Albert Einstein (1879-1955) is one of the most influential figures of the modern era. Working in Germany, Switzerland and US, he radically transformed our understanding of the universe and took an outspoken stance on the significant political and social issues of his time. He was the father of the theory of relativity and a major contributor to quantum theory yet always found time for the political causes close to his heart.

Max Born (1882-1970) won the Nobel prize for Physics in 1954 for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics. He worked at the Universities of Breslau and G"ttingen before Nazism forced his family to flee to the UK, where he held chairs first at Cambridge and later at Edinburgh University. He collaborated with Pauli, Heisenberg, Fermi, Dirac, Raman, and Oppenheimer among others, while also writing and speaking frequently on the social responsibility of scientists.

Introduction by Werner Heisenberg Foreword by Betrand Russell New Preface by Kip Thorne and Diana Buchwald Correspondence between Max and Hedwig Born and Albert Einstein 1916-1955 with Commentaries by Max Born