DOCS.
277,
278
NOVEMBER
1916 265
277. To Paul Ehrenfest
[Berlin,
17
November
1916]
Dear
Ehrenfest,
I
remember
that
you
showed
me
the
wonderful
experiment by
Hering;[1]
but
I
had
forgotten
that
you
had
called
my
attention
to
Ostwald’s
paper.[2]
My
most
stupid
conduct concerned Brownian
motion, though.
Now I
can’t find
your
in-
structive letter
anymore
(likewise
my
house
keys,
so,
to
make
matters
worse,
I
am
under
house
arrest);
thus
I
do not know
what
I
should ask
Miss
R.[3]
God
grant
me more
insight
(for
your letter);
I
can use
it.
I
have
reported
my
conversations
with
academicians to
Lorentz.[4]
On closer look at these
people,
all
animosity
dissolves. Lack of
insight,
sincere
good
will,
but
narrow-minded
worship
of false
gods
who send
ruin.
Cordial
greetings,
yours,
Einstein.
278. To
Hermann
Weyl
[Berlin,]
23
November
1916
Highly
esteemed
Colleague,
I
am
extremely pleased
that
you
have welcomed
the
general
theory of relativity
with such
warmth
and enthusiasm.
Although
the
theory
still has
many opponents
at
the
moment,
I console
myself
with
the
following
situation: The otherwise
established
average
brain
power
of the advocates
immensely surpasses
that
of
the
opponents!
This
is
objective
evidence, of
a
sort,
for
the naturalness
and
rationality
of
the
theory.
I
make
the
following
comment
on
your interesting presentations.[1]
I
also
came
belatedly to
the
view
that the
theory
becomes
more
perspicuous
when Hamilton’s
scheme
is
applied
and when
no
restrictions
are
put
on
the
choice
of
the
frame of
reference.[2] It is
true
that the
formulas
then
become somewhat
more
complicated
but
more
suitable
for
applications;
for
it
appears
that
free choice
of
the
reference
system
is
advantageous
in
the
calculations.[3] The connection between
the
general
covariance
requirement
and
the
conservation
laws
also becomes
clearer.[4]
It
turns
out,
though,
that the
Hamilton function to be used for
the
gravitational
field,
which
gives
the
generally
covariant
equations,
is
not
H
1
_
_
_
oFra
rß
2
2^9