1 5 4 D O C U M E N T 1 5 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 2 3
158. To Emil and Elisabeth Warburg[1]
[Leyden,] 20 November 1923
Dear Colleague and dear Mrs. Warburg,
Your friendly letters pleased me very
much,[2]
even though I already knew, with-
out it being said, that we understand and appreciate one another very well. I am no
longer thinking of looking for a position elsewhere, but shall rather come back
when, as far as it is humanly possible to tell, the worst of it is over. Privation pro-
duces unrest; it’s just a pity that I as “chief Jew” excite too much unwelcome inter-
est among the far-too-many. In the meantime, during this banishment it is very nice
living in my friend’s home among his vivacious
family;[3]
and there isn’t any lack
of physics, either. I am brooding a lot, but perhaps only on stones instead of eggs,
as usual. I am very glad that you were able to solve your problem regarding the pass
through of current in the ozone tube so
satisfactorily.[4]
The business with the
Earth’s magnetism yielded a negative result long ago. I performed the experiments
with a young physicist (Dr.
Mark)[5]
at the K[aiser] W[ilhelm] Institute for the
Chemistry of Synthetic Fibers (Prof.
Herzog).[6]
Consequently, the theory doesn’t
stand.— How come Nernst is coming here to Leyden just now, of all times, at the
students’
invitation?[7]
It’s an incentive for me to go on a short excursion.
I don’t believe that scientific employment, in itself, can have an unfavorable in-
fluence on character, but rather only the related little jealousies among persons. But
whoever tends toward envy will find occasion for it in any
post.[8]
We do have
splendid characters in our field; just among the most important, Lorentz, Bohr, and
Franck[9]
are magnificent persons, and Planck and
Laue[10]
are also really above the
average, as concerns their character. On the other hand, the nastiest of them are
more or less crazy, hence not to be taken so seriously.
So, I hope to be seeing both of you again well and in good spirits in the not too
distant future.
For the interim, warmest regards to both of you, yours,
A. Einstein.