D O C . 2 3 5 D E C E M B E R 1 9 1 9 1 9 9 of money for each copy sold, similarly to what I proposed with my booklet?[2] For Mr. Freundlich, whose circumstances are fully known to me, it would be of real importance,[3] and also for Mr. Schlick it would be a well-deserved relief. I know very well that my request is very unusual, to have you make such an odd proposal to a publisher whom you do not know personally. But both these folks would deserve getting something. You could, of course, let the publisher know that I had asked you to write him. If it should be overly awkward for you to make my suggestion, then simply refrain from doing so. You then do not need to reopen the subject with me. It is only supposed to be a completely nonbinding suggestion. The article for Nature is already partly written.[4] I am unfortunately so over- whelmed with work that it is making only slow progress. Two young physicists in Bonn have now as good as securely verified the redshift of spectrum lines from the Sun and clarified the reasons for the previous failures.[5] With amicable regards to you, yours. We here, at the suggestion of the secretary of “Clarté,” are in the process of forming a local German Clarté chapter.[6] I hope that this excellent enterprise will reawaken the spirit of internationality. 235. To Edgar Meyer [Berlin, after 28 December 1919][1] Dear Mr. Meyer, I am writing in response to your very warm letter[2] only today because it took me so long to find a way out. For, if it is hard for me to say no in general, saying so to you is doubly hard.[3] You see, despite the insecure situation, I cannot turn my back on my colleagues here in these times. If Planck alone were here, I would not do it then either. I could not enjoy life anymore. What ruffled me so much in Zurich last year was not so much the behavior of subordinate employees as that of the uni- versity president. He actually complained to me that, as a result of my lecture, the university had sustained costs for heating the large auditorium.[4] On its own, this is a triviality but it is symptomatic nonetheless. If, aside from my boys, anything draws me to Zurich, then it is just you and your friends, who in the end are not so firmly rooted in Zurich, either. If you and Weyl went away, then I would be as iso- lated again personally as I was earlier. Ever since the power play has stopped, the
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