18 DOCUMENT 7 MARCH 1903 dpv _ dE dqv _ dt dqv dt dpv Genüge geleistet, und ich glaube, daß diese Gleichungen vielleicht stets her- stellbar sind durch Substitutionen, wenn obige Bedingungen erfüllt sind. Wenn das wahr ist, dann besteht die ganze durch meine letzte Arbeit erzielte Verallgemeinerung in der Eliminierung des Kraftbegriffs sowie darin, daß E beliebige Form besitzen kann (doch nicht ganz)? Wenn Du die Arbeit genau durchliesest, dann thust Du mir einen Gefallen wir können dann drüber re- den, wenn Du wieder in Bern auftauchst. Ich habe große Mühe, bis ich für meine Arbeit über Molekularkräfte das Material zusammenkriege.[10] Die hie- sige Universität ist ein Schweinestall. Ich werde nicht lesen dort, weil es schad wäre die Zeit zu verlieren.[11] Sei mit den 1. Deinen herzlich gegrüßt von Deinem Albert. ALS (SzGB). Einstein/Besso 1972, 03. [7 056]. According to Einstein/Besso 1972, p. 13, the envelope is addressed "Herrn Michele Besso Montebello Triest." [1]Dated from the description of the postmark on the envelope in Einstein/Besso 1972, p. 13. [2]Perhaps because of a bout of diphtheria accompanied by high fever (see Doc. 11). [3]The following condition appears in Einstein 1903 (Vol. 2, Doc. 4), p. 173, where it ex- presses the stationarity of a microcanonical ensemble of density e. The functions pv are sin- gle-valued functions of the state-variables p1 ... pn and occur in the equations of motion for the individual systems of the ensemble, which have the form (dpv/dt) = (py. See Doc. 5 for a brief characterization of the paper and Vol. 2, the editorial note, "Einstein on the Foundations of Statistical Physics," pp. 51-52, for a fuller discussion. [4]E is the energy of the system and is assumed to be the only integral of the equations of motion that does not contain the time explicitly. [5]See the discussion in §§5-6 of Einstein 1903 (Vol. 2, Doc. 4). [6]Besso's note was probably contained in a missing Besso letter. See also Doc. 5 where Ein- stein anticipates receiving a note concerning Besso's work. [7]See Doc. 5 for more on Besso's interest in electrolytes. A program very similar to the one sketched here was carried out by Einstein in his dissertation (Einstein 1905j [Vol. 2, Doc. 15] see also Vol. 2, the editorial note, "Einstein's Dissertation on the Determination of Molecular Dimensions," pp. 176-179). [8]The following condition is implicitly used in §2 of Einstein 1903 (Vol. 2, Doc. 4). [9]In the following equations (which are Hamilton's equations) pv denote (generalized) co- ordinates and qv the associated momenta. This notation was not uncommon at the time it was for instance used by Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) in Boltzmann 1898 and also by Einstein himself in Einstein 1902b (Vol. 2, Doc. 3). [10]See Doc. 5 for more on Einstein's interest in molecular forces. [11]Two months earlier Einstein expressed his desire of becoming a Privatdozent at the Uni- versity of Bern (see Doc. 5). His pungent characterization of the university here may be a con- sequence of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a Privatdozentur there without a doctorate, un- der a special provision of the university's rules (see Doc. 5, note 8).
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