556
DOCS. 534-536
MAY
1918
I’ve
been
reading:
Musaeus’s
Folk Tales[7]
in
bed,
with boundless
pleasure.-
You know what? That’s
a
fine thing
for
low
moments.
Warm
regards.
Yours,
P. Ehrenfest.
535. To
Hermann
Weyl
[Berlin,
10
May
1918]
Dear
Colleague,
On
May
2nd
your paper
with
your
addendum
was
accepted by
the
Academy
for
the
Sitzungsberichte.[1]
The
brief
summary
also arrived in
time
to
appear.
So
it all went
as
desired,
thank
heavens.
I must
tell
you again,
though,
that
I
am
firmly
convinced
that,
as interesting as
it
is, your
line of
reasoning
does
not
correspond
to
reality;[2]
your
rejoinder[3]
did not
persuade
me,
but
lengthy
written
disputations
would
perhaps
not be
very
fruitful.
I
think
you
will
discard
this
interpretation
again
of
your own
accord.
Your corrected treatment
of
the
zone problem
is
still not clear to
me.
I
absolutely
do
not understand
why
an
equatorial
fluid
distribution
should be
impossible.[4]
I
do not
understand
at
all
the
reason provided
at
the
top
of
p.
226[5]
The
possibility
of
a
world
filled
only equatorially
with matter
seems
beyond
dis-
pute;
the
boundary
condition
p
=
0
is
fulfillable
for
both
spheres.
With best
regards, yours,
Einstein.
I
called
Springer
to have them wait for
your
instructions in
the
matter
but
do
not
know whether it
is
still
possible.[6]
536.
To
Ilse Einstein
[Berlin,
12
May
1918]
Dear
Secretary,[1]
With
me,
action
only
inhabits
my
head.
Rarely
does
it
stray
down into
my
fingertips.
But
my joy
at
your
letter and
the
pretty
avian card
brings
it about.
The
fowl appealed
to
me
inversely
proportionally
to its
size.
The little
nest
and
its
surroundings seem
to be
very nice,
veritable
nature,
almost
unspoilt by
humans.[2]
Some things
have in fact arrived for
the
Institute,
although
nothing