EINSTEIN, ALBERTBiblio.com
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1908Best.-Nr. 2507Leipzig: S. Hirzel 1908. First edition. original wrappers. Very Good. THE BIRTH OF GENERAL RELATIVITY: FIRST PRINTING IN RARE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF ONE ONE EINSTEIN'S MOST IMPORTANT PAPERS; containing the beginning of general relativity the derivations of the equivalence principle gravitational redshift and the gravitational bending of light. "Einstein's road to general relativity began in November 1907 when he was struggling against a deadline to finish an article for a science yearbook explaining his special theory of relativity. Two limitations of that theory still bothered him: it applied only to uniform constant-velocity motion. and it did not incorporate Newton's theory of gravity. "'I was sitting in a chair in the patent office at Bern when all of a sudden a thought occurred to me' he recalled. 'If a person falls freely he will not feel his own weight.' That realization which 'startled' him launched him on an arduous eight-year effort to generalize his special theory of relativity and 'impelled me toward a theory of gravitation.' Later he would call it 'the happiest though in my life.' "The tale of the falling man has become an iconic one and in some accounts it actually involves a painter who fell from the roof of an apartment building near the patent office. Einstein refined his thought experiment so that the falling man was in an enclosed chamber such as an elevator in free fall above the earth. In this falling chamber at least until it crashed the man would feel weightless. Any objects he emptied from his pocket and let loose would float alongside him. "Looking at it another way Einstein imagined a man in an enclosed chamber floating in deep space 'far removed from stars and other appreciable masses.' He would experience the same perceptions of weightlessness. 'Gravitation naturally does not exist for this observer. He must fasten himself with strings to the floor otherwise the slightest impact against the floor will cause him to rise slowly towards the ceiling.' "Then Einstein imagined that a rope was hooked onto the roof of the chamber and pulled up with a constant force. 'The chamber together with the observer then begin to move "upwards" with a uniformly accelerated motion.' The man inside will feel himself pressed to the floor. 'He is then standing in the chest in exactly the same way as anyone stands in a room of a house on our earth. The man in the chamber will come to the conclusion that he and the chest are in a gravitational field. Just then however he discovers the hook in the middle of the lid of the chest and the rope which is attached to it and he consequently comes to the conclusion that the chamber is suspended at rest in the gravitational field.' Einstein observed that inertial mass always equals gravitational mass and through his thought experiments concluded that "From this correspondence it follows that it is impossible to discover by experiment whether a given system of coordinates is accelerated or whether. the observed effects are due to a gravitational field." "Einstein called this 'the equivalence principle.' The local effects of gravity and of acceleration are equivalent. "In 1907 working against the deadline imposed by the Yearbook of Radioactivity and Electronics Einstein tacked on a fifth section to his article on relativity that sketched out his new ideas. He also came up with many predictions that could be tested including that light should be bent by gravity and that the wavelength of light emitted from a source with a large mass such as the sun should increase slightly in what has become known as the gravitational redshift. "It would take Einstein another eight years until November 1915 to work out the fundamentals of this theory and find the math to express it. Then it would take another four years before the most vivid of his predictions the extent to which gravity would bend light was verified by dramatic observations. But at least Einstein now had a vision one that started him on the road toward one of the most elegant and impressive achievements in the history of physics: the general theory of relativity" Isaacson Einstein 145-49. Weil in his bibliography also notes that "On p.443 are probably the first explicit statements both of the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass and of the equation for mass in terms of energy now regarded as the theoretical basis for the release of atomic energy." Weil 21. Although Einstein submitted the paper on 4 December 1907 it wasn't published until the January 22 issue of the Jarbuch. Note: There was a very short "Correction" in a subsequent issue not included here. IN: Jahrbuch der Radioactivität under Electronik Vierter Band - 4. Heft No. 16 pp. 411-462. Leipzig: S. Hirzel 1908. Octavo original wrappers; handsome custom box. Light wear to wrappers and split to spine; text fine with Einstein paper largely unopened. AN EXTREMELY RARE COPY IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF ONE OF EINSTEIN'S MOST IMPORTANT PAPERS. S. Hirzel unknown
