APPENDIX
A
SUMMARIES OF EINSTEIN'S COURSES
AT THE ETH
Einstein took
up
his
teaching appointment
as
professor
of theoretical
physics
at the
Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH)
on
1
October
1912.
His
teaching
obli-
gation
consisted of
ten
hours
a
week,
in
addition
to
the
supervision
of relevant
problem
and
discussion sections.
He
was
spared
the
obligation
of
giving
large physics
lecture
courses
and
could devote himself
to teaching
a
small
group
of advanced students
(see
the terms
of
his
appointment
in Vol.
5,
Doc.
341, note
1).
Summaries of
the contents
of
courses
that
he
gave
at the ETH in
winter
semester
1912/1913,
in
summer
semester
1913,
and in
winter
semester
1913/1914
are
presented
here.
They
are
based
upon
students'
notes
deposited
at the ETH.
The author of
the set
of
notes in
question
as
well
as
its
provenance is provided.
Notes for
all
of Einstein's
course
offerings
at the
ETH
are
not available, but
a
detailed
list
of
his
courses
is presented in
Vol.
3,
Appendix
B.
The summaries of
courses
presented
are
based
on
the sets
of
notes
of
three
students
at the
ETH who attended Einstein's
courses:
Walter Dällenbach
(1892-1990),
who
entered
the
ETH
in 1911,
received
his
diploma
in
electrical
engineering in
1916
and
his
doctorate
in 1918 at the
same
institution
with
a
dissertation under
Hermann
Weyl
on
generally
covariant
field
equations;
Gustav
Eichelberg (1891-1976),
who enrolled
at
the ETH in
1910,
obtained
his
diploma
four
years
later,
and in
1929
succeeded
Aurel Stodola
as
professor
of
applied thermodynamics at
the
ETH;
and
Eduard
Sidler
(1889-1987),
who
began
his studies
at
the ETH
in
1911,
received
his
diploma
in
1915,
and then
pursued
a career as a
mechanical
engineer
in
industry.
1.
Winter
Semester 1912/1913
a.
"Analytische
Mechanik"
(3
hours)
Dällenbach's
notes
are
contained
in two
notebooks
(SzZE Bibliothek, Hs.
304:1220
and 304:1221).
The
first
notebook
comprises 188
manuscript pages,
which in
addition
to
the
course
notes
contains
a
two-page summary
of
Mach 1908
and three
pages
of
unidentified
text.
The continuation of
the notes
on
mechanics
is
found
on
the first 63
manuscript
pages
of
the
second
notebook, the
remainder of
which contains
notes
on
Einstein's
course
in
summer
semester 1913
on
the mechanics
of
continua
(see
below).
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