324
DOCS.
421,
422 OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1912
421. To
Arnold Sommerfeld
[Zurich] Tuesday,
29
October
[1912][1]
Dear
Colleague,[2]
Your
friendly note
makes
me
feel
even more
embarrassed.
But I
assure you
that
I
have
nothing
new
to add
to
the
question
of
quanta
that
might
be
of
any
interest.[3]
I
agree
completely
with
the
Debije-Born
conception;[4]
I
find
nothing
to criticize
on
it. But
this advance
hardly
brings
us
closer to
the solution of the fundamental
difficulties.
At
any
rate, I
think
it
is
a
good thing if,
for
once,
Debije
also
gets
a hearing[5]
on
such
an
occasion
and has
the
opportunity
to
talk
with
others
working
on
this
problem; I
expect
very
much
from
him
because
he combines
a
great understanding
of
physics
with
rare
mathematical
abilities.
I
am now
working
exclusively on
the
gravitation
problem[6]
and
believe
that
I
can
overcome
all difficulties with
the
help
of
a
mathematician friend of
mine
here.[7]
But
one
thing
is
certain:
never
before
in
my
life have I
troubled
myself over anything so
much,
and I have
gained
enormous respect
for
mathematics,
whose
more
subtle
parts
I
considered until
now,
in
my
ignorance,
as
pure
luxury!
Compared
with this
problem,
the
original
theory
of
relativity
is
child's
play.
Though
Abraham's
new
theory
is, as
far
as
I
can
see,
logically
correct,
it
is
nevertheless
a
monster
spawned by
embarrassment.[8]
The
present
relativity
theory
is
surely
not
as
wrong
as
Abraham
says
it
is.
I hope
we
will
see
each other
again
soon,[9]
but
not for
the
express
purpose
of
conveying yet again our inability
to
understand
the
behavior of the
systems
at
very
low
temperatures!
With
best
regards,
also
to
your
wife and
her
children,[10]
and from
my wife,
I
remain
yours,
A.
Einstein
422. To
August Hagenbach
Zurich, 5
November
[1912][1]
Dear
Colleague,
A
young physicist by
name
of
Ratnowski,
whom I
got
to know and
appreciate
a
few
semesters
ago,[2]
came
to
see me
today.
He told
me
that
Mr.
Tanner
is
leaving Basel,[3]
and
that
he
would
like to
apply
for the vacant
assistantship.
I
feel it
a
pleasant
duty
to
recommend
this
young
man
to
you warmly.
He
has
already
done
independent
experimental
and theoretical
work,
not
exactly outstandingly,
but
quite
solidly.
In
addition
he
was
Kleiner's assistant for
one
semester.[4] Mr. Kleiner told
me
himself that
he
was
quite
satisfied with
the
man, who, moreover,
is
about
to
habilitate
at
the