D O C U M E N T 2 4 9 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 2 1 1 6 3
perhaps thinking of the tower spectrograph that is being erected at the Potsdam
astrophysical institute from funds solicited together here under my
name.[2]
But
that isn’t a special institute, just an apparatus, an observatory. Nobody should be
advised to leave the commercial sector now to take up a career in science, because
prospects for scientific careers are miserable and one is always dependent on a sec-
ondary income, which is hard to come by.
Concerning science, I am working with Prof. Geiger on a very interesting exper-
iment about light
emission.[3]
I did not go to
Jena[4]
because the bigwigs pestered
me so much last year in [Bad] Nauheim. All in all, I’m trying to make myself as
independent of that crowd as possible, and it’s working, too. In the middle of Octo-
ber I am going to Bologna with [Hans] Albert, to deliver a few lectures
there.[5]
But
I’m traveling via Austria because it is cheaper. We are going to meet in Innsbruck.
My boys give me much joy; my time together with them this summer was an inde-
scribable
pleasure.[6]
I regard politics more optimistically now. It appears as if, under the pressure of
economic need, something like European solidarity does want to
develop.[7]
– The
appointment of Schrödinger to the University of Zurich was
right.[8]
Cordial regards, yours,
Einstein.
250. To Eberhard Zschimmer[1]
Berlin, 30 September 1921
[Not selected for translation.]
251. From Paul G. Tomlinson[1]
Princeton, New Jersey, 30 September 1921
[See the documentary edition for the original English.]
252. From Heinrich Zangger
Zurich, 3 October 1921
[Not selected for translation.]