D O C U M E N T 4 1 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 2 1 2 1 [1]On the light quantum experiment, see Docs. 39 and Einstein 1922f (Doc. 43). [2]Recouly 1921 was written by Raymond Recouly (1876–1950), writer and editor. In Doc. 27, Ein- stein asked Sommerfeld to send him the article. [3]Paul Ehrenfest visited Berlin after 10 September 1921 (see Vol. 12, Calendar). [4]“‘Why,’ I asked Einstein when he was telling me about his youth, ‘are you thus attached to Swit- zerland? Why did you not continue your studies in Germany?’ Einstein looked at me for an instant and calmly replied: ‘I did not like Germany at that time, as it was militarized and authoritarian to the extreme. I did not feel comfortable in that environment.’ That answer can be compared to what he said to Alexander Moszkowski […]: ‘All my teachers at the German gymnasium were just drill sergeants.’” (“‘Pourquoi,’ ai-je demandé à Einstein quand il me racontait sa jeunesse, ‘vous êtes-vous ainsi at- taché à la Suisse? Pourquoi n’avez-vous pas continué vos études en Allemagne?’ Einstein me regarde un instant et me répond avec calme: ‘L’Allemagne d’alors, militarisée, caporalisée à outrance, me déplaisait. C’est un milieu dans lequel je ne me sentais pas à l’aise.” Cette réponse est à rapprocher de ce qu’il disait un jour à Alexandre Moszkowski […]: ‘Tous mes professeurs du gymnase allemand n’étaient que des sous-officiers’” [Recouly 1921]). According to Moszkowski, Einstein ascribed to his elementary-school teachers “the make-up of drill sergeants” and to his teachers at the Gymnasium the “lieutenant’s character” (“Mit bitterem Sar- kasmus sagte er mir: diese Lehrer hatten den Charakter von Unteroffizieren,—die weiteren am Gym- nasium waren dann überwiegend dem Leutnantscharacter zugewendet” [Moszkowski 1921, p. 221]). On Einstein’s experiences at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich, see Vol. 1, “Albert Einstein— Beitrag für sein Lebensbild,” pp. xliix–lxvi, in particular pp. xl–xlii. [5]According to Recouly, Einstein had said on the retention of his Swiss citizenship: “In the spring of 1914, a little before the war, the Academy of Sciences in Berlin offered me a chair in physics, and the directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. As a condition, I proposed that I would fully retain my freedom of opinion and would remain a Swiss citizen. […] Undoubtedly, I am reproached […] for holding on to my Swiss citizenship” (“Au printemps 1914, un peu avant la guerre, l’Académie des sciences de Berlin m’offrit une chaire de physique, et la direction de l’Institut Empereur Guillaume. J’ai posé comme condition que je garderais toute ma liberté d’opinion et resterais citoyen suisse. […] On me reproche sans doute […] d’avoir tenu à demeurer citoyen suisse” [Recouly 1921]). [6]Henri Poincaré (1854–1912) was Professor of Mathematics at the Sorbonne. Recouly quoted Einstein as having said that “I owe him a lot he is surely the greatest mind of our time” (“Je lui dois beaucoup c’est à coup sûr le plus grand cerveau de notre temps”). [7]“Imagine that some have tried to draw my scientific research into their discussions, into their political quarrels. That really drags them down very low. I have been fiercely criticized, and even insulted. Undoubtedly, one reproaches me for being a Jew, for having introduced an innovative spirit that shocks received opinion and demolished old theories, perhaps also for having held on to an attitude during the war of which I could not be more proud” (“Figurez-vous…, que certains ont essayé de mêler à leurs discussions, à leurs querelles politiques, mes recherches scientifiques. C’est vraiment les faire descendre bien bas. J’ai été violemment critiqué, et même injurié. On me reproche sans doute d’être juif, d’introduire un esprit novateur qui choque les opinions reçues et démolit les vieilles théo- ries, peut-être aussi d’avoir gardé pendant la guerre une attitude dont je suis on ne peut plus fier” [Recouly 1921]). On the anti-relativist events of 1920, and their political and anti-Semitic nature, see Vol. 10, Intro- duction, sec. II Rowe 2006 and Dongen 2007. [8]“It is known that at the beginning of the hostilities, Einstein would not only refuse to sign the manifesto of the ninety-three German intellectuals, but he would sign, as did professor Nicolai, a dec- laration of an opposite nature. Such an act of good faith and courage earned him the hate of the reac- tionaries and militarists. It has been tried a number of times to organize rowdy manifestations at his lectures” (“On sait qu’au commencement des hostilités, Einstein non seulement refusa de mettre son nom au bas du manifeste des quatre-vingt-treize intellectuels allemands, mais il signa, comme le pro- fesseur Nicolaï, une déclaration en sens contraire. Un tel acte de bonne foi et de courage lui valut la
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