D O C U M E N T S 6 8 , 6 9 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 2 1 5 7
68. From Paul Ehrenfest
[Leyden,] 28 February 1921
Dear, dear Einstein,
From Lorentz I heard about your Jerusalem parade to
Dollaria![1]
1. Thus my
mind is relieved of a great load that had been oppressing me since writing my last
letter to
you.[2]
–
2. Forgive me for my letter, which was written in great anxiety. I had written it
in as joking a tone as possible so as not to anger you. But in reality I was—owing
to false hypotheses, not in the least cheerful!–
3. If there is even some chance that the university
project[3]
succeeds, I consider
it very right and very, very fine of you to be willing to impose a sacrifice upon your-
self with this trip and its ugly hullabaloo and tantara around it for this goal.—
Let me hope that it won’t harm your
health!![4]
–
If you are traveling through Holland, I would travel as far as it takes (within Hol-
land) to be able to meet up with you, even if only for half an hour. So let me know
very briefly whether you are traveling through Holland. When, along which route!
Cordial greetings to all of you.
The children and my wife also send their best wishes. Yours,
Ehrenfest.
69. From Maurice Solovine[1]
Paris, 39 Blvd. Port-Royal, 28 February 1921
Dear Einstein,
After much negotiation I finally arrived at agreement today with the managing
director of the publishing house Gauthier-Villars to publish your speech on the
ether and relativity
theory[2]
under the conditions you demanded. I insisted on hav-
ing it presented to the public at the same time as your
book,[3]
translated by Miss
Rouvière,[4]
which will happen at the end of this week.
I made every conceivable effort to translate every word of your idea-rich speech
faithfully. With some expressions it was not possible, though, for example,
“Verhalten der Körper” could not be rendered otherwise than as “état des corps,”
which in French means “state” as much as it means “kind of existence”
[Daseinsart]. If, however, I had put “to behave” [comporter] instead, then I would
have made myself ridiculous in the eyes of the French, because “comporter” is only
used for living beings and not for lifeless things.