1930Best.-Nr. 138499New York: Albert & Charles Boni 1930. First edition of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein's stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo original cloth frontispiece of Einstein. Signed and dated by Einstein in the year of publication on the front free endpaper "Albert Einstein 1930." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Rare signed and in the original dust jacket. Albert Einstein developed the general theory of relativity one of the two pillars of modern physics alongside quantum mechanics. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "services to theoretical physics" in particular his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory David Bodanis. Albert & Charles Boni hardcover
1918Best.-Nr. 2839London: Fleetway Press 1918. FIRST EDITION. Original wrappers. Fine. THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF EINSTEIN'S GENERAL RELATIVITY TO THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. The groundbreaking first edition 1918 with the second edition 1920 containing the account of Eddington's 1919 expedition proving Einstein's theory both in original wrappers. "Einstein's discovery of the General Theory of Relativity was communicated to the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1915. Because of the First World War direct communication with physicists in Germany was not possible but the papers were forwarded to Eddington who was then Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society by Willem de Sitter a personal friend of Eddington's in neutral Holland. The theory is of considerable mathematical complexity but as Einstein stated in the last paragraph of his paper 'scarcely anyone who has fully understood this theory can escape from its magic'. Eddington was the ideal expositor of these ideas in English and within 2 years had written his Report on the Relativity Theory of Gravitation for the Physical Society of London" Malcolm Longair "Bending Space-time". The second edition is notable for containing a new preface that discusses the results of the "eclipse expedition" led by Eddington that verified General Relativity and catapulted Einstein into world-wide fame. This preface precedes Eddington's full report in the Philosophical Transactions. Provenance: Almost certainly Nobel Prize winning physicist's Charles Glover Barkla's copy of the 1918 report with an original 1918 receipt in Barkla's name laid in. Barkla won the 1917 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements". London: Fleetway Press for The Physical Society of London 1918 and 1920. Octavo original wrappers; custom box. General light wear to wrappers. Beautiful copies. RARE. Fleetway Press unknown
1949Best.-Nr. 250705Evanston: Library Of Living Philosophers 1949. First Limited edition. Hardcover. fine /no glassine. Karsh frontis photos facs. Octavo publisher's green cloth bevelled edges in a custom-made clamshell cloth box with morocco spine labels Numbered copy 161 of only 760 numbered copies. Autographed: "Albert Einstein 49." Contains Einstein's own "Autobiographical Notes bi-lingual text German & English" and "Remarks to the Essays Appearing in this Collective Volume". Includes a Bibliography of Einstein's writings to 1949. At least 6 of the 25 contributors to this volume were awarded the Nobel Prize in Science. The contributors include Niels Bohr "Discussion with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics" Kurt Godel F.S.C. Northrop Wolfgang Pauli etc. Illustrated with Yousuf Karsh's frontispiece portrait of Einstein photos facsimiles. Boni BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHECKLIST 512. Library Of Living Philosophers hardcover
1949Best.-Nr. 140948474Evanston Illinois: The Library of Living Philosophers Inc 1949. Signed Limited First Edition. Near Fine. First edition. Number 508 of a limited 760 copies signed and dated by Albert Einstein. 777 pp. Bound in publisher's brown leatherette stamped in gilt; top edge gilt; lacking the glassine dust jacket and slipcase. Text in English and German. Near Fine with very faint tidemark to edge of half-title frontisportrait and title page. A collection of critical essays devoted to the theoretical physicist by twenty-five eminent scholars and scientists with Einstein's remarks. Published on Einstein's 70th birthday the work has contributions by noted contemporaries such as Max Born Kurt Godel and Wolfgang Pauli. The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc unknown
1923Best.-Nr. 1272041923. Lithograph portrait of "the father of modern physics" Albert Einstein by well-known artist Hermann Struck. Signed by Einstein "Albert Einstein 1923" and Struck "Herman Struck 138/150". In fine condition. Matted and framed the entire piece measures 19.75 inches by 15.5 inches. An exceptional piece. Hermann Struck was a German Jewish artist known for his etchings. In 1908 Struck published "Die Kunst des Radierens" "The Art of Etching" which became a seminal work on the subject. His students included Marc Chagall Lovis Corinth Jacob Steinhardt Lesser Ury and Max Liebermann. Struck did commissioned portraits of Albert Einstein Ibsen Nietzsche Freud Herzl Oscar Wilde among others. unknown
