Volume 10: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, May-December 1920, and Supplementary Correspondence, 1909-1920 (English translation supplement) Page 140 (165 of 399)

1 4 0 V O L U M E 9 , D O C U M E N T S 1 6 6 a , 1 8 3 a
Wednesday
It was very nice in Utrecht at Prof. Julius’s. He showed me his instruments and
his
theory.[4]
After that we played music with his very musical and attractive
daughters.[5]
It was an unusually fine day, perhaps the finest since I came here. To-
day is colloquium. Tomorrow I’ll be alone at Lorentz’s for the whole day. But now
I’m looking forward to home again. It’s nice that Ilse experienced such a liberation
from
penury[6]
and picked up the stitch again. We’ll be needing it. But now, don’t
be too thrifty. It’s going to be hard enough for you as it
is.[7]
It’s good that Uncle
J[acob][8]
has promised—I hope he keeps his word in the long run.
Over here I’m being nicely
spoiled[9]
(so I don’t get out of the habit). I didn’t
hold a single lecture. Freundlich published something a bit foolish again, as I gather
from information given by his colleagues
here.[10]
One can only judge once the en-
tire observational data have been mastered. He simply isn’t reliable enough, after
all. I’ll be relieved once he has his position in
Potsdam![11]
Greetings & a kiss from your
Albert.
Vol. 9, 166a. To Ejnar Hertzsprung
16 November 1919
Dear Colleague,
I thank you sincerely for the effort you took to inform us of the findings of the
expeditions.[1]
The result is truly gratifying. But it is peculiar that the observed de-
viations seem to be somewhat larger than the theoretical ones. Although it only in-
volves a tenth of a second, it does look systematic. What do you think?
Cordial regards, yours,
Einstein.
Vol. 9, 183a. From Eduard Einstein
Zurich, 30 November 1919
Dear Papa,
How are you? I am fine, except I’m not happy that Mama’s going
away.[1]
I’m
probably going to
Aegeri.[2]
I’m not keen to leave, either, because we would have
had a little performance at school in which I would have
participated.[3]
I enjoy
playing the piano very
much.[4]
If it’s possible, send me the score: “Notebook for
little Magdalena Bach” by J. S. Bach. Mama said it would be nice for me. Many
greetings to you from your
Teddi

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1 4 0 V O L U M E 9 , D O C U M E N T S 1 6 6 a , 1 8 3 a
Wednesday
It was very nice in Utrecht at Prof. Julius’s. He showed me his instruments and
his
theory.[4]
After that we played music with his very musical and attractive
daughters.[5]
It was an unusually fine day, perhaps the finest since I came here. To-
day is colloquium. Tomorrow I’ll be alone at Lorentz’s for the whole day. But now
I’m looking forward to home again. It’s nice that Ilse experienced such a liberation
from
penury[6]
and picked up the stitch again. We’ll be needing it. But now, don’t
be too thrifty. It’s going to be hard enough for you as it
is.[7]
It’s good that Uncle
J[acob][8]
has promised—I hope he keeps his word in the long run.
Over here I’m being nicely
spoiled[9]
(so I don’t get out of the habit). I didn’t
hold a single lecture. Freundlich published something a bit foolish again, as I gather
from information given by his colleagues
here.[10]
One can only judge once the en-
tire observational data have been mastered. He simply isn’t reliable enough, after
all. I’ll be relieved once he has his position in
Potsdam![11]
Greetings & a kiss from your
Albert.
Vol. 9, 166a. To Ejnar Hertzsprung
16 November 1919
Dear Colleague,
I thank you sincerely for the effort you took to inform us of the findings of the
expeditions.[1]
The result is truly gratifying. But it is peculiar that the observed de-
viations seem to be somewhat larger than the theoretical ones. Although it only in-
volves a tenth of a second, it does look systematic. What do you think?
Cordial regards, yours,
Einstein.
Vol. 9, 183a. From Eduard Einstein
Zurich, 30 November 1919
Dear Papa,
How are you? I am fine, except I’m not happy that Mama’s going
away.[1]
I’m
probably going to
Aegeri.[2]
I’m not keen to leave, either, because we would have
had a little performance at school in which I would have
participated.[3]
I enjoy
playing the piano very
much.[4]
If it’s possible, send me the score: “Notebook for
little Magdalena Bach” by J. S. Bach. Mama said it would be nice for me. Many
greetings to you from your
Teddi

