RIP John Stachel (1928-2025)

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Professor John Stachel, a prominent figure in the study of Einstein's work, passed away on May 9, 2025, at the age of 97. He was the first editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, significantly contributing to the understanding and dissemination of Einstein's theories. Stachel's academic career included notable publications, such as his essay on the discovery of special relativity and various papers on the foundations of relativistic physics. His work has been recognized in multiple scholarly platforms, including the Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science. Stachel's influence extended to numerous discussions and presentations, reflecting his deep engagement with the historical and philosophical aspects of physics. His legacy is preserved through his extensive research and the ongoing relevance of his contributions to the field.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stachel

https://www.einstein.caltech.edu/news/John-Stachel-first-CPAE-editor
It is with sorrow that we mourn the passing of Professor John Stachel. John was the first editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. He passed away, at the age of 97, on May 9, 2025.
https://www.einstein.caltech.edu/
https://www.einstein.caltech.edu/what-we-do/published-volumes
https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/









100 Anos de Teoria da Relatividade (Legendado) Documentário
(&t=90s is the first of several comments by John Stachel throughout the video)


more videos at the Perimeter Institute: https://pirsa.org/speaker/john-stachel
(however, the audio quality isn't that great)

I'm not sure how much you can see of John Stachel in
https://michaelblackwoodproductions.com/project/working-with-einstein/ (I haven't seen it)

https://www.matmor.unam.mx/eventos/loops07/plen_abs.html#stachel
https://www.slideserve.com/elyse/it...nterpretations-of-quantum-theory-john-stachel


How Did Einstein Discover Special Relativity? by John Stachel
This reprints an essay written ca. 1983, "'What Song the Syrens Sang': How Did Einstein Discover Special Relativity?" in John Stachel, Einstein from "B" to "Z".
https://history.aip.org/exhibits/einstein/essay-einstein-relativity.htm

'A Man of My Type': Editing the Einstein Papers
John Stachel
The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), pp. 57-66 (10 pages)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4026436?seq=1

Einstein from 'B' to 'Z' (2001)
https://www.amazon.com/Einstein-B-Z-John-Stachel/dp/0817641432?tag=pfamazon01-20

Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics: Festschrift in Honor of John Stachel
(Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, 234) (2003)
https://www.amazon.com/Revisiting-F...s-Festschrift/dp/1402012845?tag=pfamazon01-20

[update]
New Light on the Einstein-Hilbert Priority Question
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, Volume 20, Issue 3-4, pp. 91-101
https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999JApA...20...91S , doi: 10.1007/BF02702345


https://www.bu.edu/cphs/ces/research/john-stachel/

https://www.bu.edu/cphs/ces/research/papers-by-stachel/ (numerous Papers and Presentations by John Stachel)

https://link.springer.com/search?sortBy=newestFirst&dc.creator=JOHN STACHEL
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,24&q=john+stachel
https://philpeople.org/profiles/john-stachel
https://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/stachel/

  • I met John Stachel briefly at the Minnowbrook Symposium on the Structure of Space-Time (near Syracuse NY, May 1999).
  • Here's an old thread where Stachel came up in conversation:
  • Here's my favorite paper by Stachel, which helped guide my interest in the spacetime structure of Galilean relativity:

    "If Maxwell had worked between Ampère and Faraday: An historical fable with a pedagogical moral"
    Max Jammer, John Stachel
    ( American Journal of Physics -- January 1980 -- Volume 48, Issue 1, pp. 5-7 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.12239 ),
    which is based on "Galilean electromagnetism" by LeBellac and Levy-Leblond (Nuovo Cim.B 14 (1973) 2, 217-234, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895715 )
 
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