action-at-a-distance forces much
nearer
to its solution. It is
possible
that
experiments already
done by others for other
purposes
will suffice
for the
testing
of the
theory.
In that
case
I shall
utilize all the
already existing
results in
my
doctoral dissertation.
It is
a
glorious feeling
to
perceive the unity of
a
complex of
phenomena
which
appear
as
completely separate entities
to
direct
sensory
observation.
Please
give
my
kindest
regards
to
your
dear
family
and
my
warm
thanks to
your
father for his efforts and the trust he had shown
by
recommending
me.
Friendly
greetings
from
your
Albert
Einstein
Via
Bigli
21
Milan
101.
TO
MILEVA MARIC
Milan
Monday. [15 April 1901]
My
dear Doxerl!
Don't be
angry
for
my
not
following
your summons
to
Lugano. At
the end of the last week
I
was
in the dumps because,
once
again,
several
job
hunts of mine
were
not
showing
any progress.
But just
wait,
love, in
a
few weeks
we
shall
see
each other all the
same -
you
are
surprised,
aren't
you? Yesterday
I
received
a
letter from
Prof. Rebstein from the Technicum Winterthur
asking
me
whether I would
like to substitute for him from 15
May
to
15
July,
because he is due
for military service.
You
can
imagine how gladly I'll do that! It's
true that I have to teach about 30 hours
a
week, including
even
descriptive
geometry, but the brave Swabian is not afraid. But
that's
not
all. The evening before yesterday I received
a
letter from Marcel
in which he informs
me
that probably I will
soon
get
a
permanent
position in the Office for the Protection of Intellectual Property
[patent
office] in Bern! Isn't this almost too much at once?
Imagine
what
a
wonderful
job
this would
be for
me!
I'll be mad
with
joy if
something
should become of that! Think of
it, how nice it is of the
Grossmanns to have exerted themselves
on
my
behalf
even now.
This
Rebstein is
probably Hertzog's
former assistant, whom
we
knew,
actually.
As
for science, I've got
an
extremely lucky idea, which will make
it
possible
to
apply
our
theory
of molecular forces
to
gases
as
well.
You
certainly
remember that the force function
appears
explicitly in
the integrals that have to be evaluated for
the calculation of
diffusion,
thermal
conduction
&
viscosity.
Hence, with
gas
molecules,
only
our
constants
c are
necessary
for the calculation of these
coefficients for ideal
gases,
and
one
does not have
to venture
into
the
theoretically
so
uncertain
area
of deviations from the ideal
gas
state. I
can
hardly
await the outcome of this
investigation.
If it
leads to
something,
we
will know almost
as
much about the molecular
forces
as
about
the
gravitational
forces, and only the law of the
radius will still remain unknown.
Unfortunately,
I
must also admit
that this idea for the
investigation
of salt solutions rested
on
such
a
weak basis that I think
that
one
should first restrict oneself
to
the
investigation
of
infinitely
dilute
solutions, in which
an
166
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