DOCS. 333-335
DECEMBER
1911-JANUARY
1912
245
but
run
at
different
heights
above the surface of the
earth.
An
estimate
shows
that
if
the
area
between
the
two
paths
measured several
square
kilometers,
one
would
obtain
a
quite
remarkable
displacement
of
the band.
And
already
years ago,
Michelson
offered
to
carry
out
an
interference
experiment
in which such
an area
would
measure one
square
kilometer
(Phil
Mag.
8
[1904]:
716).[7]
Perhaps you
should write
to
him
personally,
if
my
idea makes
sense
to
you.
Wishing
a
happy
New
Year
to
you
and
Mrs. Einstein, I
remain
yours very truly,
Dr.
M.
Laue
334.
From
Willem Julius
Beatenberg,
29
December
1911
Dear
Colleague:
I
just
received
a
request
from
Kamerlingh
Onnes
to
send him back
the
proofs
of
the
Enzyklopädie article, particularly
because of
Sommerfeld's
comments.[1]
Would
you
be
so
kind
as
to send
the
article
directly
to
Leiden?
K.
O.
is
willing
to
replace
the
proofs
immediately
with
other
ones
if
so
requested.- In
addition
to
the thanks of
the
faculty,
it
is
only fitting
that
I
express my
personal gratitude to
you
for
your
help
in
the
matter
of
our
vacant
position.[2]
I
am
waiting
impatiently
for
the
result.- A
few
days ago
I
had
the
pleasure
of
making Debye's personal
acquaintance;[3] we
arranged
a
rendezvous
in
Bern,
and
were
able
to
spend
several
hours
discussing
the
situations
and
talking
shop,
and
by
now we are
already
old
acquaintances.[4]
The violet
shift
of the Fraunhof
lines[5]
that
you
mentioned
could
nicely
cancel
the
gravitational
shift
and
thereby
save
it in
those
cases
where
no
red
shift has
been
observed.
The
common asymmetry
of the
dispersion
curve
acts in
the
same
sense,
I think.
This
is
a
complicated
business!
With
cordial
greetings, your
WHJ
335. To
Lucien and
Jeanne
Chavan-Perrin
[Prague,
January
1912][1]
Dear
Friends,
Our best thanks
for
the
sweet
congratulations,[2]
and
our
best
wishes
for the
New
Year.
See
you
soon
in Switzerland.
Your
old
A.
Einstein
[...][3]