110
REVIEWS FOR
THE
BEIBLÄTTER
Einstein
probably was
asked to list the
foreign
languages
he could read. He
presumably
listed
English, Italian,
and
French,
since
he reviewed
papers
in
each
of
these
languages.
Einstein knew
some
Italian;
his
parents
lived in
Italy
from 1894 to
1902,
and he
frequently
spent
time there between 1896 and
1901.[8]
He took
courses
in Italian and
French
at the
Aargau
Kantonsschule.[9] It
is
uncertain how much
English
he knew. He
managed
to
re-
view
four
English papers, perhaps
with the
help
of
his
wife.[10]
Conforming
to the
pattern
of
most other reviews
in
the
Beiblätter,
Einstein's
are
gen-
erally
succinct and
to the
point.
In
most
cases
he limits himself
to
a summary
of
the
contents
of
the
paper
reviewed;
in
a
few
cases, however,
he adds
a
critical
remark
(Einstein
1905m
[Doc.
18]),
draws attention to
a glaring error
(Einstein
1905z
[Doc.
31]),
or praises
the
author
for
clarity
of
exposition
(Einstein 1905y [Doc. 30]).
He
clearly
found
some
papers more interesting
than others.
See,
for
example,
Einstein
1905g
(Doc. 12),
which
even
reproduces
tables
of
experimental
values. Einstein
1905n
(Doc. 19),
on
the
other
hand,
suggests
that Einstein did not take
the trouble
(or
was
unable) to
consult earlier
papers by
the
same author;
accordingly,
the
review
is somewhat
vague.
Writing
reviews for
the
Beiblätter
gave
Einstein the
chance to become
acquainted
with
papers
that had
an
intrinsic research interest for him. An
example
is provided
by
the
Festschrift
published on
the occasion
of Boltzmann's
sixtieth
birthday
in
February
1904,
three
of
whose
117
contributions
were
reviewed
by
Einstein.[11]
It contains
a
paper
by
Planck
comparing
the definitions
of
entropy
used
by
Gibbs and
by
Boltzmann.[12] Al-
though
Einstein did not review this
particular paper,
it
is
possible
that this
paper,
or
its
review in
the
Beiblätter
(printed immediately following
Einstein
1905p
[Doc.
21]), first
drew his
attention to
Gibbs's
work.
Another
example
is
provided by
Einstein
1906f
(Doc. 37),
which reviews the first edi-
tion
of
Max
Planck's
influential book
Vorlesungen
über
die Theorie
der Wärmestrah-
lung.[13]
The review
clearly
demonstrates
Einstein's
familiarity
with
Planck's
work
on
radiation
theory;
it
may
have been
assigned
to
him because
of
his critical
discussion of
Planck's
theory
earlier that
year,
in
a paper on
the
generation
and
absorption
of
light.[14]
After
the review
of Planck's
book,
only one
item
by
Einstein
appeared
in the
Beiblätter.
Einstein
1907i
(Doc. 46)
reviews the second
part
of
a
two-volume
work,
the first
part
of
rate for contributors
to
similar review
journals,
Die Fortschritte der
Physik
and the
Jahrbuch
über
die
Fortschritte der
Mathematik
(see
Kirchner
1962,
pp.
461-463).
[8]
See Vol.
1,
"Chronology,"
pp.
372-376.
[9]
See Final
Grades,
Aargau
Kantonsschule,
5
September
1896
(Vol. 1,
Doc.
19);
Matura
Examination
(B)
French:
'My
Future
Plans,' 18
September
1896
(Vol.
1,
Doc.
22);
and
Aargau
Kantonsschule,
Curriculum
(Vol.
1, Appendix
D).
[10]
Apparently,
Mileva Einstein-Maric had
studied
English:
the
verso
of
a
letter from Ein-
stein contains
English
exercises in her hand
(see
Einstein
to
Mileva
Maric,
after 28 November
1898,
Vol.
1,
Doc. 43, textual
note).
[11]
Meyer,
S. 1904.
[12]
Planck
1904.
[13]
Planck
1906c.
Einstein's
review
of
this
book is the
longest
of
all his
reviews,
covering
almost
two
and
a
half
pages.
[14]
See Einstein 1906d
(Doc. 34).
This review
is
the
only one by
Einstein
not
classified under
"Wärmelehre," but under "Optik." For
a
dis-
cussion
of Einstein's
views
on
Planck's
theory,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Early
Work
on
the
Quantum Hypothesis,"
pp.
137-138.
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