xxiv INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME
2
gefördert
insbesondere durch
die
Lektüre
von
David
Humes und
Ernst
Machs
philosophischen
Schriften.[37]
Einstein read two
of
Ernst
Mach's
influential historical-critical studies, the
Mechanik
and the
Wärmelehre,
while
a
student at the
ETH.[38]
Other classics
of
theoretical
physics
that he studied
during
his student
years,
such
as
the works
of
Boltzmann,
Helmholtz, Kirchhoff,
and
Hertz,[39]
also
explicitly
treat
many
foun-
dational and
methodological questions.
The
wide-ranging
"regular philosophical
reading
and discussion
evenings" ("regelmässige
philosophische
Lese- und
Diskussionsabende")[40]
of
Einstein and his
friends,
Maurice Solovine and
Conrad
Habicht, who banded
together
in 1902 to form the
"Olympia Academy"
("Akademie
Olympia"),[41]
also
played
a
significant
role in
directing
his attention
to such issues. In his reminiscences
of
Einstein,
Solovine
gives an
extensive
list
of
the
readings
that formed the basis
of
their
discussions.[42]
Solovine and Einstein started to read
Pearson's Grammar
of Science[43]
before
Habicht
joined
them. After
that,
the three
of
them read and discussed Mach's
[37]
Einstein
1979,
p.
50. Elsewhere he in-
cluded Poincare
together
with Hume and Mach
in
a
similar
list,
noting
that he read Hume
"in
a
quite good
German
edition" ("in
einer recht
gu-
ten
deutschen
Ausgabe") (Einstein to
Michele
Besso, 6 March
1952),
possibly
Hume 1895. In
1915,
Einstein wrote
to
Schlick:
"You
have also
correctly seen
that this trend
of
thought [positiv-
ism] was
of
great
influence
on my
efforts,
and
specifically
E. Mach and still much
more
Hume,
whose treatise
on understanding
I
studied with
fervor
and admiration
shortly
before the discov-
ery
of
the
theory
of
relativity.
It
is
very
well
pos-
sible that without these
philosophical
studies
I
would
not
have arrived
at
the
solution"
("Auch
darin haben Sie
richtig gesehen,
dass diese
Denkrichtung
von
grossem
Einfluss auf meine
Bestrebungen gewesen ist,
und
zwar
E. Mach
und noch viel mehr
Hume,
dessen
Traktat
über
den Verstand
ich kurz
vor Auffindung
der Rela-
tivitätstheorie mit Eifer und
Bewunderung
stu-
dierte. Es ist sehr
gut möglich,
dass ich ohne
diese
philosophischen
Studien nicht
auf
die Lö-
sung gekommen
wäre")
(Einstein
to Moritz
Schlick, 14
December
1915).
In
spite
of
Ein-
stein's
garbled
reference
to
the work that he
read, it
appears
to
have been
A
Treatise of Hu-
man
Nature
(see
the
reading
list
of
the
Olympia
Academy,
cited
below,
and Einstein
to
Michele
Besso,
6
January 1948).
[38]
See Einstein to Mileva
Maric, 10
Septem-
ber 1899
(Vol.
1,
Doc.
54),
especially
note
8.
Commenting
later
on
the
prevailing
mechanistic
outlook in
physics
at
this
time,
Einstein stated:
"It
was
Ernst Mach
who,
in his
History of Me-
chanics, shook this
dogmatic
faith;
this book
ex-
ercised
a profound
influence
upon me precisely
in this
regard
while
I
was a
student"
("Ernst
Mach
war
es,
der in seiner Geschichte
der
Me-
chanik
an
diesem
dogmatischen
Glauben rüt-
telte;
dies Buch hat
gerade
in
dieser
Beziehung
einen tiefen Einfluss
auf
mich als Student
aus-
geübt")
(Einstein
1979,
p.
18).
Einstein
proba-
bly
read the third
edition,
Mach
1897,
while
a
student.
[39]
See Einstein
to
Mileva
Maric, 10
August
1899, 10
September
1899,
1
August
1900, 13
September
1900,
and
15
April
1901 (Vol.
1,
Docs.
52, 54, 69, 75,
and
101).
[40]
Einstein
to
Michele
Besso, 6
March 1952.
[41]
The earliest record
of
the
name
and
mem-
bership occurs
in
a postcard
of
30 November
1903 sent
by
Einstein
to
Conrad Habicht.
[42]
Solovine
1956,
pp.
vii-viii.
The works
are
listed in the order in which Solovine mentions
them. He indicates that
they
read
many
other
works
on
similar
themes,
as
well
as a
number
of
literary
works. In
a
letter
of
14
April
1952 to
Carl
Seelig
(SzZE Bibliothek,
Hs
304:1006),
Solovine includes
Poincare
1905a in
a
similar,
but otherwise less
complete
list
of
the
readings
of
the
Olympia
Academy.
[43]
Pearson
1900.
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