DOCS.
364,
365
FEBRUARY
1912 267
completely wrong.
There
will
probably
be
a
heavy
verbal duel between
us.[5]
I
have also
a
thing going
with
Nernst;
he has
found
a
proof
for the
grand
3d law
that
is
totally
wrong-so,
another
war
of
words
is
in
sight,
and it will be
a
grim
one.[6]
In addition, I
am wrestling
with
dispersion
in
the infrared. The
friction term is
absolutely
rotten.[7] I
don't
believe in
Haber's
2/hv axiom.[8]
Electrons
are
supposed
to
escape
without
velocity
in the
photoelectric
resonance
effect! You
can see
from
the
style
of
this
letter that
I too
have
gone
mad,
but
still
not
as
badly
as
Stark.[9] I
don't
believe in
the
dependence
of
the
on
the
[sic]
fluctuations that
are
produced
primarily by
the
y-rays.
It
is theoreticaly
impossible. Why
don't
you
ask
Mr.
Meyer[10]
whether the entire transfer of
energy
between
y-ray absorption
and the formation of
ions has
really
been
sufficiently
elucidated.
I believe
that
according
to him
the
shrapnel fragments
of the
same y-
absorption
event fall
into
both
chambers.[11] Unfortunately,
I have not
yet
been
able
to
find the time for
a more
thorough
analysis
of
the
experiment.
To
be
sure,
nothing
came
out
of
Brussels,
but
it
was a very
pretty
spectacle.[12]
No
one
could
bring up
anything
against
the
theory
of
fluctuations.
Of
course
Planck
put
up a
resistance,
but
he
was
driven
into
a
tight
corner.[13]
You will
see
it for
yourself.
But I still
understand the
thing
just
as
badly
as
I did then. True
enough,
the
quanta
do
what
they
are
supposed to do,
but
they
do
not exist,
like the
luminiferous ether
at rest.
At
present
the
latter
is turning
busily
in his
grave,
with the intention of
coming
back
to
life again-poor fellow.
I
thank
you again
with all
my
heart
for
the Christmas
presents
for
my
youngsters,[14]
but
please
do
not
send
anything
in the
future. The
pleasant
memories of
you
will
stay
alive
among
both
young
&
old
without
such
things.
Best
regards
to
you
and
Meyer,
but
not to
the
raving fortissimo,[15]
from
your
Einstein
365. To
Wilhelm
Wien
Prague,
24
February
[1912][1]
Highly
esteemed
Colleague:
I
am
sending
you
a
paper
for the
Annalen.[2]
I sweated
over
it
a
lot,
but
now
I
have
complete
confidence
in
the
thing.
Abraham's
theory
of
gravitation is
totally
unacceptable.[3]
Who
has
ever
been
so lucky as
to hit
upon
correct
equations
without
any
effort![4]
Now I
am
looking
into the
dynamics
of
gravitation.
But this will
not
go quickly!
Thank
you
for
your
card. With
best
regards,
yours very truly,
A.
Einstein
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