xvi
INTRODUCTION
TO
VOLUME
3
begin
a new career as a
university
professor.[1]
For the
first time
physics
became the
center
of
his
professional
work-it
had
always
been the
center
of
his
life-rather than
something
to be
pursued
after hours
at
home
or
during
free moments at his
desk in the
Patent
Office.
Einstein had dreamed of
a
career
at
the
university
when
he
was
still
a
young
student
and, despite
a
series
of
frustrating experiences,
he
had
never
completely
abandoned this dream.
His
feelings
about
his
job
had also
changed
over
the
years
he
spent
at
the
Patent
Office.
In
1905
eight
hours
on
the
job
Monday through Saturday
seemed
no great
burden;
that
still
left
about
eight waking
hours
a
day, plus
all
of
Sunday,
for
"extracurricular
nonsense,"
and
we
know what
sort
of
"extracurricular nonsense" he invented
to
fill those
hours,
particularly
in
that
year.[2]
But three
years
later Einstein
was
writing
of
the
"daily eight
hours
of
exacting
work
at
the Patent
Office"
that
left
him
too little
time
for
developing
his scientific ideas.[3]
By
then
he
was
actively searching
for
a
teaching posi-
tion, applying
for
openings
that had been announced
at
several
secondary
schools.[4]
With
Alfred Kleiner, he
was
also
planning
a
strategy
to
help
him
obtain the
new
position
at
the
University
of Zurich
that
Kleiner wanted
to
see
established.[5]
This
strategy
included Einstein's
successful
reapplication
for
an
appointment as
Privatdozent
at
the
University
of
Bern, an appointment
that
would enable
him
to
establish
his
credentials
as a
teacher.[6]
The Zurich
position was
created,
and
in
May
1909
Einstein
was
named
Extraordinary
Professor of Theoretical
Physics.[7]
He and
his
family
moved
to
Zurich
[1]For Einstein's
appointment
to
the Patent
Office, see
Vol.
1,
Docs.
129,
140-142. For
his
departure
from the Patent
Office,
see
Einstein
to
the
Swiss Department
of
Justice, 6 July 1909.
See
also
Flückiger 1974.
[2]"Bedenken
Sie,
dass
es
im
Tag
neben den acht Stunden Arbeit noch acht Stunden Allotria
und noch
einen
Sonntag gibt."
Einstein
to
Conrad
Habicht,
end of
June-end
of
September
1905.
[3]"Jeden
Tag 8
Stunden
anstrengende
Arbeit auf dem
Patentamt,
dazu
viele Korrespon-
denzen
&
Studien-Sie
kennen ja das
aus
eigener Erfahrung.
Mehrere
Arbeiten
sind unvoll-
endet, weil ich
die
Zeit für
deren
Abfassung
nicht finden kann." Einstein
to
Johannes
Stark,
14
December
1908.
[4]See
Einstein to
Marcel
Grossmann, 3 January 1908;
Einstein
to
Arnold
Sommerfeld,
14
January
1908;
and
Einstein
to
the Council of
Education,
Canton of
Zurich, 20
January
1908.
[5]See
Alfred
Kleiner
to Einstein, 28
January
1908
and
8 February
1908. Kleiner,
Professor
of
Physics
at
the
University
of
Zurich,
had served
as
Einstein's doctoral dissertation adviser.
See Vol.
2,
the editorial note,
"Einstein's Dissertation
on
the Determination of Molecular
Dimensions," pp.
170-182.
[6]For
Einstein's
first,
unsuccessful
attempt
to receive
the Habilitation
at
the
University
of
Bern
in
1907, see
Einstein
to
the
Department
of
Education,
Canton of
Bern, 17
June
1907.
For
his
second,
successful
application
in
1908,
see
Alfred
Kleiner
to Einstein,
8 February 1908,
and
Einstein to
Paul
Gruner,
11
February
1908.
[7]See
Einstein
to
Anna
Meyer-Schmid, 12 May 1909;
Einstein
to
the
Swiss
Department
of
Justice, 6
July 1909;
and Einstein
to
the
Department
of
Education,
Canton of
Bern, 3
August
1909.