418
DOC.
14
CORRECTION TO EINSTEIN 1906A
Published
in Annalen
der
Physik
34
(1911):
591-592. Dated
Zurich, January
1911,
received
21
January 1911, published
9
March
1911.
[1]Einstein
1906a,
which
is
the
Annalen
version of Einstein's
dissertation,
Einstein
1905j (Vol.
2,
Doc.
15).
For
a comprehensive
historical
analysis
of Einstein's
dissertation,
of
the
corrections
to
it,
and of
the
related
experimental
research,
see
Vol.
2,
the editorial
note,
"Einstein's Disserta-
tion
on
the Determination of Molecular
Dimensions,"
pp.
170-182.
[2]Jacques
Bancelin,
a
student of Jean
Perrin,
performed experiments
in order
to test
Ein-
stein's relation between the
coefficient
of
viscosity
of
a
liquid
with and without
suspended
molecules
(k*
and
k,
respectively):
k*
=
k(1+Qp), where
Q
is
a
constant which Einstein
origi-
nally
determined
to be
1
(see
Einstein
1905j
[Vol.
2,
Doc.
15], p.
17),
and
cp
is
the fraction of
the
volume
occupied
by
the solute molecules. Bancelin
performed
these
experiments on
Perrin's
initiative,
after Einstein had drawn Perrin's attention
to
the method
developed
in his
disserta-
tion
(see
Einstein
to
Jean
Perrin,
11
November
1909).
Bancelin
reported
values for
Q
of
ca.
3.8
or
3.9 to
Perrin
as
well
as
to
Einstein
(for
evidence of
these
reports, see
Einstein
to
Jakob
Laub,
28
December
1910,
and Einstein
to
Jean
Perrin,
12 January 1911).
[3]See
Einstein
to
Ludwig Hopf,
27
December
1910.
Prior
to
asking Hopf,
Einstein had made
an
unsuccessful
attempt
to
find the
error
himself;
see
Einstein
1905j (Vol. 2,
Doc.
15),
note
14.
[4]See
Einstein
1905j (Vol. 2,
Doc.
15),
p.
12.
[5]See
Einstein
1905j (Vol. 2,
Doc.
15),
p.
13.
[6]After
discovering
the
error
in his calculations,
Einstein
suggested
to
Perrin that
an experi-
mental
error
must
be
responsible
for the
remaining discrepancy
between the
experimental
value
Q
=
3.9
and the theoretical value
Q
=
2.5; see
Einstein
to
Jean
Perrin,
11
November
1909.
By
the end of
May 1911,
Bancelin's
experiments
had indeed
provided
him with
a
value for
Q
that
was
closer
to
the theoretical value
(Q
=
2.9);
see
Bancelin
1911a,
1911b.
Einstein
apparently
also
intended
to
continue work
on
the
phenomenon
of
viscosity; see
Einstein
to
Heinrich
Zangger,
20
September
1911.
[7]See
Einstein
1905j (Vol.
2,
Doc.
15), p.
18.
[8]The
value for N
given by
Einstein
is
found
in
Einstein
1906c
(Vol.
2,
Doc.
33),
p.
306.