MACMILLAN Taghi Erani, a Polymath in Interwar Berlin: Fundamental Science, Psychology, Orientalism, and Political Philosophy

A prominent civil servant, scientist, and intellectual, Taghi Erani was a pivotal figure in interwar Iran. Witness to two of the major political upheavals in the twentieth century―the rise of Pahlavi and the collapse of the Weimar Republic―he turned from fundamental science to leftwing activism and pacifism, leading to his arrest and death in prison. Younes Jalali traces his journey from Tehran to Berlin, where in the 1920s he crossed paths with the greatest German scientists and scholars of his day, including Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Friedrich Rosen, and published seminal works on psychology and political philosophy. In the 1930s, as Reza Shah pursued rapprochement with the Third Reich, Taghi Erani was caught up in a crackdown on left-wing and pro-labor activists. His life and death offer a unique lens through which to view modern Iranian intellectual and political history. Review “A remarkable life, lucidly narrated, with valuable lessons for today.” ( Noam Chomsky) “This is an important and timely book on a neglected figure. It sheds much light on Taghi Erani and his circle, and also on the wider intellectual and political history of modern Iran.” (Stephanie Cronin, Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Research Fellow, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK) “This book tells a fascinating story of an aspiring Persian scientist who, unintentionally, became a German ‘orientalist,’ and subsequently a psychological autodidact, philosopher of science, and leftwing political activist.  Drawing on sources in many languages, this transnational study offers unusual insight into the simultaneously exhilarating and treacherous worlds inhabited by non-western intellectuals in the twentieth century’s first half.” (Suzanne Marchand, Boyd Professor of History, Louisiana State University, USA) “The fruit of many years of labor, this book elucidates the complications and politics of Iranian history through the lens of Erani’s spectacular life.” (Colin Atkinson FRS, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Imperial College London, UK) From the Back Cover A prominent civil servant, scientist, and intellectual, Taghi Erani was a pivotal figure in interwar Iran. Witness to two of the major political upheavals in the twentieth century―the rise of Pahlavi and the collapse of the Weimar Republic―he turned from fundamental science to leftwing activism and pacifism, leading to his arrest and death in prison. Younes Jalali traces his journey from Tehran to Berlin, where in the 1920s he crossed paths with the greatest German scientists and scholars of his day, including Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Friedrich Rosen, and published seminal works on psychology and political philosophy. In the 1930s, as Reza Shah pursued rapprochement with the Third Reich, Taghi Erani was caught up in a crackdown on left-wing and pro-labor activists. His life and death offer a unique lens through which to view modern Iranian intellectual and political history. About the Author Younes Jalali is a former assistant professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, USA. Born in Iran and educated in the US, he is interested in the history of science and Iranian history.