2 3 8 D O C U M E N T 1 9 6 J U L Y 1 9 2 1
ausgestrahlt hat, als heute, was mit Eddington natürlich ganz unvereinbar
ist,[5]
wenn wir lange Strahlungszeiten annehmen (im Sinne des hohen Alters der Erde).
Ich denke, dass meine eingehende “Biographie der
Sonne”[6]
wenigstens ungefähr
das Richtige getroffen haben wird.
Mit vielen Grüssen Ihr
W. Nernst.
ALS. [18 446].
[1]They were working on a new cooling process.
[2]Most likely Maschinenfabrik Esslingen AG which at the time also produced cooling compres-
sors and apparatuses (see Graff 2004, p. 213).
[3]In his lecture on the age of fixed stars to the plenary session of the academy (“Das Alter der Fix-
sterne”), Nernst calculated the minimum age of the Sun as years, based on the crystallization time
of uranium ore on the Earth, and its maximum age as years, using Einstein’s mass-energy for-
mula under the assumption that since its formation on the Sun it had radiated with its present intensity.
By supposing that the Sun had lost only one-tenth of its original mass, and that, according to stellar
statistics, it had emitted at least ten times more energy in its earlier period, this maximum estimate
can be lowered to years. He added that the yellow giants are of the age of ca. years, and
the red stars of years (Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften [Berlin]. Sitzungberichte
(1921): 625).
[4]He presented Eggert and Noddack 1921 (see ibid.).
[5]In Nernst 1921 (see, e.g., p. 49), Nernst declared that he could not accept aspects of Eddington’s
stellar theory, based on radiation pressure as the main force preventing gravitational collapse of stars
(Eddington 1918). The fact that gaseous nebuli are often observed to contain hot bright B-type stars
had led astronomers to conclude erroneously that these very luminous stars represented a youthful
stage that might be typical of the life history of all stars.
[6]In September, he signed the introduction to a publication that summed up his lectures on the
topic, and published it as Nernst 1921.
196. To The Berlin Peace Demonstration
[before 30 July 1921]
Ich drücke der Berliner
Friedensdemonstration[1]
meine warme Sympathie aus
und wünsche nachhaltigen Erfolg
Einstein
Tgm. Berliner Morgenzeitung, 30 July 1921.
[1]On Sunday 31 July, a large peace demonstration, culminating in a rally at the Berlin Lustgarten
on the Museum-Island, was to be held on the seventh anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. Sim-
ilar demonstrations were held throughout Germany. The Berliner Morgenzeitung reported that “Pro-
fessor Einstein, who was invited by the organizing committee to participate in the rally, yet is
prevented from attending due to his absence from Berlin, sent the following telegram”: (“Professor
Einstein, der von der Aktionsleitung zur Teilnahme an der Kundgebung eingeladen worden war,
wegen seiner Abwesenheit von Berlin aber am Erscheinen verhindert ist, sandte folgendes Tele-
gramm”:). An identical paragraph was published that afternoon in Vorwärts, 30 July, Evening Edition.
109
1013
1011 3 109
5 109