DOCS.
138,
139
NOVEMBER
1915 143
138. To Berliner Goethebund
[Berlin,]
11
November
1915
To
the
Berliner Goethebund.
Highly
esteemed
Sirs,
If
I
am
to
express my opinion
on
war
in
a
truthful
manner,[1]
I
must
say
in
some
form
that
the
glorification
of
war
in
peace
as
well
as
the
fostering
of these
idea-emotion
complexes
which
prepare
for
war
in
peace,
must
be
counteracted
energetically by
all
genuine
friends
of
human
progress.
This includes in
my
view
everything
that
falls under
the
term
“patriotism.”
I must
agree unconditionally
with
Tolstoy
in
this
respect.[2]
If
I
cannot
express
this
idea
resolutely,
then
my
contribution
to
the
work undertaken
by you
awakens
a wrong
impression
about
my
attitude
in
this
matter,
which
I
would
definitely
like to
avoid.
I ask
you please
to
inform
me
upon
assessment
of
this
point
whether
you
con-
sider
the
publication of
a
contribution
by
me
desirable. Should
this
be
the
case,
I
would make
an
effort to
express
my
opinion
in
another
way.[3]
But
perhaps
it
is
better
to
abandon the contribution
entirely,
so
that
it
is
not
placed, quite
rightly,
under the
heading
of
a
memorable article
written
by
a
political
commentator
recently:
“The
Expert
as
a
Layman”!
With
all due
respect, yours very truly,
A.
Einstein.
139. To
David Hilbert
[Berlin,]
Friday.
[12
November
1915][1]
Highly
esteemed
Colleague,
I just
thank
you cordially
for
the
time
being
for
your
kind
letter.
The
prob-
lem
has meanwhile
made
new
progress. Namely,
it
is
possible
to exact
general
covariance from
the
postulate
-g
=
1;
Riemann’s tensor
then
delivers
the
grav-
itation
equations directly.
If
my present
modification
(which
does
not
change
the
equations)
is
legitimate,
then
gravitation
must
play
a
fundamental
role in
the
composition
of matter.[2]
My own curiosity
is
interfering
with
my
work! I
am
sending
you
two
copies
of
last
year’s
paper.[3]
I
have
only
two
other
intact
copies
myself.
If
someone
else
needs
the
paper,
he
can
easily purchase one,
of
course,
for
2
M
(as an
Academy offprint).
Cordial
greetings, yours,
Einstein.