548
DOC.
26
THE PROBLEM OF SPECIFIC HEATS
that
all
molecules rotate with
equal speed.
Nernst
already
has
pointed
out,
if
I
am
not mistaken,
that
the
study
of
the
infrared
absorption
of
such
diatomic
gases
which
presumably possess an
electric moment
(e.g.,
HCl)
would
be
of
great
interest. In
fact
one
could").
The French version
(Einstein
1912a,
p.
433), corresponds
to
the
published
German
text.
In the discussion of Einstein's
report,
Einstein
et
al. 1914 (Doc.
27),
see p.
361,
Kamerlingh
Onnes referred
to
this
passage
of Einstein's
lecture, pointing out
that
experiment
actually
does
seem
to
confirm the deviations from the value of the
specific
heat
predicted by gas theory.
Presumably
as
a
reaction
to
this
criticism,
Einstein omitted the above
passage
in
the
published
text.
When further
experimental
evidence
on
the
specific
heat of
hydrogen
became
available,
Einstein made
a
fresh
attempt
at
a
theoretical solution of
this
problem; see
Einstein
to
Heinrich
Zangger,
27
January 1912,
and Einstein and Stern
1913.
[48]Nernst
and Lindemann
1911b.
[49]The
right-hand
side
of the
inequality
reads ET in the German
typescript.
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