Three Winters in the Sun: Einstein in California

The biggest decisions are the hardest to make. I know when I am stuck between two positions that have vastly different outcomes, the process of decision making is rarely organized. It is very rare that we come to choose between the right and wrong decision in a linear and progressive manner. So for Einstein, who had to chose weather or not to advocate his discovery of nuclear theory to Roosevelt during WWII, the process of discovery was most likely a scattered and influenced by many different factors

In the DVD series, Three Winters in the Sun: Einstein in California, each aspect of decision making is depicted in one of six rays of light that constitute different facets of Einstein's life.  His experiences as an emigrant, as a Jew, in the home, with the FBI, with Hollywood, and of science all intermix in order to help guide Einstein's actions as a man of political influence and scientific prestige. It may be more confusing for the reader to navigate through the chaotic and fluid light fields, however it is a more accurate depiction of the complexity of Einstein's thinking. The DVD claims that as an immigrant, Einstein was isolated from many groups because he had no true identity with any of them. However, because he could look at each of them with a more objective opinion, he was able to influence a wider spectrum of interest groups.  Einstein identified with pacifists, activists, socialites, those in catastrophic situations, Socialists and Capitalists and many more groups who both respected and feared his intelligence. 

As I navigated through the fields, I became more and more unaware of my position regarding Einstein's decision to advocate the Manhattan Project. However, one theme remained the same: militant pacifism, or the willingness to fight for peace. From an early age, Einstein was aware of the evils of the German Nazi empire he was raised in. He refused to join a power who could persuade the masses so easily to commit such crimes of atrocity.  Later, as he saw this regime threaten to control the globe, I believe he realized the necessity to fight against it. Although, because of FBI regulations, he was not able to participate in the American development of a nuclear weapon, his urging of Roosevelt to manifest his most controversial  invention had worldly consequences. 

However, although he knew the magnitude of the decision he was making, Einstein had an unwavering faith in the persistence of progress. As a physicist, he was constantly trying to advance science, and he knew that the world would not stop the movement once it had begun. By urging the Roosevelt administration to create the atomic bomb, he was putting the first power in the hands of who he thought was right. Capitalism, the United States would harness the greatest power the world had ever seen. Under the wrong supervision, his invention might have had much more catastrophic outcomes. 

The DVD does a fine job of representing the natural progression of thought and interconnectedness of life experiences. It leaves the audience to come up with their own conclusions rather than guiding them through a linear text to an end position. Einstein himself had no end position. Later he would say that sending that letter to Roosevelt was the biggest mistake he had ever made. However, when talking about his removal of support for his Quantum Mechanics theory because it relied on probability, he said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe." We must take into account Einstein's faith when deciding the morality of his decision. I believe that colossal outcomes would have occurred regardless of Einstein's support for one side, so we must take on faith that the catastrophic decisions of one man were the right ones.