DOCS.
51,
52
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
1915 65
51. To
Wilhelm
Waldeyer
[Berlin,]
27 January 1915
Highly
esteemed
Colleague,[1]
Tied to
my
bed with
a
cold,
it
is unfortunately
impossible
for
me
to
attend
Mr. Auwers’s funeral
today.[2]
I shall
probably
not be able
to participate
in
the
ceremonial
meeting
of
the
Academy[3]
tomorrow either.
With
all due
respect, yours very truly,
A. Einstein.
52. To Hendrik A. Lorentz
[Berlin,]
Wednesday,
3 February
[1915][1]
Highly
esteemed and dear Prof.
Lorentz,
Your
telegram,
which I received
on
Saturday,
moved
me
very
much.
It
shows
your
great philanthropy
and
at
the
same
time
your
kind
sympathy
for human
weakness
(injured
author’s
pride!).
On
this,
Heine’s
quote:
But
if
you
do not
praise
my
verses,
I
shall divorce
myself
from
you.[2]
The
theoretician
is led astray
in
two sorts
of
ways:
1)
The
devil leads him
up
the
garden
path
with
a
false
assumption.
(For
this
he deserves
pity.)
2)
He
argues
inaccurately
and
sloppily.
(For
this
he deserves
a thrashing.)
According
to
your
first
letter
I
deserve
a
sound
thrashing
(case
2).
But
now
from
the
telegram
and
your friendly
postcard I
can
hope
to be
placed
under the
conciliatory
and decent rubric
(1).
I
spend many happy
hours with
your children,
even
taking
aside
the
gyromag-
netic
effect,
the
existence
of
which
seems soon
to
be
adequately
established.[3]
Affectionate
greetings
and
once
again many
thanks!
Yours,
A. Einstein.