I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 2 x x x i x
(Doc. 245). Even though, in a moment of fatigue already early in the year, he had
exclaimed that he was “sick and tired of lecturing on relativity theory” (Doc. 12),
Einstein responded positively. He thought of traveling to Japan in the fall of 1922
(Doc. 246), yet by early October, displeased with the proposed financial terms, he
deemed his counterparts “swindlers” (Doc. 292), and soon thereafter canceled the
visit altogether (Doc. 312). By the end of the year, there are hints of a possible trip
to South America (Doc. 264), one that Einstein thought would not materialize for
more than a year (Doc. 267).
Einstein received many awards during the year. In addition to an honorary
doctorate from Princeton University, he became a foreign member of the Royal
Society in London, the Bologna Academy of Sciences, and the Swedish Society of
Sciences and Arts in Gothenburg. But he did not garner sufficient votes in an elec-
tion to corresponding membership in the French Academy of Sciences (see Calen-
dar entries of 5 May, 12 December, and 3 November). He declined the opportunity
to travel to France on behalf of the Bund “Neues Vaterland,” as well as other invi-
tations to lecture in Paris (Doc. 220 and Calendar entry of 30 November). He would
eventually speak at the Collège de France the following year.
Even though during 1921 Einstein showed great willingness to accept invita-
tions from abroad, evidenced by his extensive travels, he became more cautious
about delivering public lectures within Germany itself. A number of documents in
the volume indicate that the previous summer’s anti-relativity gathering in the
Berlin Philharmonic Hall, and the “Einstein-Debate” with Philipp Lenard at the
meeting of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte (GDNÄ) in Bad
Nauheim, had left their mark on
Einstein.[36]
He decided not to attend a meeting of
the German Physical Society in Jena (Docs. 201, 219, 249), he intended to cancel
his participation in next year's GDNÄ conference (Doc. 279), and eventually
refused to deliver a seminar in Munich, the city of his youth (Doc. 247).
So as to forestall a renewed attack by anti-relativists in anticipation of the release
of Alexander Moszkowski’s book based on interviews with Einstein, Hans Rei-
chenbach and Arnold Berliner floated a proposal that Einstein write a review of the
literature on relativity, contrasting “friends” and “opponents” (Doc. 28). Einstein
declined, declaring that he would not even read Moszkowski’s book, and advised
that his correspondents do the same (Docs. 27, 37, 97, 153).
Despite Einstein’s efforts to tone down controversies about the theory of relativ-
ity, public debates persisted. Lenard unearthed an 1801 Newtonian prediction of
light deflection in the Sun’s gravitational field by Johann von Soldner, and used it
to cast doubt on Einstein’s estimation of the size of the effect and thus also on the