266
THEORY
OF
RELATIVITY
of
relativity
and
of
the
constancy
of
the
velocity
of
light are supported
by empirical
evi-
dence
that
is
independent
of
the
validity
of
these theories. For
further discussion of the
role
of
such
principles
in
Einstein's
thought,
see
the
Introduction,
pp.
xxi-xxii, xxvi.
IV
According
to his
sister's
memoir,
Einstein
was
anxious about whether his
relativity paper
would be
accepted
by
the Annalen
der
Physik.[72]
After
it
was
accepted,
he
eagerly
antic-
ipated an
immediate reaction to its
publication, even though
he
expected
it to be
critical.
He
was
greatly disappointed
when his
paper
was
not
even
mentioned in the
following
issues
of
the
Annalen. Sometime
afterward,
she
recounts,
he received
a
letter from
Planck,
requesting
explanations
of
a
few obscure
points in
the
work.[73]
After
the
long period
of
waiting,
this
was
the first
sign
that his
paper
was
being
read at all. The
happiness
of
the
young
scholar
was
all the
greater,
since
ac-
knowledgment
of
his
accomplishment came
from
one
of
the
greatest
contem-
porary
physicists.... At
that
time
Planck's
interest
signified infinitely
much
for the morale
of
the
young physicist.
Nach der
langen
Wartezeit
war
dies das erste Zeichen, dass seine
Arbeit über-
haupt gelesen
worden
war.
Die Freude des
jungen
Gelehrten
war um so grösser,
da die
Anerkennung
seiner
Leistung von
einem
der
grössten Physiker
der
Ge-
genwart
herrührte....
In
jenem
Zeitpunkt
bedeutete das Interesse Plancks in
moralischer
Beziehung
unendlich viel für den
jungen Physiker.
Planck and Einstein continued
to
correspond,
and Planck discussed
Einstein's
paper
in
the
University
of
Berlin's
physics colloquium
during
the fall
of
1905.[74]
During
the next
few
years,
Planck wrote several
papers developing
further
consequences
of
the
relativity
principle,[75]
and interested his
assistant,
Max
Laue,[76]
and
one
of his
students, Kurd
von
Mosengeil,[77]
in working on
related
problems.
A few
years later,
Einstein
paid
tribute to
Planck's
role in
promoting
the
theory
of
relativity:
[72]
See Winteler-Einstein
1924,
pp.
23-24.
Winteler-Einstein also
reports
that Einstein
orig-
inally
intended to submit the work
on special
rel-
ativity
as
his doctoral
dissertation
(for
her
ac-
count
of
this claim,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Dissertation
on
the Determination
of
Molecular Dimensions,"
p.
175).
[73]
It
is not
clear
just
when Planck first wrote
to Einstein. His
first
known
reference to Planck
occurs
in
a
letter
of
3 May
1906 to Maurice So-
lovine:
"My
papers are
well received and
are
giving
rise to further research. Prof. Planck
(Berlin)
wrote
me
recently
about
this"
("Meine
Arbeiten finden viel
Würdigung
und
geben
An-
lass
zu
weiteren
Untersuchungen.
Prof. Planck
(Berlin)
schrieb mir neulich darüber").
If
Win-
teler-Einstein's
account is
correct,
the letter
from Planck referred to cannot be his first. The
earliest
surviving
letter from Planck is dated 6
July
1907.
[74] According
to
Max
Laue,
who
was
then
Planck's
Assistent, Planck
discussed
Einstein's
paper
at
one
of the
first,
if
not the
first,
of
the
physics
colloquia during
the winter semester.
See
Laue
1952.
[75]
See
Planck
1906a, 1907a.
He also
ana-
lyzed
Kaufmann's
experiments during
this
pe-
riod
(see
§
V).
[76]
See
Laue
1907.
[77]
See
Mosengeil
1907.