320
DOCS.
413,
414
JULY-AUGUST
1912
when
the beam
is
brought
into
the
west-east
direction,
with
the
torque
changing
its
sign
when
the balance
is
commutated
by
180°.
As
I
established
through
calculation,
this effect
should be
quite
easy
to
measure.
Would
you,
perhaps,
be
so
kind
as
to
have this
simple
experiment-which
would have the
significance
of
an
experimentum
crucis-carried
out?
414.
Statement of Reasons for
Leaving
Prague
[Zurich,
3
August
1912][1]
I
intended
to
give a
statement
about
my
departure
from
Prague
already
some
time
ago,[2]
when various
news reports
surfaced
in
Prague,[3]
and
refrained
from
doing
so
only
because
I
did
not want to
make
a
public
matter
of
it
on
my
own
initiative.
I must
emphasize
that
I
had
no reasons
to be dissatisfied in
Prague.
I
gladly
accepted
the
appointment
in
Prague
because
at
that
time I
was
holding
a
position
here
in
Zurich
that
was
approximately equivalent
to
the Austrian
Extraordinariat and
was poorly
paid,[4]
while
as
the
successor
of Professor
Lippich,
I
was
presented
with
a
regular
chair
in
Prague,
with
a
fine
area
of
work.[5]
The
Ministry
was
extremely helpful
and
obliging
with
regard
to
my
appointment,
and
I also did
not
have
any
difficulties with
the education authorities
during my
work
in
Prague;
on
the
contrary,
all kinds of
minor
matters,
including
also
those
of
a
financial
nature,
were always
taken
care
of
in
accordance
with
my
wishes.[6]
My
institute
in
Prague
was
totally
adequate
for
my
purposes,
and
satisfactorily
equipped
in
every
respect.[7]
By
the
way,
it
is
not true
that
a magnificent
and
richly
endowed
physical
institute
is
being
set
up
here
in
Zurich
especially
for
me.[8]
I
found here
only
things
that
already existed, and,
after
all,
an
institute
is
of
little
importance
to
a
theoretical
physicist;
he
must
carry
his
institute
in his
head,
and all he
needs
in
addition
is
at most
a
few
books.
My
decision
to
leave
Prague
is
simply
due to
the
fact
that
at
my
departure
from
Zurich
I promised
that
I
would
gladly
return
under
acceptable
conditions.[9] Now I have
a
very
nice
teaching position
here, which
corresponds
to
that
of
an
Ordinary
Professor
in
Austria,[10]
and
the
only
other
things,
besides
my
earlier
promise,
that
especially
motivated
me
to
accept
the
appointment,
are
the
more
favorable
living
conditions that
distinguish
Zurich
from
Prague.
By
this I
am
not
alluding
to
the
situation
regarding
Prague's nationalities,
which
never
affected
or
inconvenienced
me,
but
merely
to
the
favorable
location of the
city
of Zurich
near
the lake and
the
mountains,
which
of
course
makes
it
very enticing
to
a
paterfamilias.
These
are
the
true
reasons
for
my departure
from
Prague.
All
presumptions
notwithstanding,
I did not feel
and did not
notice
any religious
prejudice. Also,
I do not believe
that
such consider-
ations
are
taken
into
account,
and
my
view is confirmed
by
the
fact
that the Vienna