218
DOCS.
299,
300 OCTOBER
1911
experimentally proved.
For
all the
rest,
it
is
of
course very
important
to
have
a
clear
picture
of
the
extent
of
our
knowledge
with
respect to
the
radiation
law:
may
one
have
a go
at
it,
for
example,
with
an
absolute minimum
of the
delay
time
of
an
electron?
By
the
way,
I
can no
longer
remember what
eventuality
I
had in mind in the
passage you
failed to understand.[7]
Maschinchen.
What
additional
changes
has
Habicht
made, with
the
reported
good
results?[8]
what
happened to
the
grain
of dust?
Ehrenfest's result
is
very
interesting,
of
course.[9] I
would
certainly
like to
read
the
paper.
What
I
said
about
dissociation[10] is
in fact
simply
what
one
immediately
realizes
about
the
incompatibility
of
the
presence
of
a
gaseous
atmosphere
around
a
celestial
body
and the existence
of
a
perfect
thermal
equilibrium, namely: no
matter
how low the
temperature,
there
are
always gas
molecules whose kinetic
energy
is higher
than
the
potential energy
of
gravitation.
One
would
think that
a
temperature-dependent
equilibrium state
nevertheless
exists if
one
considers
not
one,
but
a
multitude of
such
bodies;
but
it
seems
to
me
that the
general theory
of heat
answers
that
in
the
negative:
the
potential energy
stays
above the critical value at all
temperatures
if
there
is
thermal
equilibrium.
I
expect
another
report
from
you, along
with the coordinates
(see my
last
letter),
after
the Brussels witches'
sabbath
(-when does the
fun
begin-?).[11]
Many
cordial
greetings
from
our
family
to yours-how
are
the children?
I
still did
not manage
to
get
hold of
Julie
Romain!-so,
from all
of
us
to all
of
you!
Your
M.
and
A.
Besso[12]
What
with all
those
travels,
Mrs.
Einstein
probably
had
no
time to write
to
us
either.
But
now
she
should
be able
to
do
so again; we
shall
be
delighted
to
hear from her
and,
through
her, from all
of
you!
What
would she
choose,
Utrecht
or
Zurich?[13]
Or
perhaps
even
.
.
.
Prague?
Now
that the
acquaintances
and friends
are
there
again
and
you
are
getting
ever more
adjusted to
the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of
the
milieu,
could this
not
be
what
will
happen, perhaps?
And
how did the
housemaid
story end?[14]
Once
again,
best
regards
from all
of
us!
Your
M. B.
300.
To
Mileva Einstein-Maric
[Frankfurt/Main,
28
October
1911]
Dear
little
wife,
I
traveled
with
an elderly
gentleman
and
spent
the
best
part
of
the
night
in
interesting
conversation
with
him.[1]
He
is
a
South-German
physician.
Around
1
in
the
morning I
found the
ham,
and
deeply
moved and
overcome
by
affection
and
tenderness,