9 0 D O C U M E N T 8 7 J U LY 1 9 2 3
85. Message for French Delegation
[Berlin, before 22 July
1923][1]
[Not selected for translation.]
86. “Comments upon the Present Situation in Europe”
[Einstein 1924q]
Dated before 22 July 1923 with the exception of the last sentence
Received after 4 January 1924
Published before 29 October 1924
In: Menschen und Menschenwerke, vol. 1, p. 200. Vienna: Verlag “Menschen und
Menschenwerke,” 1924.
[See documentary edition for English text.]
87. To Max Born
[Berlin,] 22 July 1923
Dear Born,
My bad conscience was not strong enough, nor was my wife, to set my lazy flesh
in motion to finally answer your very nice
letters;[1]
but your postcard, dear Mrs.
Born,[2]
gives me a proper jolt. The powerless pang of bad conscience is the only
small negative sensation I get, however, when I think of either of you. For, not only
have you always been good and kind but you have also contributed in physics, mu-
sic, prose, poetry, and companionable gemütlichkeit toward the refinement of this
remarkable existence. Things are going quite well with us. In science, I currently
have a very interesting problem connected with the affine field
theory.[3]
Prospects
exist for understanding the terrestrial magnetic field and the electromagnetic bud-
get of the
Earth[4]
and testing this interpretation experimentally. But the experiment
must
wait.[5]
I thank you cordially for the nice invitation, also in my wife’s name.
But I do still have to sit here for a while, in this teeming hive, where one almost
goes mad from all the visitors, correspondence, and phone calls.
Langevin[6]
is