600
DOCS.
574,
575 JUNE
1918
574.
To
Karl Scheel
[Berlin,]
29
June
1918
Dear
Colleague,
I
have
so
many pressing
matters
to
settle
today
that
I
can no longer
take
leave
of
you personally.
I
wish
you a pleasant
vacation and herewith
confidently
leave
the
affairs of
our
Physical Society
in
your
hands
(during
my 8
weeks
absence).[1]
I
did not
yet reply
to
the letter
by
the
Chemical
Society.
Also
I
am
not
sure
whether
note has
already
been taken of
the
two
other attached
communications.
With
cordial
regards, yours truly,
A.
Einstein.
575. To
Max
Born
[Ahrenshoop,
after
29
June
1918][1]
Dear
Born,
It
is
very
kind
of
you
to
look
after
Nordstrom.
You must
simply
write
to
the
General Staff
that
N.
has
already
had his
trip
out
approved
through
the
intercession of Haber.
Then
his return
trip will
surely
be
granted
on
the
spot.
He
must return
at
the
beginning
of
August,
as
I
already
wrote
you.[2]
Here
it
is
wonderful,
no
telephone,
no
responsibilities,
absolute
tranquillity.
I
really
cannot
understand
anymore
how
one can
bear it in
the
big
city.
The
weather
is
splendid
now as
well. I
am
lying
on
the
shore
like
a
crocodile, allowing
myself
to
be
roasted
by
the
sun,
never see a
newspaper,
and do
not
give
a
hoot
about the
so-called world.
What
you
tell
me
about inertia in
a
crystal
lattice
is
very gratifying.
It
clearly
can
only
involve electrical
energy though,
since
the
potential
energy
of
the other
assumed forces does not
contribute
to
inertia, according
to
the
basic
assumptions
of mechanics.
I
am
very eager
to
see
your
presentation
of
the
matter.[3]
I
am
reading
here, among
other
things,
Kant’s
Prolegomena
and
am
beginning
to
understand the
enormous
suggestive impact
that
has
emanated and
still
is
emanating
from
this
fellow.
If
one
just
concedes to
him
the
existence
of
synthetic
judgments
a
priori,
one
is already ensnared.[4]
I must tone down
“a
priori”
into
“conventional”
in order not to have
to
contradict
myself,
but
even
then it
does
not
fit in
the
details.
Nevertheless,
it
is
very
nice
reading,
if
not
as
fine
as
his
predecessor Hume,
who also
had
considerably
more common
sense.[5]
When
I
am
back
again,
let
us
all squat
together again
cozily, so
that
you
can gently
introduce
me
back into
the
hustle and
bustle
of
humanity,
of which
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