DISSERTATION ON MOLECULAR DIMENSIONS 175
on
liquids;[43]
at
the end
of
the
year,
Maric stated that he had submitted
a
work
on
molec-
ular forces in
gases.[44]
Einstein
himself
wrote
that
it
concerned
"a
topic
in the kinetic
theory
of
gases"
("ein Thema der kinetischen Theorie der
Gase").[45]
There
are
indica-
tions that the dissertation
may
have discussed
Boltzmann's
work
on gas
theory,
as
well
as
Drude's
work
on
electron
theory
of
metals.[46]
By February
1902 Einstein had withdrawn the
dissertation,
possibly
at Kleiner's
sug-
gestion
that he avoid
a controversy
with Boltzmann.[47] In view
of
the
predominantly ex-
perimental
character of
the
physics
dissertations submitted
to
the
University
of
Zurich
at
the
time,
lack
of
experimental
confirmation for his theoretical results
may
have
played
a
role in the decision
to
withdraw the
thesis.[48]
In
January
1903
Einstein still
expressed
interest in molecular
forces,
but he stated that he
was giving up
his
plan
to obtain
a
doc-
torate,
arguing
that it would be
of
little
help
to him,
and that
"the
whole
comedy
has
become tiresome for
me" ("mir
die
ganze
Komödie
langweilig geworden ist").[49]
Little
is
known about when Einstein started
to
work
on
the dissertation he
completed
in
1905.[50]
By
March
1903
some
of
the central ideas
of
the
1905
dissertation
had
already
occurred to
him.[51] Kleiner,
one
of
the two
faculty
reviewers
(Gutachter)
of
his
disserta–
[43]
See Einstein to Marcel Grossmann,
14
April 1901 (Vol. 1,
Doc.
100).
[44]
See Mileva Maric
to
Helene
Savic,
23 No-
vember-mid-December
1901 (Vol. 1,
Doc.
125).
[45]
Einstein
to
the Swiss Patent
Office, 18
De-
cember
1901 (Vol. 1,
Doc.
129).
[46]
Einstein to Mileva Maric, 17 December
(Vol.
1,
Doc.
128),
states that, if Kleiner
ac-
cepts
the
dissertation,
"we'll
see
what stance the
fine Mr. Drude
takes"
("wollen wir
sehen,
wie
sich
der
saubere Herr Drude dazu stellt"). Ein-
stein to
Maric, 8 February
1902
(Vol.
1,
Doc.
136),
mentions that
part
of
one
of
two
works
previously
submitted to Kleiner deals with
Boltzmann's
book. For
a
discussion
of
possible
relations between
Einstein's
interests in kinetic
theory
and the electron
theory
of
metals,
see
the
editorial note,
"Einstein
on
the Foundations
of
Statistical Physics,"
pp.
45-46.
[47]
See the
Receipt
for the Return
of
Doctoral
Fees,
1
February
1902
(Vol.
1,
Doc.
132).
Ac-
cording
to
a biography by
Einstein's
son-in-law,
Kleiner
rejected
"an
essay on
the kinetic
theory
of
gases"
Einstein had
given
him in
1901
"out
of
consideration
to
his
colleague Ludwig
Boltz-
mann,
whose train
of
reasoning
Einstein had
sharply
criticized"
(Kayser 1930, p. 69).
See
the
preceding
note for evidence that Einstein
may
have criticized Drude in his dissertation.
[48]
This is
suggested by
Einstein's
emphasis
on
his
inability
to
provide
such
experimental
confirmation in
Einstein
1902a
(Doc. 2);
see p.
814.
[49]
Einstein
to
Michele
Besso,
22
January
1903.
[50] According to
Winteler-Einstein 1924,
p.
23,
Einstein
attempted
to submit
his
work
on
the
electrodynamics
of
moving
bodies
to
the Uni-
versity
of
Zurich:
"But
the
thing
didn't
seem
quite right
to
the
leading professors, as
the
wholly
unknown author
paid no
heed
to author-
ity figures,
even
attacked them! So the work
was
simply rejected (irony
of
fate!)
and the candidate
saw
himself
compelled
to write and submit
an-
other,
more
harmless
work,
on
the basis of
which
he then obtained the title
of
Doctor Phi-
losophiae" ("Allein
die Sache
schien den
mass-
gebenden
Professoren nicht
ganz geheuer,
nahm
doch
der
gänzlich
unbekannte Verfasser keine
Rücksicht
auf
die
Meinung
anerkannter Autori-
täten,
griff sie wohl
gar
noch an! So wurde die
Arbeit schlechthin
abgewiesen (Ironie
des
Schicksals!) u.
der Kandidat sah
sich
gezwun-
gen,
eine andere
harmlosere
Abhandlung zu
ver-
fassen
u.
einzureichen,
auf
die hin
er
denn
auch
den Titel eines
Doctor
Philosophiae
erhielt").
For
a
discussion
of Einstein's
contemporary
work
on
the
electrodynamics
of
moving bodies,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on
the
Theory
of
Relativity,"
pp.
253-274.
[51]
See Einstein to Michele
Besso, 17
March
1903. The
relationship
of
this letter to
Einstein's
dissertation
is
noted in Holton
1980,
p.
54. The
letter is discussed in detail in the
following
sec-
tion.