DOCS.
391,
392
MAY
1912 293
391. To
Elsa Löwenthal
[Prague,] Tuesday.
[7
May
1912][1]
Dear
Elsa,
Your
letter[2]
makes
me very
sad.
Both of
us are
poor devils,
each shackled
to
his
unrelenting
duties.
I
cannot
tell
you
how
sorry
I
am
for
you,
and how
much
I
would
like
to be
something
to
you.
But
if
we give
in to
our
affection for
each
other,
only
confusion
and
misfortune
will result. You know this
only
too well. But
you
should
never
think that
I
let
you
down. I love
you
and
I
showed it to
you honestly.
So
don't
put
my
mother
and
me
in
the
same
pigeonhole, I
beg
you![3]
I tell
you
once
again.
I love
you.
I would be
happy
if I
were
allowed
to walk
a
few
steps
at
your
side
even
if
only
from time
to
time,
or
if
I
could
otherwise
rejoice
in
being
close to
you.
I suffer
very
much
because I'm
not
allowed to love
truly,
to
love
a
woman
whom I
can
only
look
at. I
suffer
even more
than
you,
because
you
suffer
only
for
what
you
do
not
have.
But
all
the
same,
I bow to
the
inevitable to
prevent
even
greater
troubles.
So, keep
me
in fond remembrance and don't think of
me
with
bitterness! I
am as
tormented
as
you,
and
must
always
set
myself going
anew so as
not to succumb to
bitter
moods.
Kisses from
your
Albert
392. To
Wilhelm
Wien
Prague, 11 May
[1912][1]
Highly
esteemed
Colleague:
I
am
sending
you
herewith for the
Annalen
a
short addendum
to
the
paper
on
the
law
of
photochemical
equivalents.[2]
I
try
to
show
here that
it
is
the
frequency
of
the
radiation,
and
not
the
frequency
of
the
absorbing molecule,
which
is
determinative of
hv.[3]
This
seems
to
rule
out
many attempted interpretations
of
the
hv-law
in
that
it
rules
out
the
view
that the
molecule
decomposes
after
having
taken
up
an
internal
energy
of
a specific
magnitude.
With
kindest
regards,
yours sincerely,
A.
Einstein