1922Best.-Nr. 792Berlin: Springer 1922. First Edition. Wrappers. Near fine. 2 vols. in German the first appearance of 2 distinct papers in 2 separate periodical issues September 13 and November 17. Both are complete in original wrappers. Near fine small pencil name on the Nov. cover. Seems to be surprisingly rare. RBH lists no auction sales of Friedmann's article title and date since 1975 and only one copy of it is listed by OCLC but copies of the bound annual Zeitschrift für Physik are regularly available and should not in this case be considered in any way equivalent to our set in publisher's wrappers. 1. Friedmann's pioneering paper the first to seriously apply general relativity to cosmology without the stabilizing cosmological constant theorizing and mathematically formularizing an expanding universe dragging cosmology into a branch of physics. In Zeitschrift für Physik Band 10 He 16 September 13 1922 pages 377-386 "Here we have for the first time the idea of an expanding universe originating in a singularity-a big-bang." -Helge Kragh Cosmology and Controversy page 24. 2. Einstein's critical remarks on Friedmann's paper that he retracted in 1923. In Zeitschrift für Physik Band 11 He 4/5 November 17 1922 page 326. Springer unknown
1924Best.-Nr. 33984London: Methuen & Co. Ltd 1924. Second Edition. Second Edition. Signed by Author. SIGNED Copy. The uncommon second UK edition. 8vo. 123pp. A near fine copy in a very good or better dustwrapper showing a few small chips at the extremities. Nicely signed by Einstein on the front free endpaper in blue fountain pen in full: "Albert Einstein. 1949". Neat prize inscription dated 1942 Liverpool University just above the signature. Very rarely seen signed. Weil 124a for the 1st edition - no mention of the 1924 2nd. Custom slipcase in fine condition. Methuen & Co. Ltd unknown
1922Best.-Nr. Bergson2EINSTEIN BERGSON Henri 1859-1941 Autograph letter signed " Henri Bergson " to Jean Becquerel Paris 24 September 1922 16 pages in-8° with envelope Some typographic pencil notes A highly significant letter on the issues and interpretation of the theory of relativity This intervention of the philosopher continues up to this day to create multiple controversies We transcribe here only a few fragments of this letter which although known in its substance has remained unpublished to this day " Monsieur et cher collègue J'ai bien tardé à répondre à la lettre si intéressante et si importante que vous avez bien voulu m'adresser. C'est qu'elle est allée me chercher de divers côtés et m'a atteint en Suisse à un moment où j'étais pris à Genève par le travail de " Coopération intellectuelle " qui nous avait été confié par la Société des nations. Me voici de retour à Paris ; je profite de mes premiers instants de liberté pour vous écrire. Le passage essentiel de votre lettre est naturellement celui qui concerne le voyage en boulet. Laissez-moi reprendre ce que j'ai dit dans mon livre Durée et simultanéité paru à l'été 1922 en y joignant quelques explications complémentaires. Il y a d'abord deux remarques importantes à faire. 1° Si l'on se place en dehors de la Théorie de la Relativité on conçoit un mouvement absolu et par là même une immobilité absolue ; il y aura dans l'univers des systèmes réellement immobiles. Mais si l'on pose que tout mouvement est relatif que devient l'immobilité Ce sera l'état du système de référence je veux dire du système où le physicien se suppose placé à l'intérieur duquel il se voit prenant des mesures et auquel il rapporte tous les points de l'univers. … 2° Si l'on se place en dehors de la Théorie de la Relativité on conçoit très bien un personnage Pierre absolument immobile au point A à côté d'un canon absolument immobile ; on conçoit aussi un personnage Paul intérieur à un boulet qui est lancé loin de Pierre se mouvant en ligne droite d'un mouvement uniforme absolu vers le point B et revenant ensuite en ligne droite et d'un mouvement uniforme absolu encore au point A. Mais du point de vue de la Théorie de la Relativité il n'y a plus de mouvement absolu ni d'immobilité absolue … Paul une fois lancé dans l'espace n'est plus qu'une représentation de l'esprit une image — ce que j'ai appelé un " fantôme " ou encore une " marionnette vide ". C'est ce Paul en route ni vivant ni conscient n'existant plus que comme image qui est dans un Temps plus lent que celui de Pierre. … Le Paul qui sort du boulet au retour du voyage le Paul qui fait de nouveau partie alors du système de Pierre est quelque chose comme un personnage qui sortirait en chair et en os de la toile où il était représenté en peinture : c'était à la peinture et non pas au personnage c'était à Paul référé et non pas à Paul référant que s'appliquaient les raisonnements et les calculs de Pierre pendant que Paul était en voyage. … Je ne voudrais pas clore sans saisir l'occasion qui s'offre à moi de vous dire combien m'a intéressé et instruit votre beau livre sur " Le principe de relativité " et la " Théorie de la