I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 5 x c i At times, Einstein’s reaction to the turmoil in his life was fatalism. In December 1925, he wrote rather stoically that “[t]he beginning and the end of life are damned difficult, and in between things don’t always run smoothly, but everything passes and is quickly forgotten” (Doc. 124). He also commented on death in a similar manner: “death is ultimately nothing but a dot at the end of a well-formed sen- tence” (Doc. 383). In July 1926, he wrote to Elsa during her mother’s terminal ill- ness: “You also need not expect an imminent end that is not very likely. You must passively endure it as a necessary twist of fate and also take the good as it may be offered” (Doc. 329). In any case, the increase in the pace of life does not seem to have encouraged Einstein to greater introspection. In January 1927, Hugo Freund, a psychotherapist and Social Democratic politician, asked Einstein to participate in a study of prominent political and economic leaders who would undergo Adlerian analysis. The results of this experiment would be published in the press. Einstein replied that he “would like to remain in the darkness of not-having-been-analyzed” (Docs. 457 and 458). In spring 1927, the municipal department of construction regulation served Einstein with an eviction notice from his attic “tower room” above his apartment it had been deemed inappropriate for residential purposes since it was lacking in adequate sanitation (see Illustration 17). Einstein appealed to the president of po- lice of the Schöneberg district in Berlin, arguing that he deserved special consider- ation as a well-known scholar and teacher at the university. Moreover, since the room was only used by himself, it would only affect him personally and no one else if the room were unhygienic (Doc. 523). This wry sense of humor continued to stand Einstein in good stead. In August 1926, having been asked to play the violin in Brahms’s Sextet for the opening program of the upcoming first international con- gress on sexual research in Berlin, he replied that “unfortunately, neither my sexual nor my musical capabilities allow me to regard myself in a position to meet your kind request.” It is unclear whether he mailed the letter (Abs.542 and Doc. 351). XII. The Newton Bicentenary At the time when the new developments in quantum mechanics were holding everyone in physics “breathless,” as Einstein wrote to Hedwig Born (Doc. 215), classical physics had reason to remember one of its greatest heroes, Isaac Newton. The bicentenary of his death was to be commemorated across the world on 31 March 1927 (see Illustrations 16 and 17). Shortly beforehand, Eddington informed Einstein that a celebration would take place in Grantham, England, where Newton had gone to school, to be attended by