216
BROWNIAN MOTION
with his later
work,
as
well
as
with
Einstein's
work
on
Brownian motion. Einstein
may
have
read
this
paper,
which
appeared
in
Meyer,
S. 1904.[66]
Smoluchowski
apparently corresponded
with Einstein
regarding
his first
papers
on
Brownian
motion.[67]
Smoluchowski did not
publish
his results
before
he
saw
Einstein's
papers,
because
of
the lack
of
sufficient
experimental
evidence.[68]
Now he wanted to
contribute
to
a
"clarification
of
views
on
this
interesting
subject
...
in
particular
because
my
method
seems
to
me
to be
more
direct,
simpler,
and thus
perhaps
also
more
convincing
than that
of Einstein"
("Klärung
der Ansichten über diesen interessanten
Gegenstand
...
insbesondere da mir meine Methode
direkter,
einfacher und darum vielleicht auch über-
zeugender
zu
sein scheint als
jene
Einsteins").[69]
Smoluchowski's
analysis
of
Brownian motion embraced
gases as
well
as liquids.
In
studying a sequence
of
collisions
of
a single suspended particle
with the
molecules of
the
surrounding
medium,
Smoluchowski followed the tradition
of
the kinetic
theory
of
gases.
Einstein later characterized
Smoluchowski's
treatment
of
Brownian motion
as
starting
from the
application
of
the
equipartition
theorem to the
velocity
of
a suspended particle:
"Smoluchowski
arrives at the
explanation
of
the
phenomenon by
quantitatively
formulat-
ing [the condition]
that this
velocity
is
constantly destroyed by
internal friction and
con-
stantly
recreated
by irregular
molecular
impulses" ("[I]ndem
Smoluchowski
quantitativ
formuliert,
daß diese
Geschwindigkeit
durch innere
Reibung beständig
vernichtet,
durch
unregelmäßige
Molekularstöße immer wieder
hergestellt
wird,
gelangt er zur
Erklärung
des
Phänomens").[70]
When much later he
compared
Smoluchowski's
treatment to his
own,
Einstein
emphasized
the
greater generality
of
his
approach:
"[Smoluchowski's
paper
is]
based
on
mechanics,
whereas
my investigation essentially presupposes only
the law
of
osmotic
pressure" ("[Smoluchowskis
Arbeit
ist]
auf
die Mechanik
gegründet,
während
[66]
See Smoluchowski 1904. Einstein
re-
viewed several contributions in
Meyer,
S. 1904.
For
a
discussion
of Einstein's
reviews in
gen-
eral,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Reviews
for the
Beiblätter
zu
den Annalen
der
Physik,"
pp.
109-111.
[67]
Only one
item has been found:
Einstein's
letter to
Smoluchowski,
11
June
1908,
in which
Einstein sent
some
of
his
papers,
"which
might
still
be
of
interest"
("welche noch interessieren
können") and asked for
reprints
of
Smolu-
chowski's
papers.
[68]
See Smoluchowski
1906,
p.
756.
[69]
Smoluchowski
1906, p.756.
On
p.
772,
he
developed
his criticism
of Einstein's
methods in
more
detail:
"Without
entering
into
a
discussion
on
the
very
sensible methods
employed by
Ein-
stein,
I
would still like to remark
that
they
rest
on
considerations
of
an
indirect
nature,
which do
not
always
seem
convincing"
("Ohne in eine
Diskussion der
von
Einstein
befolgten,
sehr
sinnreichen Methoden
einzugehen,
möchte ich
doch bemerken, daß
sie
auf
Überlegungen
indi-
rekter Art
beruhen,
welche nicht immer
ganz
überzeugend
erscheinen"). In
a
footnote
to
this
passage,
Smoluchowski indicated the consider-
ations he had in mind:
"For
example, applica-
tion
of
the laws
of
osmotic
pressure
to
those
par-
ticles and calculation
of
their diffusion
velocity
or
the
application
of Boltzmann's
law
(on
the
statistical
distribution
of
the
states
of
systems,
which
are
subject to potential energies) to
the
frictional resistance
experienced
by
a
particle
M"
("Zum
Beispiel Übertragung
der Gesetze
des osmotischen Druckes
auf
jene
Teilchen und
Berechnung
ihrer
Diffusionsgeschwindigkeit
oder
die
Anwendung
des Boltzmannschen
Satzes
(über
die statistische
Verteilung
der Zu-
stände
von
Systemen,
welche Potentialkräften
unterworfen
sind)
auf
den
von
einem Teilchen M
erfahrenen
Reibungswiderstand").
[70]
Einstein
1917b, p.
737.
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