gravitation " – livre indispensable à tous ceux qui ont le souci d'approfondir la théorie d'Einstein. Veuillez Monsieur et cher collègue agréer l'expression de mes sentiments les plus distingués et dévoués H. Bergson " In publishing Durée et simultanéité published by Alcan in the summer of 1922 Bergson was taking a risk that he probably did not measure himself. The purpose of this essay was to discuss the philosophical issues of the theory of relativity. The criticism of his scientific colleagues was not long in coming. Those of Einstein in the first place deploring the "blunders" or "dumplings" of the philosopher. In France it was Jean Becquerel who opened fire with a letter addressed directly to the author and of which this document constitutes the reply. At the time Becquerel held a chair of applied physics at the Museum of Natural History. He wrote a textbook entitled Le Principe de relativité et la théorie de la gravitation Gauthier-Villars 1922 which made him one of the first introducers of Einsteinian theory in the French context. Two sources give an idea of the content of Becrerel's letter: his article published the following year "Critique de l'ouvrage durée et Simultaneity de M. Bergson" Bulletin scientifique des étudiants de Paris 10 2 March-April 1923 and the extract given by Bergson himself in the first of three appendices added to the 1923 edition of Durée et simultanéité – appendix which also contains with a few lines the entirety of his answer. Bergson then chose to preserve the anonymity of his correspondent in order to avoid giving the impression of a "polemic" according to the interview of December 30 1923 with Jacques Chevalier. He merely evokes "a letter very interesting which was addressed to us by a most distinguished physicist." The discussion crystallizes on a specific point: the interpretation of the slowdown of moving clocks predicted by the theory. The famous "twin paradox" attributed to Paul Langevin provides a pictorial version of the problem as part of a Jules Verne-style narrative: an astronaut here "Paul" embarked on a "ball journey" would find himself on his return younger than his twin brother who remained on Earth here "Pierre" as if time had passed less quickly for him! In his letter Becquerel insists on the fact that the theory of relativity speaks of time actually measured on both sides by observers in relative motion. Bergson repeats by clarifying it the argument developed in his book namely that the differences relate less to real times than to fictitious times that is to say times attributed to other observers who acquire at the same time the status of simple images or "ghosts". Thus the "dilation" of durations associated with the slowing down of moving clocks is only a "perspective effect". Bergson is led to this conclusion by a strict interpretation of the principle of relativity: between two observers in relative motion there is a "perfect symmetry" each can consider itself motionless or mobile with respect to the other. Multiple empirical confirmations have since objectively proved the philosopher wrong but the question of the status of time in relativity as well as that of the relevance of the arguments exchanged continues to fuel contemporary philosophical debates. In that sense that letter constitutes a key part of the case. We thank Mr. Elie During for the information he kindly communicated to us
1949Best.-Nr. 32820623Original brown cloth top edge gilt publisher's slipcase. Very fine with the fragile slipcase in excellent condition. A superb copy. FIRST EDITION. One of 760 numbered copies signed and dated by Einstein. This important volume contains Einstein's autobiography specially written for the book a bibliography of his works twenty-five scientists' discussions of Einstein's work and achievements with Einstein's replies. Contributors of essays include Niels Bohr Max Born Wolfgang Pauli and Kurt Godel. I. I. Rabi's review in Science hailed this as a "most important and significant volume. It is most difficult to get scientists to write simply and clearly about the fundamentals of their science and the leading philosophical ideas that guide them. … In this book there is played out a great scientific drama of the last two decades. … The book starts with an intellectual autobiography by Einstein himself. He satirically calls it his obituary. I know of no other to compare with it. Neither Newton nor Maxwell nor any of the other great giants of physics had his Schilpp the editor to catalyze such an effort. After reading Einstein's article one realizes the great loss this is to scientific culture" Science 21 April 1950. This is an especially fine signed copy of an important book in the Einstein canon Library of Living Philosophers, hardcover
