xxii
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME
3
to
measure
thermodynamic
properties
of
many
substancs
as
functions of
tem-
perature.
His theorem
required
in
particular
that
the molar
specific
heats of
all
elements should
approach
a
definite limit
as
the
temperature approaches
absolute
zero.
The
measurements
of
the
specific
heat of
solids at
low
tempera-
tures
required
the
development
of
new
methods
by
Nernst and his
coworkers,
and it
was
only
in the
early
months of
1910
that
results
were
obtained.[30]
These results
were
indeed consistent with Nernst's
theorem,
but
they
went
beyond
it. All
the
specific
heat
curves
obtained down
to
liquid
air
tempera-
tures
had shown
a
marked decrease with
decreasing
temperature,[31]
and
as
Nernst
remarked,
"one
gets
the
impression
that
the
specific
heats
are
con-
verging
to
zero as
required by
Einstein's
theory."[32]
The
theory
he referred
to
had been
published by
Einstein
at
the
beginning
of
1907,
but
this
was
the first
indication
that
an
experimenter
had tested it
seriously.[33]
Nernst,
a man
for direct
action,
decided
to
have
a
look
at
the Einstein who
had
so
impressively predicted
the result of
his measurements
on
the basis of
what Nernst later
called
"a rule
for
calculation,
and indeed
one
may say
a very
odd,
even
a grotesque
one."[34]
Since he
was
going
to
Lausanne for
a
brief
holiday,
Nernst made
a
stop
at
Zurich
on
the
way,
called
on
Einstein,
and told
him
about
the
new
results
that
he
had
just presented
to
the Prussian
Academy
of
Sciences.
Einstein
was
delighted
with the
news.
A week
later he
wrote to
Laub,
mentioned Nernst's
visit,
and added: "The
quantum theory
is
estab-
lished,
as
far
as
I
am
concerned.
My
predictions concerning
specific
heats
seem
to
be
brilliantly
confirmed."[35]
For
his part
Nernst
was deeply
im-
pressed by Einstein; just
how
deeply
is apparent
in this
quotation
from
a
letter
he
wrote to
a
friend:
I believe
that
so
far
as
the
development
of
physics
is concerned,
we
can
be
very happy
to have found such
an
original young
thinker,
a
"Boltzmann
redivivus";
the
same intensity
and
rapidity
of
compre-
hension-a
great
theoretical
boldness, which, however,
cannot
do
[30]See
Nernst
1918,
chap.
3.
[31]Nernst
1910a,
p.
276.
[32]"... daß die
spezifische
Wärme
bei tiefen
Temperaturen
stark
abfällt,
so
daß
man
den
Eindruck
gewinnt, als
ob
sie
den
Forderungen
von
Einsteins Theorie
entsprechend
gegen
Null
konvergiert."
Nernst
1910a,
p.
282.
[33]Einstein
1907a
(Vol. 2,
Doc.
38).
See
also Kuhn
1978,
chap.
9,
and
Cigognetti
1987.
[34]"Zur
Zeit
ist
die
Quantentheorie
wesentlich eine
Rechnungsregel,
und
zwar
eine
solche,
wie
man
wohl
sagen
kann,
sehr
seltsamer, ja grotesker
Beschaffenheit." Nernst
1911a,
p.
86.
[35]"Die
Quantentheorie
steht
mir
fest.
Meine
Voraussagungen
inbetreff
der
spezifischen
Wärmen scheinen
sich glänzend
zu
bestätigen."
Einstein
to
Jakob
Laub,
16
March
1910.