200
DOCS.
279,
280 AUGUST
1911
except
for
some
gastro-enteritis,
in the
throes of
which Mr.
Heller[5]
found
me on
his
second
visit.[6]
He
is
a good
man,
very
grateful
to
you.
There
is
a
simple
solution
to
the
Schild-Chavan
affair.[7]
Schild
should
be
given
another
post,
in which he will be
better
supervised
and
not
so
stupid,
and his
present post
should
remain
unfilled,
so
that
Chavan
can
work
decently.
No
doubt
this
is
what
would be
best
from the
point
of
view
of
the business
at
hand
as
well
as
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
people
involved. Could
you give
Forrer[8]
some
advice
to
that
effect,
or
suggest
to him the
way
out? What
kind
of
an
impression
did the
remark-studded
notes
make
on you?[9]
Do
you
agree
in
general
with
my
conception? I
don't
know what
readings
to
recommend
to
you.
Why
don't
you
just
take
it
easy!
This would do
you
the
most
good.
Have
you
heard
anything
from
Zermelo?[10] I
had
a
visit from
my
friend
Besso,[11]
whom I have
frequently
mentioned
to
you.
I must
introduce
this
intelligent
man
to
you
one
of these
days,
if
possible.
All
of
my
colleagues are
away,[12]
so
that
my
life-apart from
correspondence
and
a
few
pressing literary
commitments-consists
in
contemplation.
With
best
wishes
to
you, your family,
and Mr. Heller, I
remain
your good
old
Einstein.
Dressed
in
a
most picturesque
uniform,
I
took
the
solemn oath of
office in
front of
the
viceroy
of Bohemia
yesterday,
putting to
use
my
Jewish "faith," which
I
put
on
again
for this
purpose.[3]
It
was a
comical
scene.
280.
From
Willem
Julius
[Utrecht]
26
August
1911
Knowing
that
your
letter
arrived
only
today
but that the
proofs
arrived
already
yesterday,[1]
I thought
yesterday
that the
envelopes
got
mixed
up;
and since
there
is
often
a
great
rush about the
proofs, I
sent
them
back
(after
very cursory
perusal)
by
return
mail-a
thing
I
now
regret.
I
understand
very
well
your
standpoint regarding
yet
another
change
of
residence;
nonetheless, I
am very
disappointed
that
we
must
give
up
the
hope
of
transplanting
you
to
our
milieu.[2]
Our
university
needs
a
capable representative
of
mathematical
physics,
and
I
was
looking
forward
very
much to
a
stimulating
scientific
contact with
you.
I find it
extremely interesting
that
gravitation
as
well could
cause a
shift
of
the
Fraunh.
lines
toward
the
red. Can
one see
this
already
from the
paper
you
sent
me,
or
will
you explain
it
later
on?
At
any
rate, I do not
yet
understand the
matter
after
the
admittedly
cursory reading
I
gave
it.
But
your
idea
is
certainly
too
good
for the
wastebasket,
even
if
it
were
to turn out
that
dispersion
must
cause
noticeable
shifts, since,
in
my
opinion,
the
two
causes are
not
mutually
exclusive.
As for
the
magnitude
of
the
shift due
to diffusion,
the
following
can
be
stated.