2 2 8 D O C U M E N T 1 8 7 J U L Y 1 9 2 1
Hunderten (Sekunden) nicht die Rede sein kann. Die Astronomen habe nichts
dergleichen
gesehen.[3]
Wenn ich aber (logisch) geirrt habe, und Sie mir den Fehler offen mitteilen, wer-
de ich jedenfalls viel gelernt haben und danke Ihnen dafür im Voraus.
—Was den terrestrischen optischen Versuch
anbelangt,[4]
kann
ich Ihnen mit Freude mitteilen, dass mich Michelson am 24/VI,
gleich nach seiner Rückkehr von Paris, aufgesucht hat und mit be-
stem Enthusiasmus mir sagte dass er dies Experiment “at once” an-
fangen
wird.[5]
In der Tat, hat ihm sein
Mechaniker[6]
Alles fertig
gemacht und nach Pasadena (California, bei Mount Wilson) ge-
schickt, wo sich jetzt Michelson
aufhielt.[7]
Er wird das Experiment dort im Freien
versuchen, und wenn es nicht geht, wird er das Licht in Röhren (sewer pipes, 8000
Fuss lang) herumsenden,— Ich werde Ihnen unverzüglich alle seine Resultate
mitteilen.[8]
Mit herzlichsten Grüssen, Ihr ergebener
Ludwik Silberstein.
ALS. [21 043]. Written on letterhead “The University of Chicago Ryerson Physical Laboratory.” In
the lower left margin, Einstein wrote down the equation and drew the following
figure . In the lower right corner, Einstein wrote and sketched the figure .
[1]In Doc. 178, Silberstein had alerted Einstein to the negative reaction created by remarks attrib-
uted to Einstein in the newspapers.
[2]In the manuscript entitled “Special Relativity Overthrown by Double Stars,” [21 044], Silber-
stein noted that it had been submitted to the Philosopical Magazine on 16 July. He also added the fol-
lowing note: “(Please forgive me this slightly brutal title)” [“(Verzeihen Sie mir bitte, diesen etwas
brutalen Titel)”].
[3]In his manuscript, Silberstein argues that the relativistic formula of aberration should give a
larger diameter of a double star than its observed value, due to the relative motion of its components,
while no such effect had been observed.
[4]For the experiment on the dragging of the ether by the rotation of the Earth, see Doc. 136, notes
3 and 4.
[5]Albert A. Michelson participated at the third Solvay Congress in Brussels, 1–6 April 1921. He
had already volunteered to perform the experiment sometime before 12 May 1921 (see New York
Times, 13 May 1921).
[6]In his report on the experiment (Michelson 1925, p. 140), Michelson noted that he was “assisted”
by Fred Pearson.
[7]For a discussion of Michelson’s work at Mount Wilson, where he was a Research Associate, in
setting up an interferometer to be used in conjunction with observations made by the 100-inch Hooker
telescope, see Hale 1921, pp. 209–211 and 253–254.
[8]Michelson originally attempted the experiment at Mount Wilson with light beams traveling in the
open air. Only when this failed to achieve the required accuracy did he resort to the use of evacuated
pipes to carry the light beams, conducting the experiment in Illinois (Michelson 1925, pp. 138–139).
c2 2ab a b – 2 +=
v
c
-- cos
v