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The Physicists Friedrich Durrenmatt James Kirkup Books

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The Physicists Friedrich Durrenmatt James Kirkup Books

I originally read this play some time ago while studying German in college and it is one of the few works from those years that has "stuck with me". In fact I still have the German language edition that I used at that time.
As other reviewers have said, one of the central themes of this work is the degree of responsibility that scientists have to humanity or something called "the public". Having worked for over twenty years now as a nuclear scientist, I can definitely say that at times the desire for knowledge can override the consideration of all the possible uses of a given technology. The question them becomes, can an idea be "unthought"? This secondary theme of the book is intertwined with the theory of the inevitability of ideas at a given time and place.
The translation by Kirkup is quite good as compared to the original German version that I have. Though the expository style (some very long dialogs) may be a bit daunting at times, stick with it. This play is a philosophical discussion, not a Hollywood action film.


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The Physicists Friedrich Durrenmatt James Kirkup Books Reviews

Good
I purchased this as part of a class I was taking in graduate school.

The play is short and interesting. It is something I feel should be read to help spark a group discussion about science, business, and social responsibility. It's definitely worth a read.

If I had to grade it I'd give it a B+.
The madhouse or asylum is an easy allegory for the theater of the absurd. The insane are sane and the sane otherwise. The author rejects the notions that his play is absurd but the reality is left to the observer-the reader. Here it fits the absurd but I am no theater critic so it is left to others to determine.

This two act play is about three institutionalized “physicists” who have gone mad. It is unclear as to who is crippled with mental disorder and who is not. We are unclear as to whether the three main characters were, in a previous life actually physicists. Ernesti imagines himself to be Einstein, Beutler as Newton and Möblius is possessed by King Solomon. Apparently they have plotted some sort of scientific overthrow as they are not really insane but rather spies on a mission. Reality is blurred noticeably throughout.

They kill nurses in order to maintain a façade and it is unclear how this would better their efforts as anything else but mad men but it is integral to the drama. The play is sort of a typical postmodern rendering about how we cannot define a difference between insanity and genius because we are entrapped by cultural narratives.

That silliness aside there are a few points worth addressing. The physicists determine that it is science that dictates political ends. We witness a world where that is rarely the case. More often it is politics that directs science. We recently experienced a preponderance of that during the Bush II years.

In the playwright’s coda he lists 21 points to physicists and it includes one that suggests that there is a democracy to science. There is none of that in fact. Science does not work by majority rule.
Recommend by my professor, an old story however still apply to nowadays situations. Inspiring.
"the physicists" is a delightful short play that our amateur theater group staged years and years ago, in which i played the part of einstein.

in the play, a manaical doctor virtually imprisons famous scientists in the hope of getting her hands on the "unified theory" which would explain all scientific and natural phenomena and would therefore make her rich beyond anyone's dreams.

but needless to say, her plans go awry ... (i shall not divulge any more of the storyline!)

what made me look for this play at this time? i remembered from my lines that einstein was born in ulm, and my wife and i were taking a river cruise down the danube ... we didn't go to ulm, though; the nearest we got to it was vilshofen.

i was glad to find the book!
We bought this book, to accompany the original 'die Physiker', which we're using as part of our German course.
It's a very nice translation, close enough to the original to be helpful as a teaching tool, but readable enough to provide an entertaining play, in its own right.
Intelligent, great Masterpiece of Theather
I originally read this play some time ago while studying German in college and it is one of the few works from those years that has "stuck with me". In fact I still have the German language edition that I used at that time.
As other reviewers have said, one of the central themes of this work is the degree of responsibility that scientists have to humanity or something called "the public". Having worked for over twenty years now as a nuclear scientist, I can definitely say that at times the desire for knowledge can override the consideration of all the possible uses of a given technology. The question them becomes, can an idea be "unthought"? This secondary theme of the book is intertwined with the theory of the inevitability of ideas at a given time and place.
The translation by Kirkup is quite good as compared to the original German version that I have. Though the expository style (some very long dialogs) may be a bit daunting at times, stick with it. This play is a philosophical discussion, not a Hollywood action film.