V O L U M E 8 , D O C U M E N T S 2 6 2 b , 2 6 3 a 3 1
tally, I stayed completely healthy throughout. My new theories really have come
alive here, because the best theoreticians are working on
them.[5]
The day after to-
morrow I’m also going to Groningen with
Ehrenfest,[6]
where I’ll be spending the
night.
Tender greetings also to the little minxes and the
elders,[7]
from your
Albert.
Vol. 8, 262b. To Elsa Einstein
[Leyden,] Saturday. [7 October 1916]
Dear Else,
This greeting is in haste. This evening the Groningen
colleagues[1]
are coming
over here again to discuss relativity. So I don’t need to travel to
Groningen.[2]
I
can’t get any lard. I have made inquiries at an official authority. Thus you will all
have to receive me lardless but with kindness all the
same.[3]
The days spent here
were unforgettably interesting and also very pleasant. My theory has found itself a
true home
here.[4]
The personal culture of the local people here . . . . . .
.[5]
But even
so, I am looking forward to you and our quiet life no less than before. Greetings &
a kiss from your
Albert.
Vol. 8, 263a. To Paul Bernays[1]
[Berlin,] Friday. [13 October 1916 or after
1920][2]
Dear Colleague,
The orientational sense of time exhibited by living organisms everywhere is in-
timately connected with the second law. It primarily involves processes of diffu-
sion, irreversible chemical processes, heat conduction, viscous currents, etc. It is
entirely correct that this temporal bias of events finds no expression in the funda-
mental laws we use as a basis. But the theory of relativity shares this circumstance
with classical mechanics, likewise with conventional electrodynamics and optics.
The second law is understood such that a very improbable state is set for one
temporal limit (lower t-limit) of a four-dimensional region under consideration; for
the region’s upper t-limit the probability considerations then yield a state of greater
probability. The puzzle is thus transferred into the boundary conditions and there-
fore avoids “explanation” by means of the equations.
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