E D I T O R I A L M E T H O D l x i i i
The German convention of abbreviating the double consonants “mm” and “nn”
by placing a bar over the single consonant is not followed. In cases where the author
has used an almost shorthand form to designate the endings “ung” and “ungen,” the
word is transcribed in its full form.
The use of “J” for “I” in typed originals or transcriptions is rendered in its mod-
ern usage: “I.” As Einstein does not differentiate between a Latin “I” and a Gothic
“I,” both are rendered in Latin.
The older convention in German of writing an adjectival indicator of a proper
name separately from the name itself is modernized: for example, “Tetrode’sche”
is rendered “Tetrodesche.”
Where an author does not provide a hyphen for a word that is broken in the orig-
inal at the end of the line and the beginning of the next line and there is no capital-
ization of the first letter on the next line, the word is transcribed as if it were hy-
phenated.
Where lack of punctuation might prove confusing in understanding a passage,
an extra space is left in the text.
When part of an equation is canceled for calculational purposes, it will be noted
by a diagonal line running from the upper right to the lower left to differentiate it
from a deletion.
Superscript and subscript interlineations are brought down to the line; interlin-
eation is noted when significant.
Where quotation marks are introduced in idiosyncratic fashion, their use is con-
ventionalized.
Where Einstein uses a superscript × and an * for the same purpose, it is uniform-
ly rendered as *.
Spaced type (“Sperrdruck”) in the original is rendered in italics unless it occurs
in proper names, in which case it is rendered in roman characters. Proper names
rendered in small capitals in the original are changed to first-letter capitalization.
ANNOTATION
Editorial notes discuss the content and context of a text or a theme common to a
number of texts.
Endnotes elaborate on specific references to persons, places, literature, scientific
developments, organizations, and events that were familiar to the author and
intended audience of a text but not necessarily to contemporary readers; wherever
possible, primary sources are cited for all such information. An endnote to the
bracketed dateline of an undated text without a postmark is used to explain the