D O C U M E N T 5 4 0 M AY 1 9 2 9 7 5 7 Bei nächster Gelegenheit, im Colloquium oder in der Akademie, sagen Sie mir entweder „Nein“, oder Sie übergeben mir ein paar Zeilen der betreffenden Einlei- tung. Ich würde dann alles weitere veranlassen und insbesondere dafür sorgen, daß Sie seinerzeit Gelegenheit erhalten, die Druckermächtigung für die englische Aus- gabe zu erteilen.[3] Die Akademie als solche besitzt übrigens an der Veranstaltung einer englischen Uebersetzung kein anderes als das rein wissenschaftliche Interesse. Mit bestem Gruß Ihr getreuer M. Planck ALS. [19 337]. On letterhead “Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften.” [1] Einstein 1928n and 1928o (Docs. 216 and 219). For the inquiry of Methuen, see Abs. 882. [2] See Abs. 938 and the letter of the PAW [45 608]. This paragraph is added by Planck as a foot- note. [3] Docs. 216 and 219 had laid out the idea of using the geometry of distant parallelism for a unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism, but Einstein had since then revised his original the- ory in Einstein 1929n and 1929dd (Docs. 365 and 459), the first one of which had met with consid- erable attention in the press (see the Introduction, sec. V, for a discussion). Einstein also had just recently submitted a survey article on the theory to Zeitschrift für Physik (Doc. 521). Summaries of the general ideas had already been presented to an English-speaking audience by articles in the New York Times of 4 February 1929 and the London Times of 4 and 5 February 1929 (see Einstein 1930b [Doc. 387]). On 8 February 1929, Methuen asked Einstein for permission to include an English translation of Einstein 1929n (Doc. 365) together with a reprint of the article published in the Times (Abs. 882), but Einstein apparently had not given his consent (Abs. 883). On 18 February, the publishing house Blackie & Son contacted the Prussian Academy asking for permission to publish an English transla- tion of Doc. 365, which had been granted to them on 28 February, asking that the print run should not exceed 1,000 copies [45 608]. Forwarding a copy of the Academy’s letter to Einstein on 6 March, Blackie asked whether he would be willing to go over the English translation and approve it (Abs. 938). In response, Einstein told them that Methuen had approached him first and would be giv- en priority (Abs. 1041). With reference to a letter of 25 March that is no longer extant, Blackie wrote to Einstein again on 9 May (Abs. 1140), informing him that they had just received permission from the Academy to publish a translation of Einstein 1928n (Doc. 216) together with Doc. 365. In an an- gry response of 15 May (Abs. 1147), Einstein again insisted that they desist, which Blackie agreed to shortly thereafter (Abs. 1151). 540. From Norbert Wiener Cambridge, Massachusetts, den 31ten Mai, 1929 Sehr geehrter Herr Professor! Die eingeschlossene Arbeit bildet die Antwort zu Ihrer Einladung, bei der Prü- fung Ihrer einheitlichen Feldtheorie Teil zu nehmen. Wenn sie Ihnen es Wert scheint, könnten Sie die Güte haben, sie in den Berliner Sitzungsberichten heraus- geben zu lassen?[1]
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