DOC.
15
MOLECULAR
DIMENSIONS 203
Published
by
K. J.
Wyss,
Bern. Dated
Bern,
30
April
1905.
[1]
For
Einstein's earlier
attempts
to obtain
a
doctorate,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Dissertation
on
the Determination
of
Molecular
Dimensions,"
§
III,
pp.
173-176.
[2]
The
dissertation
was formally
submitted
on
20
July
1905
(see
Einstein
to
Rudolf Martin
of
this
date).
[3]
Alfred Kleiner
was
Professor
of
Physics at
the
University
of Zurich. Einstein submitted the
dissertation
to
him. At
Kleiner's
request,
Hein-
rich
Burkhardt,
Professor
of
Mathematics at the
University
of
Zurich,
checked the calculations in
Einstein's
dissertation
(see
the Gutachten über
das
Promotionsgesuch
des Hrn.
Einstein,
20-24
July 1905,
SzZSa, U
110
e 9).
[4]
Einstein had stated
earlier
that he intended
to dedicate
his
dissertation to
Grossmann;
see
Einstein to
Mileva
Maric,
19
December
1901
(Vol. 1,
Doc.
130).
[5]
For
a
discussion
of
methods for determin-
ing
molecular dimensions known
at
that
time,
see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Dissertation
on
the Determination
of
Molecular Dimen-
sions,"
§
II, pp.
170-173.
[6]
Einstein's
argument closely
follows Kirch-
hoff 1897,
Lecture
10, pp.
95-108. For Ein-
stein's
reading
of
Kirchhoff
1897, see
Einstein
to
Mileva
Maric,
29
July
1900 and
1
August
1900
(Vol.
1,
Docs. 68 and
69).
[7]
The
assumptions
made for the
liquid cor-
respond
to those introduced in Kirchhoff 1897
on p.
374.
[8]
For
an argument
in which similar
boundary
conditions
for
the
hydrodynamical equations are
used, see Kirchhoff 1897,
pp.
378-379.
[9]
The
following equations are
valid
if
the
ve-
locities
are
assumed
to
be
infinitely
small,
and if
the motion
is
stationary (see
Kirchhoff 1897,
p.
374).
For
a
discussion
of
the Navier-Stokes
equations, see
Brush
1976,
book
2,
§
12.3,
pp.
432-443.
[10] Kirchhoff 1897,
Lecture 26.
[11]
A
factor
k is missing
on
the
right-hand
side
of
the last
equation
on
this
line;
this
error
is
cor-
rected in Einstein 1906a.
[12]
Kirchhoff
1897,
pp.
378-379.
The Kirch-
hoff
text
begins:
"From
the
equations
9) [corre-
sponding
to
(4)
in
Einstein's
text]
follows
Ap
=
0;
if
one assumes
p
according to
this condition
. .
."
("Aus den
Gleichungen
9)
folgt Ap
=
0;
hat
man
dieser
Bedingung gemäss
p
ange-
nommen
. .
.")
and then continues
as quoted by
Einstein.
[13]
The denominator
on
the
right-hand
side
should be
8£2;
this
error
is
corrected in Einstein
1906a.
[14]
The denominator
of
the first term
on
the
right-hand
side should be
8£2;
this
error
is
cor-
rected in
Einstein
1906a.
A
reprint
of
this article
in the Einstein Archive shows
marginalia
and
in-
terlineations in
Einstein's
hand,
the first
of
which
refer to this
and the
following equation.
The term
"+g1/p"
was
added
to
the
right-hand
side
of
the
equation
for
V
and then canceled.
These
marginalia
and interlineations
are pre-
sumably part
of Einstein's
unsuccessful
attempt
to find
a
calculational
error; see
note
26
below,
and also the editorial
note,
"Einstein's
Disser-
tation
on
the Determination
of
Molecular Di-
mensions,"
§
V, pp.
179-182.
On this
as-
sumption, they
date from late 1910.
[15]
The
equation
for
u'
should be
(as
corrected
8|r
in
Einstein
1906a):
u'
=
-2c
S1/p/SE
.
In the
reprint
mentioned in
note 14,
the first derivative with
respect
to
£
was changed
to
a
second
derivative
and then
changed
back
to
a
first derivative.
At
the bottom
of
the
page,
the
following equations
are
written:
b
=
-1/12
P5a
c
=
-5/12
P3a
g
=
2/3 P3a.
[16]
The numerator
of
the last
term
in the
curly
parentheses
should be "82
(1/p)",
as
corrected
in
Einstein
1906a.
[17]
In
Einstein's
reprint
(see note 14),
a
factor
2/3
was
added
to
the first term
on
the
right-hand
side
of
this
equation
and
then canceled.
[18] "Sn/SE"
should be
"Sp/SE"
as
corrected in
Einstein 1922.
[19]
The factor
preceding
the first
parenthesis
should
be,
as
corrected in Einstein 1906a:
P
3
-
5/2
-
P5
[20]
The
equations
should be:
u
=
U, v
=
V,
w
=
W.
[21]
Xe,
Xn, XI,
should
be
Xe,
etc.,
as cor-
rected in
Einstein
1906a;
analogous
corrections
apply
to
the
subsequent
two
equations.
[22]
For the
following equations,
see
Kirchhoff
1897,
p.
369.
[23]
In Einstein's
reprint
(see
note
14),
the term