2020 edition (September 26, 2020).
  • Beyond Einstein: Perspectives on Geometry, Gravitation, and Cosmology in the Twentieth Century Series: Einstein Studies, Vol. 14. Series editor. 2018
  • Looking Back as We Move Forward: The Past, Present, and Future of the History of Science. Editor, 40 essays, 300 pp. (non-refereed). New York, 2019.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 15, Writings & Correspondence, June 1925-May 1927, Documentary edition, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 15, Writings & Correspondence, June 1925-May 1927, Translation edition, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.
  • "Foreword," The Formative Years of General Relativity. Gutfreund, H. and Renn, J. eds. Princeton University Press, 2017.
  • Gravitational Waves: Ripples in the Fabric of Spacetime Lost and Found, co-authored with H. Gutfreund and J. Renn. HuffPost Science 02/12/2016.
  • The Digital Einstein Papers, launched online, November 2014, Volumes 1-13. Plus: Video production for Caltech web streaming on Digital Einstein.
  • "Afterword," Einstein, A Hundred Years of Relativity, edited by Andrew Robinson. Palazzo: UK, 2015; Princeton University Press 2015; France: 2015.
  • "Albert Einstein," The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology, 2014.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 14, Writings & Correspondence, 1923-1925, Documentary Original Language Edition, with annotations and introduction. Princeton University Press, in manuscript. General Editor, Editor, & Author (November 2014).
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 14, Writings & Correspondence, 1923-1925, English language translation. Princeton University Press, in manuscript. General Editor, Translator (November 2014).
  • "A Note on Einstein's Scratch Notebook of 1910-1913," Diana K. Buchwald, Jürgen Renn, and Robert Schlögl, Physics as a Calling, Science for Society, ed. by Ad Maas and Henriëtte Schatz, Leiden University Press, 2013, pp. 81-89.
  • "Martin J. Klein 1924-2009," Diana K. Buchwald and Jed Z. Buchwald, Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 13, Writings & Correspondence, 1922-1923, Documentary Original Language Edition, with annotations and introduction. Princeton University Press, October 2012. General Editor, Editor, & Author.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 13, Writings & Correspondence, 1922-1923, English language translation. Princeton University Press, October 2012. General Editor, Translator.
  • Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Sciences, Cambridge University Press, paperback edition (with corrections and revisions), March 2011.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 12, Correspondence 1921, Documentary Original Language Edition, with annotations and introduction. Princeton University Press, May 2009. General Editor, Editor, & Author.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 12, Correspondence 1921, English language translation. Princeton University Press, May 2009. General Editor, Translator.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 11, Cumulative Index, Bibliography etc. to Volumes 1-10. Princeton University Press, February 2009. General Editor & Editor.
  • "Introduction," Einstein Due Today: Albert Einstein's First Trip to the US, by J. Illy, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
  • "Quantum Mechanics from Einstein to Heisenberg in their Later Representations: The Uses of Dialogism in Science and Art," Yyun 2007.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 10, Correspondence May- December 1920 and Supplementary Correspondence 1909-1920, Documentary Original Language Edition, with annotations and introduction. Princeton University Press, July 2006. General Editor & Editor.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 10, Correspondence May- December 1920 and Supplementary Correspondence 1909-1920, English Language Edition. Princeton University Press, July 2006. General Editor & Editor.
  • „Die Edition der Gesammelten Schriften von Albert Einstein 1955-2005," in Juergen Renn (ed.), Hundert Autoren fur Einstein, Wiley-VCH, 2005, German and English editions.
  • "Preface," The Einstein-Born Correspondence, by Diana K. Buchwald and Kip S. Thorne, Macmillan, 2005.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 9, Correspondence January 1919 – April 1920, Documentary Original Language Edition, with annotations and introduction. Princeton University Press, October 2004. General Editor & Editor.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 9, Correspondence January 1919 – April 1920, English Language Edition. Princeton University Press, October 2004. General Editor. Overall responsibility for Translation; Editor.
  • The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 7, Writings 1918-1921. Original Language Documentary Edition. General Editor & Editor. Princeton University Press, October 2002.
  • Walther Nernst and the Transition to Modern Physical Sciences, Cambridge University Press, 1999. "Walther Nernst," "Wilhelm Ostwald," entries in the Encyclopedia Britannica. 2000.
  • "The First Scientist, the Last Magician," Science in Context 9 (1996).
  • "Simply a Matter of Chemistry? Walther Nernst and his Nobel Prize for 1920," Perspectives on Science 4 (2) 1994.
  • "The Witches' Sabbath: Walther Nernst and The First Solvay Congress," Science in Context 6 (1993): 59-82.
  • "A Usable Past: Creating Space for Physical Chemistry," in M.J. Nye et al. (eds.), The Invention of Physical Science. Dordrecht: Kluwer (1992): 175-202.
  • "How to Reach Consensus in Science: A Historical perspective on International Standards and Nomenclature ca. 1900," Archs. Sci. Genève 45 (1992): 233-245.
  • "Walther Nernst and Quantum Theory," in W.R. Woodward and R.S. Cohen (eds.), World Views and Scientific Discipline Formation. Dordrecht: Kluwer (1991): 151-162.