8 8 D O C U M E N T 8 3 J U LY 1 9 2 3
83. From Jacques Loeb[1]
[New York,] 20 July 1923
My dear, highly esteemed Professor Einstein,
We have often been thinking of you and I often had the intention of writing to
you; but I always heard that you were not in Germany. First of all, I wanted to ex-
press most cordial congratulations on the Nobel Prize, which guarantees you mer-
ited financial independence; then on the brilliant outcome of Campbell’s eclipse
expedition.[2]
We were somewhat alarmed because C. was skeptical, but it all
turned out most brilliantly. Knowing you, you surely never doubted the favorable
outcome of the observations. But it is good that everything has been settled so nice-
ly; otherwise, the matter would have been used to attack you personally.
I can report much about us. My son accepted a position as assistant professor in
physics at the University of California
(Berkeley)[3]
and will take up his post in Au-
gust. He probably sends you his papers
regularly.[4]
Last winter my wife and I suf-
fered a series of influenza bouts which forced us to go to Bermuda for a month to
recuperate. It is beautiful there and I recommend it to you if you are tired of Europe
someday and want to live in peace in heavenly surroundings. We recovered and we
are now fairly well again.
The planned aid for German scientists has meanwhile reached implementation,
though it seems not to be working properly yet. Our friends O. Warburg, Michaelis,
and Meyerhof will, however, be supported, I
hope.[5]
In the interim Meyerhof has
already been in America and I hope we shall also be seeing Warburg here again in
the coming year. I hope to obtain a position here for Michaelis, who is in Japan, and
perhaps also for Meyerhof. I was sorry that Mr.
Haber[6]
withdrew from the Com-
mittee; hopefully he can be motivated into rejoining the Committee again; I would
consider that very desirable.
I intend to pass on the brochure by Dr. Gábor to an
expert;[7]
but I cannot prom-
ise success.
My book has disturbed the wasps’ nest of colloidal
chemists.[8]
The issues are
worked through far enough that there surely isn’t any doubt left about the correct-
ness of the basic facts and conclusions. The four basic colloidal properties of pro-
teins, membrane potentials, osmotic pressure, swelling, and the form of viscosity
based on the swelling of the micelles, find quantitative explanation on the basis of
Donnan’s equation. I am now working on the cause of double
layering,[9]
which de-
termines the stability of the suspended particles. In these researches I unfortunately
have to take into account Lenard’s waterfall
electricity,[10]
as he developed a theory
of layer-building on the water surface. My test results unfortunately deviate from
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