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V O L U M E 9 , D O C U M E N T S 1 5 1 a , 1 5 2 a 1 3 9
Ehrenfest’s lively mind and versatility are admirable. We play music together daily.
Tomorrow we’re going to the Academy in
Amsterdam.[4]
I already told you that
Eddington found the theory exactly
confirmed.[5]
Hearty greetings to all of
you[6]
from your
Albert.
My health is splendid. I don’t even feel a
trifle.[7]
I intend to be with you again on
Sunday (2nd Nov.).
Vol. 9, 151a. To Elsa Einstein
[Leyden,] Sunday, 26 October 1919
Dear Else,
Yesterday Lorentz spoke at the Academy in my presence about the foundations
of grav. theory and Eddington’s
results.[1]
I wrote the latter from here.
Ehrenfest[2]
is taking touchingly good care of me; I don’t even have to deliver a talk. On Sunday
I’m returning home. Yesterday I walked around much with Ehrenfest in Amster-
dam, also the Jewish quarter. In the evening we visited a female bachelor, prof. of
botany, where it was very relaxed and
hoydenish.[3]
She had also studied in Zurich
(& Berne). We spent today comfortably here.
Now, after your postcard, the matter with Mama is
decided.[4]
So we’ll take it
upon ourselves. You are a brave woman. But I am sorry that it will now have to be
so hard for you; Maja is behaving quite strangely. She acts as if her conduct were
self-explanatory. For all her erudition she doesn’t do her share as I had expected of
her. Planck wrote me very nicely about Rostock that we should spend the time
together.[6]
He’s also going there. I hope my pretty card to Frau
Hellberg[7]
will ar-
rive.
Heartfelt greetings to you and to all of you from your
Albert.
Vol. 9, 152a. To Elsa Einstein
[Leyden,] Tuesday [28 October 1919]
Dear Else,
I still have nothing from you but definitely believe that it got stuck somewhere.
Today we’re going to Utrecht to tour an
institute.[1]
The day after tomorrow I’ll be
with
Lorentz.[2]
It continues to be unusually nice at our place; yesterday evening
we visited Kamerlingh
Onnes[3]
in his study and talked shop. Everyone is unusu-
ally hospitable and friendly.

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V O L U M E 9 , D O C U M E N T S 1 8 3 b , 1 8 3 c 1 4 1
Vol. 9, 183b. From Hans Albert Einstein
[Zurich, 30 November
1919][1]
Dear Papa,
How are you? Well, I hope. How’s your
stomach?[2]
You’ve asked me so often
now about the little
plane.[3]
I never actually let it fly outside yet and I still don’t
have any proper wheels underneath the frame and so therefore it can’t pick up
speed. Furthermore, the propeller became faulty from various trials on the flat roof,
so I decided to make a new one, particularly because it seems to
me that it has too little thrust because the sides don’t slope
enough. If the rectangle shown here on the side is the side view
of the propeller with the propeller blade: could you write me
how large has to be to have the best success for about 1,000
rotations per minute? As landing wheels I have been using with
best success until now small train wheels on a knitting needle,
for which I specially made extra wooden rails to run it along.
Also, I recently had the mumps. I was very heavily swollen on both sides and
surely must have looked very funny; it just hurt very much and I couldn’t eat any-
thing, but now it’s over. Teddi didn’t get it, even though it’s very contagious. Maybe
he too will come to grief.
At
school[4]
various teachers changed, so e.g., in mathematics I now have our
headmaster
Amberg;[5]
it’s completely different with him than with the other teach-
ers. I can’t say why, but I like it a lot. In physics we have, instead of Stierlin, Mr.
Seiler, “the rope” as we call
him.[6]
It’s very funny in his class and you have to be
very careful that you don’t laugh out loud, because he pulls such funny faces while
he’s speaking and takes on such funny poses that often one of us vanishes under the
bench to laugh.
Many greetings from
Adn
Vol. 9, 183c. From Mileva Einstein-Maric;
Zurich, 30 November 1919
Dear Albert,
I haven’t been able to answer your
letter[1]
until today because I had too much
to do. I’m muddling along without a maid in the house and Albert was sick. 10 days
in bed, so it just became a little too much for
me.[2]
I can’t decide to go to Germany now; if you knew our circumstances better, you
would understand. I’m still too unhealthy and weak to live in an unfamiliar
place.[3]

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