322
DOC.
331
APRIL
1917
Emphasis
should
be
given
to
the
fact
that,
during
his
years
of
teaching,[3]
A.
showed
himself to be
a selfless,
composed,
diligent,
kindhearted, and
scrupulous
person
who
enjoyed
the
respect
of
all,[4]
and
that it
is
therefore
a
wish
close
to
our
hearts
to
put
in
a
good
word for
him.-For
your personal
information:
A. is
a
quite
sterile rabbinical
mind, inflexible,
with
no sense
of
reality;
ultra-
selfless,
with
a
heavy self-tormenting,
even
suicidal streak.
A
true
martyr
type.
When
it
was a
question
of
which
of
us (he
or I)
ought
to be
appointed
to
the
Zurich
chair, Privy
Councillor
Ernst
would have liked
to
call
him,
since he
was
a
fellow party
member.
But
his statements to
Ernst about
himself
and about
me
made it
impossible
for
Ernst
to
advocate his nomination.[5] This
I
know
from
Ernst
himself,
who
told
me so
during my
visit.
You
cannot
say
too much
positive
about
his scientific
qualities;
nonetheless,
you can say
that
he
was a
careful
thinker who
sought (with success)
to
work his
way
through to
lucidity.
I
just
received
a
manuscript
from
him, completed
a
few
days ago,
on
relativity[6]
in which he
presents extremely expansively
and with
prophetic
conviction quite
worthless
hypercritical
points,
so
that
I
am
in the awkward
predicament
of
what
I
should
say
about
it. I
am
constantly
racking
my
brains
over
it.
He
rides Mach’s
hack to exhaustion.
You
both
will
certainly
know
better than
I
how
to
strike
a
responsive chord,
wise
as
you
are
in
the
ways
of
man.
I
convey my
cordial
thanks
to Mr. Beck for his
willingness
and
likewise to
Mr.
Erismann,
who has
written
me an
express postcard.-[7]
I received
a
very
cheerful
letter
from
my Albert,
which
pleased
me
tremen-
dously.
The
boy
is bursting
with
a
zest for
life,
thank
heavens, despite
his
un-
fortunate
lot,
which looks
tragic
from
the outside. This
is
happy
childhood and
the
healthy environment
in
Zurich!
Yesterday
I
presented
a
little
thing
on
the
Sommerfeld-Epstein
formulation of
quantum theory
before
the thinned ranks
of
our
Phys. Society.
I
want
to
write it
up
in
the
next few
days.[8]
L.
Civita
wrote
a
critical
paper
on
gen. rel.[9]
I think,
though,
that
he
is
mistaken. I’ll tell
you
about
it in
the
summer.
When should I
come
to
see
you
all?
It
is
still
uncer-
tain
whether
Albert
wants
to
come
with
me;
he
expresses
himself
very comically
and
guardedly
about
this in his
letter:
“How
about
if
just
us
old
chums
went
on
a
little excursion
together?”
What’s the matter with
Zangger?
He
seems so
depressed.
Warm
regards, yours,
Albert.
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