1934Best.-Nr. 1478Princeton: np 1934. 1st Edition. No Binding. Very Good. AN IMPORTANT SIGNED LETTER in English by Einstein revealing his reservations of associating with communism even in the fight against fascism. Written from Princeton NJ to Professor Albert Sprague Coolidge of Harvard University and dated February 16 1934 the letter reads: My dear Professor Coolidge: I had an opportunity of meeting personally Lord Marley and has sic very favorably impressed by his personality. It became known to me that he sympathizes with the Russian Government i.g. with the Russian communist party and that the committee for which he is active is influenced by communists. The problem as to the attitude which is advisable to be taken towards this committee is rather complicated. On the one hand the world-wide danger of fascism makes it necessary that all enemies of fascism cooperate; on the other hand an action which has communist leanings might endanger that fight since the important task undertaken in defense of culture and civilization may be linked up with interests of a political party. I myself have severed my connections with the committee which with my permission had used my name up to the end of last year. It seems to me advisable to take an attitude as follows: to help their action against fascism but not to identify oneself with the committee. Very truly yours signed A. Einstein P.S. I wish you would be good enough to use this strictly confidentially. In 1934 Lord Baron Marley Dudley Leigh Aman toured the United States to raise funds for his association the World Committee for the Victims of German Fascism. Marley through his committee was "passionately advocating a scheme for which he was to become an international figurehead - resettlement of oppressed German and Polish Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Region" in Siberia. He published a book "The Brown Book of the Hitler Terror and the Burning of the Reichstag sponsored by the World Committee and with an Introduction written by Lord Marley himself which was the first popular exposé of what was happening in Hitler's Germany. It documented the destruction of political parties trade unions and universities book-burning and the building of concentration camps. "At a fundraising dinner held in his honour in New York in February 1934 where Einstein presumably met him just before writing this letter Marley opened the Brown Book and 'speaking quietly declaring that he did not intend to harrow' read aloud to his audience of 600 American Jews some of the collected evidence of Nazi repressions. Here were documentary records of what was happening in Germany - a substantiation of the brutality that hitherto had had no distinct form in the mind of the American Jewish public. What before had been the subject of a growing fear mingled with disbelief was now being presented as hard fact and supported with detailed evidence. The New York Times 8 February 2005 reports the audience being 'startled' by the disclosures and the night ending with $3500 raised for the World Committee" The Jewish Quarterly No. 198. Einstein was correct to be suspicious of Marley's activities for it was later determined that the "World Committee" was indeed a Communist front; Einstein writing here to Coolidge in 1934 was prescient about the motives of the committee. This letter in addition to underscoring Einstein's passionate stance against fascism is particularly important as documentary evidence of Einstein's caution about having any dealings with communism especially considering that the U.S. FBI worried about Einstein's political leanings kept a file on Einstein that grew to 1427 pages. Princeton NJ: February 16 1934. One 8.5 x 11 in. page. Envelope folds minor spotting. An outstanding letter with important and revealing content. np unknown
1931Best.-Nr. 021909New York: Covici Friede 1931. First Edition. hardcover. Some pencil markings in text title page and endpapers darkened not really affecting Einstein's inscription; covers a little soiled. Good to Very Good and quite scarce. With a long biographical note and an appreciation by George Bernard Shaw. Subjects include Disarmament Pacifism the Jewish Homeland and more. This copy INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author with his scarcer full signature on the front endpaper: "To little Pauline/Albert Einstein/1933." An uncommon title to find signed by the man of the century. With a letter of authenticity from James Spence if you need that kind of security blanket. Covici Friede hardcover
1910Best.-Nr. 83637Zurich Zurich 1910. Fine. Einstein writes to a friend who introduced him to Carl Jung Zurich Zurich 21 juin 1910 9 x 14 cm une carte postale Autograph postcard signed by Albert Einstein to Ludwig Hopf. 18 lines written verso and recto address also in Einstein's handwriting. Postmarked June 21 1910. Published in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Volume 5: The Swiss Years: Correspondence 1902-1914 Princeton University Press 1993 n°218 p. 242. An exceptional and highly aesthetic card from Albert Einstein to ""the friend of the greatest geniuses of his time"" - according to Schrödinger - mathematician and physicist Ludwig Hopf who introduced Einstein to another 20th-century genius: Carl Jung. The master invites his pupil Hopf to a dinner party whose guests include scientist Max Abraham future great rival during Einstein's Zurich years and a fervent opponent of his theory of relativity. The