1 7 8 V O L U M E 8 , D O C U M E N T 6 2 0 a
ADftS (SzZ, Nachl. H. Zangger, box 206). [87 119].
[1]Einstein to Michele Besso, 20 August 1918 (Vol. 8, Doc. 604); Besso’s previous letter had taken
thirteen days to reach Berlin.
[2]As a compromise between accepting an offer of a professorship in Zurich and remaining in
Berlin, Einstein had offered to lecture in Zurich twice a year for 4–6 weeks (see Einstein to Michele
Besso, 20 August 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 604], and Einstein to Edgar Meyer, 18 August 1918 [Vol. 8,
Doc. 602).
[3]A reference to a line in Heine’s poem “Lazarus” quoted by Einstein in Einstein to Michele
Besso, 20 August 1918 (Vol. 8, Doc. 604).
[4]Einstein was invited to the University of Zurich, and Otto Naumann (1852–1935), ministerial
director for university matters in the Prussian Ministry of Education, was approached by the Depart-
ment of Education of the Canton of Zurich. For details, see Heinrich Zangger to Einstein, before 11
August 1918 (Vol. 8, Doc. 598), note 3.
[5]Partly because of pending negotiations about the position in Zurich, Einstein had postponed his
trip to Switzerland (see Einstein to Michele Besso, 8 September 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 612]). Besso, in
turn, was intending to return to Rome, where he was organizing his uncle’s library, by mid-August
but kept postponing his departure until early November (see Heinrich Zangger to Einstein, before 11
August 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 598], and Michele Besso to Einstein, 10 November 1918 [Vol. 8,
Doc. 649]).
[6]From this point on, Besso discusses the topics raised by Einstein in Einstein to Michele Besso,
20 August 1918 (Vol. 8, Doc. 604).
[7]A reference to Hermann Weyl’s proposal of a unified field theory based on the idea of a purely
infinitesimal geometry (see Weyl 1918b and Einstein’s comments on it in Einstein to Michele Besso,
20 August 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 604]).
[8]Besso refers to Einstein’s “measuring rod objection” (“Maßstab-Einwand”) against Weyl’s the-
ory (see Einstein to Hermann Weyl, 15 April 1918, and 19 April 1918 [Vol. 8, Docs. 507 and 512] for
more on this objection).
[9]The square brackets are in the original.
[10]At this point in the original text, Besso indicates a note that he has appended at the foot of the
page: “Dass die Lebewesen die Ektropie der Radioaktivität der Sonne benützen und nicht ihre eigene,
ist doch blos selbstverständlich. Wir dürfen nicht vergessen, dass der Ektropie gewissenmassen eine
Anstrengung entspricht.” The term “ektropy” (“Ektropie”) was introduced by Georg Hirth, who used
the term “tropy” (“Tropie”) for a “transformation of energy” (“Energieumwandlung”) and “ektropy”
as “energy which becomes […] potentially available or […] free” (“Energie […], welche […] poten-
tiell verfügbar oder […] frei wird.” Hirth 1900, p. 66). The term was taken up by only few authors,
e.g. by Felix Auerbach: “The energy is continually subjected to processes of transformation of quality
and changes of level, which changeability we call tropy. But its tendency can be twofold, it can be
from a purely logical point of view—a transformation toward increased external effectiveness and is
then ektropic, or it turns away from external effectiveness and is then entropic” (“Die Energie unter-
liegt ohne Unterlaß Qualitätswandlungen und Niveauwandlungen, diese Wandelbarkeit nennen wir
Tropie. Ihre Tendenz aber kann zwiespältig sein und ist alsdann ektropisch, oder sie kehrt sich der
äußeren Wirksamkeit ab und ist alsdann entropisch.” Auerbach 1910, p. 21).
[11]Possibly a reference to Spinoza’s Ethics, Parts II and V, dealing with freedom, free will, and
causality. The square brackets are in the original.
Vol. 8, 620a. To Heinrich Zangger
[Berlin,] 21. IX. [1918]
Lieber Zangger
Sie schreiben gar nichts über meinen Vorschlag, dass ich in jedem Semester ei-
nen Monat in Zürich lesen
will.[1]
Meyer ist von sich aus einverstanden, hat aber
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