D O C U M E N T 4 7 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 2 1 4 1
think matters would be simple, if arbitrarily large amounts of coal (proportional to
the labor applied to mining) could be extracted each year from the existing mines.
Then, in my opinion, coal would be a product like any other and not suited to serve
as a starting point for a value scale, even if the importance of coal as an energy
source is an unique all-encompassing one.
[Perhaps I may have the pleasure of discussing these matters with you in person
one day.]
46. From Eduard Schweigler
Vienna, 11 February 1921
[Not selected for translation.]
47. From Max Born
Frankfurt am M[ain], 12 February 1921
Dear Einstein,
I would have liked to have answered your friendly
letter[1]
right away, but I sud-
denly had to leave for Göttingen, where hope of an apartment had appeared (which,
incidentally, seems to be coming into
fulfillment).[2]
The unfortunate exchange of
letters between the women is only partially known to me because from a specific
day onward my wife held everything back from
me.[3]
Nevertheless, I do feel at
fault for not having prevented her from writing sharp or hard words. I fretted very
much about this affair, more than ever before. For everything that concerns you
affects me deeply. Believe me, if it were otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so upset
about the Moszkowski
affair.[4]
The Earth didn’t quite shake, of course; but it isn’t
nice to see the pitches on advertisement columns. Let’s drop this now. I’m probably
going to get annoyed about your relations with the world frequently, because my
yardsticks don’t fit (they’re too short); but in the future you won’t notice any of it.–
If you over there can’t do anything for Boguslavsky either, then I can’t think of any
other option for helping
him.[5]
At best, one could send him an invitation entirely
privately, replete with our signatures; perhaps he’ll get a passport then. Once he’s
here, I can drum up the means for him to be able to live here for a few months. His
theoretical speculations are not worth particularly much; in the consideration on
radiation he evidently forgets that compression with reflective pistons changes the
frequency. I used to think a lot about such matters before and know that it doesn’t
work with semipermeable
walls.[6]
Your bold idea of using the Stark effect of the