2 5 6 D O C U M E N T 3 2 2 A U G U S T 1 9 2 2 of things about the quantum theory of molecule formation a brief notice in the Naturwissenschaften on the H2 molecule contains a few results for experts.[6] But the clearer they become, the crazier the whole system seems to appear. As regards the matters of principle, I haven’t come a jot further along. My wife and the children are well. The girls[7] are in the countryside with a for- mer maid of ours but they are coming back soon. We are staying here until mid- September, then we’re going to Leipzig and from there to Italy. We got 22 English pounds for the translation of my book, you see, and converted them into lire.[8] It won’t go very far, of course, but we are very much looking forward to this little trip down south. With warm regards also from my wife to all of you, yours, M. Born.[9] 321. From Heinrich Zangger [Zurich–Basel, between 6 and 28 August 1922][1] [Not selected for translation.] 322. From Michele Besso Bern, 3a Fichten Way, 8 August 1922 Dear Albert, Your letter to the Committee on Intellectual Cooperation[1] communicated by the press responds at the same time to my letter from about 8 weeks ago whether it reached you I do not know.[2] So then, may the waves carry you safely to the land of the rising sun and back again! I would be no less surprised if the voyage there brought you the grandest that life abroad can offer a teacher of humanity, than if, on the contrary, icy solitude gripped you over there more than anywhere else. In any case, many of the elite in G[ermany] will envy you for being able to turn your back on this dismal Europe for a while (whose troubles, by also as a consequence of the contrast, may nowhere be more perceptible than where you are). The question that leaves me no peace, time and again, is whether one should strive after resigned or contemplative serenity αταραξια[3] , in which even the seemingly greatest enormity appears merely as a wave, somewhat larger than its
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