92 DOCUMENT 57 FEBRUARY 1915
Sei mit
Anna und
Vero herzlich
gegrüsst
von
Deinem
Albert.
ALS
(SzGB).
Einstein/Besso
1972, 12 (E. 9). [7 266].
At the head
of
the
document
the
recipient
has
added the date
of
receipt (“giuntami
il
17”)
and
some equations pertaining
to the motion
of
double
stars.
[1]The
year
is
provided
by
the reference
to
Einstein’s
contemporary
correspondence
with
Lorentz
and
Straneo,
as
well
as
to Einstein
and
De
Haas
1915a
(Vol.
6,
Doc.
13).
[2]See
Doc. 51
for
an
earlier reference to Einstein’s illness.
[3]Elsa
Einstein.
[4]Wladyslaw
Natanson.
[5]Paolo
Straneo
had
probably
met Besso while both
were
students at
the
ETH,
the former
gradua-
ting
from
Section
VI A
at
the end
of
the
winter
semester
1896/1897, just
after
Einstein entered it
(see
his
Matrikel,
SzZE
Rektoratsarchiv).
One
of
these letters is Doc. 45.
[6]See,
e.g.,
the
exchanges
with Tullio
Levi-Civita,
the
first
extant
letter of
which is Doc. 60.
[7]See,
for
example,
Docs. 43 and
47.
[8]The
idea
was
proposed
by
Einstein
in
Doc. 53.
[9]The
numerical
factor
in the
equation
below is
2mle,
with
m
and
e
the
mass
and
charge
of
the
electron.
[10]The
results
were published
in
Einstein
and
De
Haas
1915a
(Vol.
6,
Doc.
13).
See Doc.
39, note
2,
for
more on
the
collaboration
between
Einstein
and Wander de Haas.
[11]As
is
argued
in Einstein
and
De
Haas 1915a
(Vol.
6,
Doc.
13),
p.
153,
the molecular current
causing
the
molecular
magnetic
moment
cannot disappear
at absolute
zero,
because the Curie-Lan-
gevin
law
for
paramagnetic
substances
predicts
the existence
of
a
molecular
magnetic
moment
even
at absolute
zero.
The rotational
energy
of
the current at T
=
0
would thus
represent a zero-point energy.
Earlier,
Einstein had
explored
the
consequences
of
the existence
of
a
zero-point
energy
and subse-
quently rejected
it (see
Doc.
8, note 4,
for
more details).
In
print,
Einstein
expressed
himself
more
cautiously
on
the implications
of
the
Einstein-De
Haas
experiment
for
a zero-point energy
than he
does here
(see,
e.g.,
Einstein
1915c
[Vol.
6,
Doc.
15], p. 237).
57. To
Georg
Nicolai
Berlin 20. II.
15
Hoch
geehrter
Herr![1]
Wenn ich auch
überzeugt
bin,
dass die Stimme einer Handvoll
Verständiger ge-
genüber
der
Herrschsucht
der
Mächtigen
und dem
Fanatismus
der
Vielen
wenig
Gewicht
hat,
begrüsse
ich doch Ihren
Aufruf
mit Freuden
und bin
zufrieden,
mei-
nen
Namen
darunter
setzen
zu
dürfen. Der Aufruf
wird
jedenfalls
dazu
beitragen,
die alten
guten Beziehungen
unter den Forschern der
Kulturländer
wiederherzu-
stellen,
die
durch
manches
heftige
und
unüberlegte
Wort bereits
getrübt
worden
sind.[2]
Ihrer
Aufforderung gemäss nenne
ich Ihnen hier
einige
Männer,
die nach meiner
Ansicht sich
gerne
an
Ihrem
guten
Unternehmen
beteiligen
würden:
Prof.
Dr.
Diels Berlin
W.
50
Nürnbergerstr.
65
Prof
Dr.
Morf
Berlin-Halensee Kurfürstendamm 100
Previous Page Next Page