INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME
6
xxi
Neither did
he
change
his mind when first Friedmann and later Lemaitre
found nonstatic
cosmological
solutions. It would
take until
1931
before
Ein-
stein
finally accepted
the nonstatic character
of the universe and
rejected
his
cosmological
constant
as unnecessary
and
compromising
the
simplicity
of
his
field
equations.
IV
Two
documents
in
this
volume,
Docs.
12
and
19, are
of
a
special
character.
They
are
opinions
drawn
up by
Einstein
as
an expert
witness in
a
court
case
involving
a
patent dispute.
In
the fall of
1914
Einstein
became involved
in
a
conflict between
the
German firm Anschütz &
Co. and the
American
Sperry
Gyroscope Company.
The issue
was
the
design
of
a
gyrocompass.
The
epi-
sode resulted in
a
close
friendship
between Einstein and the
owner
of
the
Ger-
man
firm,
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe.[25]
The
gyrocompass goes
back
to
the work of
Leon
Foucault in the nineteenth
century
on
the
stability
of orientation of the axis of rotation of
a
spinning top
with
respect
to
the
revolving
earth. When the
use
of
iron
and the
proliferation
of electrical
apparatus on
board
ships
made the
use
of
a
magnetic
compass
more
and
more
problematic,
the
gyrocompass
made its
appearance as an
at-
tractive alternative. The Dutchman Martinus Gerardus
van
den Bos obtained
a patent on
an
early
form of
a gyrocompass
in
1885,[26]
but
his invention
nev-
er
worked
properly.
In 1903
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe designed
a
gyro-
compass
to
be used
on an expedition by
submarine
to
the North Pole
(which
never
took
place).
He
obtained
a
patent
on
the
design,[27]
and with
support
from the German
Navy
a
factory
was
established
at
Kiel in
1905.
In the USA
the
inventor
Elmer
Ambrose
Sperry
had
also
developed
a
gy-
rocompass.
Anschütz and
Sperry competed
in
a
market that
was
potentially
very profitable
because of the intensive
rearmament in
the
years
preceding
the First World
War.
When
Sperry
sold
a
compass
to
the German
Navy
in
May
1914,
Anschütz decided
to
sue
Sperry
for
patent infringement
before the
Königliches Landgericht
I
in Berlin.
Sperry's
defense
was
based
on
the claim
that the Anschütz
patent
did
not
add
anything
to
the old
patent
of
Van
den Bos
[25]See
Lohmeier and Schell
1992
for
more on
Anschütz-Kaempfe
and Einstein's relations
with him and his
firm.
Einstein's work
on
the
gyrocompass
also
stimulated him in his work
on
Ampere's
molecular
currents
(see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on Ampere's
Molecular Cur-
rents,"
p.
146).
[26]Deutsches Reichspatent D.R.P.
no.
34513,
awarded
1885.
[27]D.R.P.
no.
182855
in the
name
of
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe
and Friedrich
von
Schirach
(submitted 27
March
1904,
awarded
2
April 1907).
Previous Page Next Page

Extracted Text (may have errors)


INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME
6
xxi
Neither did
he
change
his mind when first Friedmann and later Lemaitre
found nonstatic
cosmological
solutions. It would
take until
1931
before
Ein-
stein
finally accepted
the nonstatic character
of the universe and
rejected
his
cosmological
constant
as unnecessary
and
compromising
the
simplicity
of
his
field
equations.
IV
Two
documents
in
this
volume,
Docs.
12
and
19, are
of
a
special
character.
They
are
opinions
drawn
up by
Einstein
as
an expert
witness in
a
court
case
involving
a
patent dispute.
In
the fall of
1914
Einstein
became involved
in
a
conflict between
the
German firm Anschütz &
Co. and the
American
Sperry
Gyroscope Company.
The issue
was
the
design
of
a
gyrocompass.
The
epi-
sode resulted in
a
close
friendship
between Einstein and the
owner
of
the
Ger-
man
firm,
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe.[25]
The
gyrocompass goes
back
to
the work of
Leon
Foucault in the nineteenth
century
on
the
stability
of orientation of the axis of rotation of
a
spinning top
with
respect
to
the
revolving
earth. When the
use
of
iron
and the
proliferation
of electrical
apparatus on
board
ships
made the
use
of
a
magnetic
compass
more
and
more
problematic,
the
gyrocompass
made its
appearance as an
at-
tractive alternative. The Dutchman Martinus Gerardus
van
den Bos obtained
a patent on
an
early
form of
a gyrocompass
in
1885,[26]
but
his invention
nev-
er
worked
properly.
In 1903
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe designed
a
gyro-
compass
to
be used
on an expedition by
submarine
to
the North Pole
(which
never
took
place).
He
obtained
a
patent
on
the
design,[27]
and with
support
from the German
Navy
a
factory
was
established
at
Kiel in
1905.
In the USA
the
inventor
Elmer
Ambrose
Sperry
had
also
developed
a
gy-
rocompass.
Anschütz and
Sperry competed
in
a
market that
was
potentially
very profitable
because of the intensive
rearmament in
the
years
preceding
the First World
War.
When
Sperry
sold
a
compass
to
the German
Navy
in
May
1914,
Anschütz decided
to
sue
Sperry
for
patent infringement
before the
Königliches Landgericht
I
in Berlin.
Sperry's
defense
was
based
on
the claim
that the Anschütz
patent
did
not
add
anything
to
the old
patent
of
Van
den Bos
[25]See
Lohmeier and Schell
1992
for
more on
Anschütz-Kaempfe
and Einstein's relations
with him and his
firm.
Einstein's work
on
the
gyrocompass
also
stimulated him in his work
on
Ampere's
molecular
currents
(see
the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on Ampere's
Molecular Cur-
rents,"
p.
146).
[26]Deutsches Reichspatent D.R.P.
no.
34513,
awarded
1885.
[27]D.R.P.
no.
182855
in the
name
of
Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe
and Friedrich
von
Schirach
(submitted 27
March
1904,
awarded
2
April 1907).

Help

loading