I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 6 l v Einstein’s “doubt and befogged speculation about time and space is a cloak beneath which lies the ghastly apparition of atheism.”[31] This attack prompted New York orthodox rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein to ask Einstein whether he believed in God. In response, Einstein again professed an affinity to pantheism: “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals Himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns Himself with fates and actions of human beings” (Doc. 508). After this reply was published in the United States by dispatch from the Associated Press on 10 April, O’Connell reiterated two days later that “behind the Einstein cloak lurks the spectre of atheism.” He did not consider Einstein “a true scientist” and was convinced that Einstein’s theory was “false in its construction, plagiaristic in its main statement, and atheistic in its tendencies.”[32] IV. Losses, Travels, and Illness Undoubtedly, the most significant development in Einstein’s personal life during the scope of this volume was a prolonged and severe health crisis that began in the early spring of 1928 and affected his well-being to a considerable extent for almost an entire year. The approaching calamity was preceded by several warning signs. As early as June 1926, Einstein had alluded to deteriorating health.[33] A year later, in July 1927, he declined an invitation to give the Rhodes Memorial Lecture in Oxford, citing “unsteady” health (Doc. 16). In fact, the period immediately preceding the onset of Einstein’s illness was one of increased activity and stress. In early Febru- ary 1928, he confessed to his sister Maja that she could not imagine “what a ner- vous tizzy we are in.” He described a very busy lifestyle, where his work, his activity as a “Jewish saint,” and “sociability” including “noble musica” were “strenuously” filling up his life (Doc. 144). The unexpected death of Hendrik A. Lorentz in February 1928 marked the end of an era, in several respects. Classical physics, which was embodied by Lorentz more than by any of his contemporaries, had come to a definitive end. For Einstein personally, a unique relationship was ended abruptly.[34] Their friendship was rooted in deep mutual admiration and re- spect: Lorentz admired Einstein’s creativity and ability to approach old problems in a totally new way Einstein had deep respect for Lorentz’s broad knowledge of physics, his mathematical abilities, and—not the least—his electron theory, which had not only given nineteenth-century electromagnetic theory a new and much clearer basis but also foreshadowed special relativity. Einstein and Lorentz started corresponding in 1909 (see Einstein to Lorentz, 30 March 1909 [Vol. 5, Doc. 146]) and regularly exchanged letters for two decades.