l v i E D I T O R I A L M E T H O D
activities are printed in whole, part, or in summary. Significant contemporary
accretions are published as part of such texts.
Poems authored by Einstein are presented in Writings volumes. Poems sent to
Einstein are presented in Correspondence volumes if they are an integral part of a
letter; otherwise, they are described in the annotation and entered in the Calendar.
Authors and dates of known but unavailable items are cited, and any extant, im-
portant excerpts from the original are printed.
Einstein’s postscripts that serve only to extend greetings, have no independent
character, or are appended to letters by other authors are abstracted in the Calendar.
Letters whose content is clearly intended for publication are printed in the
Writings series, while those composed for a restricted audience appear in the
Correspondence series.
Prefaces to collective editions in whose composition Einstein took an active part
are included. Einstein’s prefaces to works other than his own, or to translations of
his own work, are excluded but calendared, unless their content warrants inclusion
as texts in a Writings volume. Excerpts are not published as texts.
Statements cited in an interview and presented in an unbroken block of text with-
out interjections from the interviewer are presented as texts in the Writings. Inter-
views that contain substantial blocks of quotations by Einstein but are in the more
typical interview format or juxtapose Einstein’s various pronouncements on a sub-
ject are placed in the Appendix. Inimitable expressions by Einstein in an interview
are placed in the Calendar of the relevant Correspondence volume.
Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics (KWIP) in
October 1917. Volume 8 included all significant correspondence dealing with the
Institute’s inception, extending from spring 1917 until spring 1918, except for two
cover letters to Einstein with enclosures informing him of financial matters. Letters
exchanged with two of the individuals who played an important part in defining the
nature of Einstein’s KWIP—Erwin Freundlich and Peter Debye—were given pref-
erence in this selection. All correspondence with Freundlich but only the two most
significant letters to Debye were included.
In the present volume, Einstein’s correspondence as director of the KWIP
increases substantially. Routine financial and administrative exchanges with
Einstein, as well as grant applications or solicitations to him, are omitted but cal-
endared. Unless they have particular significance in understanding Einstein’s de-
liberations or actions, all letters to and from Einstein as a member of the board of
directors (Direktorium) of the KWIP, or from him to the board of trustees (Kurato-
rium) and to other members of the board of directors of the KWIP, as well as third-
party documentation of his role as director of the KWIP, are abstracted in the Cal-
endar.