342
DOC. 452
JULY
1913
452. Expert Opinion
on
the Habilitation Petition
of
Otto Stern
[Zurich,]
15
July
1913
Expert Opinion
on
the Habilitation Petition of
Dr. O.
Stern[1]
I have known
Dr.
Stern for the
past
two
years
and had
ample
opportunity
to
convince
myself
of
this
young
man's
independence
of
scientific
judgment,
stubborn
perseverance,
and
ability.[2]
Originally a physical
chemist,
he
quickly
acquainted
himself
with the
methodology
of theoretical
physics.
Of the enclosed
papers,
I shall
here
mention
only briefly
his dissertation,
and
an
investigation
in
the
theory
of heat that
he
carried
out
jointly
with
me;[3]
for these
two
pieces
of work
still
cannot
be viewed
as
independent
achievements.
By
contrast,
the
enclosed
paper,
"Zur kinetischen Theorie
des
Dampfdruckes
..."
["On
the Kinetic
Theory
of
Vapor
Pressure
..."],
which
is
submitted
for habilitation, is
an
entirely
independent work.[4]
The theoretical
determination of the
vapor pressure
of
solids
is
a
problem
that
acquired
great importance
on
account
of Nernst's heat theorem and that
many
of
today's
ablest
physicists
have
therefore
tackled, though
these efforts
have not
achieved
the desired
goal.
In the
past
year,
Sackur
finally
found
a
formula that
agreed
with
experience
to within
the
margins
of
error;[5]
but Sackur's
attempt
to
provide
a
theoretical foundation
for this
formula
must
be considered
unsuccessful,
because
in
order
to
carry
out
the derivation
Sackur
had
to invoke
hypotheses
about molecular motion
in
gases
that lacked
any justification.
Mr.
Stern
now
succeeded
in
deriving
this
formula
using
the methods of
the
kinetic
theory
of
gases,
without
having
to
resort
to
any special
hypotheses
whatsoever.
In
the
opinion
of
the
referee,
this
derivation
is
a
scientific
achievement of
lasting
value.
The method
devised
by
Mr.
Stern,
which
permitted
him
to achieve his
goal
in
an astonishingly simple way,
demonstrates unusual talent.
In
several lectures
that
Mr.
Stern
gave
in
the
colloquium,
he showed
that
he has
great
talent for
teaching. Also,
in
the
opinion
of
all
those
who
came
into
contact with
him here, he is
a
candid and kind
man.
Prof.
Weiss[6]
and the referee induced
Dr.
Stern
to submit
the
present
habilitation
petition
in
the
conviction
that
our
institution
would
gain
in him
an
able
teacher.
I
recommend
most
warmly
that
this habilitation
petition
be
accepted.
A.
Einstein