D O C U M E N T 2 2 5 D E C E M B E R 1 9 2 0 3 2 9
the silver deposit thicknesses is still not accomplished, because we first have to
gather together the various optical apparatuses gradually.–
Landé,[9]
who was re-
cently in Heidelberg at the colloquium, told me yesterday that Ramsauer (alias
Lenard)[10]
had raised serious charges against my relativity book, because in it I had
acted as though Maxwell’s suggestion (to determine the absolute motion of the so-
lar system from the eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites) had in fact been carried out with
a negative
result.[11]
I find that the charge is not unjustified and therefore expect a
resounding attack by Lenard or one of his cronies. Healthwise I was not doing well
for weeks, which may well have been recognizable from the bilious tone of my last
letter to
Holland.[12]
Now I am feeling quite well again, just the political situation
depresses me more than I would care to admit to myself. Cordial greetings, yours,
Born.
225. From Paul Ehrenfest
[Leyden,] 8 December 1920
Dear Einstein,
Many thanks for your dear
letter.[1]
I am sending you herewith two letters and two newspaper clippings.—The bro-
chure by Fr. Bauer, which is the subject of the letter by him, is going out to you at
the same time with a package of offprints by
Millikan.[2]
–
I have just received letters from the physicists in Petrograd again. It is very
probable that my friends Profs. Joffe and Rozhdjestvensky will come to Holland
for a few
weeks.[3]
Perhaps I will be in need of your help then for a visa for Ger-
many. I guarantee you that their trip serves purely scientif. purposes.
I am very glad that your stay here left a cheerful, calm impression on you despite
the endless
debating.[4]
You can hardly imagine how warmly all the people in the
painter Onnes’s home speak about
you.[5]
Particularly father Onnes does not hesi-
tate a moment to say that dealing with you makes dealing with almost all other
people (this “almost” is very diplomatic!) seem very boring to him. I have a couple
more fine fellows in reserve to show you the next time you come.
Find an opportunity to write a few kind words to Julius and see to it that the peo-
ple who are working on redshift take note of his papers as is their
due.–[6]
I am reading up on the research about resonance-ioniz[ation] potential—it is
musically beautiful—e.g., Franck-Knipping on
helium.[7]
– The papers on band
sp[ectra] I cannot quite grasp, but I want to understand
them![8]
Cordial greetings
to all! Yours,
Ehrenfest.