EINSTEIN-BESSO
ON THE
MERCURY PERIHELION
357
theory.
It
seems
safe
to
push
down the
upper
limit for
at
least
the
bulk of
the
manuscript
to
March
1914,
when Einstein left Zurich
to
go
to Berlin.[56]
There
is
a
considerable
amount
of internal
and
external evidence
to
support
a more
precise dating
of
the
manuscript.
The
first
part
([pp.
1-17])
indicates
a
rather intricate
back and forth between Einstein and Besso. On
[pp.
1-7],
we see
Einstein
computing
the
field
of
the
sun.
On
[pp.
8-9],
Besso derives
a
differential
equation
for
the
perihelion
motion
in this field.
On
[pp.
10-12],
Einstein
gives
a
general
solution of
this
equation.
On
[p. 14],
Besso
applies
Einstein's solution
to the
case
at
hand
to find
an
expression
for
the
perihelion
advance that
can
be
checked
against
observation.
Finally,
on [pp.
15-17],
Besso summarizes the whole
argument. So,
[pp.
1-17]
form
a more or
less continuous
argument
to
which both Einstein and Besso contributed.
How
did
they
communicate?
There
is
very
little
explanatory
text
on
these
pages,
and the
calculations
are
done
in
a
rough
and
sketchy
fashion.
They
can
hardly
have
expected
the other
to
make
sense
of
their calculations without further
comments. All this
indicates
very
strongly
that
they
had the
opportunity
to
discuss the
matter in
person.
Einstein
was
living
in
Zurich
at
the
time,
Besso
in Gorizia,
near
Trieste. The
only
known occasion
on
which
they got together
in
the
period
of interest
(May
1913-March
1914)
is
a
visit with Einstein
by
Besso
in
June
1913.[57]
It thus
seems
plausible
that
at
least
[pp.
1-17]
were
written
during
this visit.
There
is
some
important
additional
evidence for
this
hypothesis.
[P.
2]
and
[pp.
16-17]
are
written
on
dated
pieces
of
paper. [Pp.
16-17]
are
written
on facing page
and
verso
of
a
letter from C.-E.
Guye
to
Einstein,
31 May
1913
(Vol. 5,
Doc. 443);
[p. 2]
is
written
on
the
verso
of
a printed
sheet
announcing a
Festschrift
for Gerold
Meyer
von
Knonau,
dated
"Zürich,
Ende
April
1913."
[Pp.
1-17]
are
by
no means typical
of the
manuscript.
In
fact, many pages hardly
show
any
sign
of collaboration.
[Pp.
36-40],
for
instance,
all in
Einstein's
hand, have
no
contributions from
Besso,
other
than
some
page
numbers.
[Pp.
45-53],
all in
Besso's
hand,
have
no
contributions from Einstein
whatsoever. It is
perfectly
conceivable that
a
substantial
part
of
the
manuscript
was
not
written
during
Besso's visit
to Zurich, but
at
a
later time.
As
a
matter
of
fact,
there
is
conclusive evidence that
at
least
one
page
was
not
written
during
Besso's June
1913
visit.
On
[p.
53],
Besso refers
to
the
published text
[56]There
are no
calculations
dealing
with
the covariance
properties
of the "Entwurf"
field
equations,
an
issue that became of central
concern
to
Einstein
in 1914.
The
upper
limit for
Einstein's contributions
to the
manuscript can
at
least
be
pushed
down
to
late
October
1914,
since
by
that time Einstein had
changed
the notation used
throughout
the
manuscript
for contravariant
tensors
(see
Einstein
1914k,
p.
1037).
[57]This
visit
is
mentioned
in
a
letter from Einstein
to
Jost
Winteler,
Besso's
father-in-law, 23
June
1913
(Vol. 5,
Doc.
447).
Einstein
wrote:
"Michele left
a
few
days ago
for Trieste
...
It
is
uncertain whether
he will
return"
("Michele ist
vor
wenigen
Tagen
nach Triest
abgereist
...
Es
ist unsicher,
ob
er
wieder kommen
wird").
Besso left
18
June
1913
(see
entry
of
18
June
1913,
Diary
"I," NeLR,
Ehrenfest
Archive, Notebooks,
ENB:4-15).
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