DOC.
18
DISCUSSION OF DOC.
17
449
Lecture held
in
Zurich, 16 January
1911.
Published
in
Naturforschende
Gesellschaft
in
Zürich.
Vierteljahrsschrift
56.
Part
2,
Sitzungsberichte
(1911):
II-IX.
[1]Alfred
Kleiner
(1849-1916),
Professor of
Experimental Physics
at
the
University
of
Zurich.
[2]See
Einstein
1907h
(Vol. 2,
Doc.
45),
§3,
for
an
earlier
comment
on
the
problem
of
a
rigid
body
in
the
theory
of
relativity,
including
a more
detailed
exposition
of the
reasoning
that
follows. Since
the
publication
of this
paper, a
vivid
debate
over
this
problem
was
developing,
reacting
in
particular
to
Born's
proposal
of
a
Lorentz-invariant definition of
a
rigid body
(Born
1909);
see
Pauli
1921, §45,
for
a
review
of later
developments.
For
a
discussion
of
the
historical
context
of
this debate,
see
Miller
1981, chap. 7,
and also the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on
Length
Contraction
in
the
Theory
of
Relativity," pp.
478-480.
[3]Fritz Müller
was a
law
student and member of
the
Naturforschende Gesellschaft Zürich.
[4]Franz Prasil
(1857-1929),
Professor of
Engineering
at
the ETH Zurich.
[5]Minkowski
1909.
[6]See
Lorentz
1892.
[7]Ernst
Meissner
(1883-1939),
Privatdozent for Pure and
Applied
Mathematics
at
the ETH
Zurich.
[8]See Minkowski
1908, Minkowski/Born
1910
for Minkowski's work
in
electrodynamics;
Cohn
1900,
1902,
1904a, 1904b,
for Cohn's
electrodynamics
of
moving
bodies;
and Lorentz
1909
for
a
comprehensive
review
of Lorentz's
theory.
[9]For
an
earlier
comment
on
the
relationship
between Lorentz's and Minkowski's
work,
see
Einstein
1909a
(Vol. 2,
Doc.
55),
pp.
887-888.
See
Miller
1981, chap.
1,
for
a
discussion of
Lorentz's
work;
Hirosige
1966
for
an analysis
of both Lorentz's and Cohn's
work;
and
Pyenson
1985, chap. 4,
and
Galison
1979,
for discussions of Minkowski's work.
[10]Einstein
discussed the
problem
of
superluminal velocities
extensively
in
correspondence
with Wilhelm Wien
in
July
and
August 1907;
see
Vol.
5,
the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on
Super-
luminal
Signal
Velocities."
[11]Rudolf
Lämmel
(1879-1972) graduated
from the
University
of Zurich
in 1904.
[12]See
Klein,
F. 1910.