5 4 6 D O C U M E N T 2 4 8 D E C E M B E R 1 9 2 0
of others interested in Germany and German Science. I think I have accomplished
a great deal by interesting the Rockefeller Foundation favorably, before I left for
Europe through Professor Welch of John Hopkins
Univesity[5]
and Professor Vin-
cent, and I believe that my report coming from abroad, has clinched the argument
in favor of appropriating $100,000 by the Rockefeller people for the aid of German
and Austrian
Universities.[6]
Although my propositions as Professor Vincent writes
me have not all been accepted, he says I will be satisfied for the present with what
has been done.
There are in America a large number of serious men thinking well of Germany.
There are, however, a large number of men who appear in that light; but in reality
are not inclined that way, and the masses a[re] fickle and are easily swayed.
Will you be kind enough to write to me about your plans in regard to a visit to
this country, and if I can do anything—as I enjoy the confidence of a great many of
those who are today what one might call the leading men of science and progress
in thought,—I shall be only too glad to put my services to your disposal.
Professor Ehrenfest to whom I am sending a copy of this letter, wrote to me that
you will be their guest in Vienna in
January,[7]
and it is possible he may give you
this letter personally and discuss with you some phases of it.
With kind personal regards, I remain, Yours very truly,
Carl Beck
TLS. [43 217].
[1]Beck (1864?–?) was director of North Chicago Hospital and a faculty member at the University
of Illinois.
[2]Probably Eugen Lederer (1884–1947). In his letter to Einstein (8 December 1920, in Calendar),
Felix Ehrenhaft mentioned Lederer as his successor as President of the Chemisch-Physika-
lische Gesellschaft in Vienna, and gave Lederer’s address for further communications about the
arrangements.
[3]Probably Felix Ehrenhaft (see note 7).
[4]George E. Vincent (1864–1941), a sociologist, was President of the Rockefeller Foundation.
[5]William Henry Welch (1850–1934), Professor of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University
since its opening in 1889, was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health from
1916 to 1925, and a trustee of the Rockefeller Institute from 1910 to 1933.
[6]On the Anglo-American University Library for Central Europe, see Einstein 1920b (Vol. 7,
Doc. 36), notes 1 and 2, and Einstein to Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 19 April 1920 (Vol. 9,
Doc. 379), note 2. On the Rockefeller Foundation’s commitment to aid in the funding of the library,
see Marsch 1994, pp. 51–52, 136.
[7]Three weeks earlier, Felix Ehrenhaft wrote confirming the dates of Einstein’s lectures in Vienna
as 10 and 11 January, and invited Einstein to be his house guest in Vienna during his visit. He added
that he had written to Beck of Chicago informing him of Einstein’s Vienna lectures (see Felix Ehren-
haft to Einstein, 8 December 1920, in Calendar). On the previous year’s invitation, see Felix Ehren-
haft to Einstein, 6 December 1919 (Vol. 9, Doc. 196), note 1.