recipient Ludwig Hopf joined Einstein in 1910 as an assistant and student at his physics and kinetic theory seminars at the University of Zürich. They signed two fundamental papers on the statistical aspects of radiation and gave their names to the ""Einstein-Hopf"" velocity-dependent drag force. Their letter exchanges retrace the complex path of Einstein's work on relativity and gravitation bearing witness to their great complicity and Hopf's invaluable contribution to the Master's research. A few months after writing the postcard Hopf even found an error in Einstein's calculations of the derivatives of certain velocity components which Einstein corrected in a paper the following year. They also formed a musical duo Hopf accompanied on the piano the Master's violin performing pieces by great musical geniuses like Bach and Mozart. With this card Einstein invited his pupil and friend Hopf to dinner with Max Abraham at the dawn of a major scientific controversy that would pit them against each other from 1911 onwards. Abraham's theory of special relativity failed to convince Einstein who criticized its lack of observational verification and its failure to predict the gravitational curvature of light. In 1912 their dispute became public through scientific articles. Abraham never acknowledged the validity of Einstein's theory. During their brilliant artistic and intellectual exchanges Hopf undoubtedly succeeded where Freud had failed as he declared to him in a letter: ""I shall break with you if you boast of having converted Einstein to psychoanalysis. A long conversation I had with him a few years ago showed me that analysis was as hermetic to him as the theory of relativity can be to me"" Vienna September 27 1931. As a fervent supporter of psychoanalysis Hopf is known to have introduced the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung to Einstein. Hopf and his teacher both left for Prague's Karl-Ferdinand University in 1911 where they met writer Franz Kafka and his friend Max Brod in Madame Fanta's salon. With the rise of the Nazi regime the fates of the two theoreticians were plagued by persecution and exile. Einstein first took refuge in Belgium Hopf in Great Britain after his dismissal in 1934 from the University of Aachen because of his Jewish origins. They continued their prolific correspondence in the midst of the turmoil Einstein suggesting to Hopf the opening of a university abroad for exiled German students. Hopf died shortly after his appointment as chair of Mathematics studies at Trinity College Dublin in July 1939. A precious invitation from the great physicist to one of the final dinner gatherings of the ""old school"" of science embodied by Max Abraham on the eve of the publication of the theory of general relativity which would overturn classical conceptions of space and time and propel Science into the 20th century. unknown
1941Best.-Nr. 2142520/12/1941. Brigitte Kaufmann was born in Germany but when the Nazis came to power in 1933 she fled to Paris. In France Kaufmann worked as an actress under the name of Brigitte Châtel and translated documents. She met her future husband Alfred Alexander-Katz in Paris and they married in 1939; the following day her husband was taken to an internment camp. He was given the choice of being interned in a labor camp or joining the Foreign Legion and chose the latter. Alexander was then sent to Clermont in Vichy France and the family relocated there. Dr. Walter Rudlin was a social science professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and actively involved in anti-fascist activities. He was the author of “The Growth of Fascism in Great Britain”. In September 1942 he left his position and joined the U.S. Board of Economic Welfare whose chair was Vice President Henry Wallace. His wife Eryl was interested in bringing Jews in Europe out of harm’s way and she knew the Alexander-Katz family. So Eryl sought to get Brigitte and her family safely out of Europe to Mexico and sought Einstein’s help. On March 12 1941 Einstein responded noting that Brigitte is his relative. “Thank you very much for your letter of March 11th. I am very gratified indeed to learn that our mutual friends Fred and Brigitte Alexander-Katz have some prospect to receive a visa into Mexico. I am certainly willing to vouch for their reliability and integrity both personal and political. I have known Mrs. Brigitte Alexander-Katz - whose family is related to mine - since she was a little girl. Her husband a very able engineer will certainly be useful to any country which receives him. If you will send me the address of the proper Mexican authority I shall gladly send any letter of recommendation desired.” This was a warm letter indeed expressing true concern and friendship for the Alexander-Katz family. On April 3 1941 Einstein again wrote Rudlin noting “Enclosed I am sending you the requested letters in the hope that they may be successful.” But there were delays and no visa so Rudlin wrote Einstein seven months later asking him to take the matter up with the Mexican government. Typed letter signed on his blind-embossed letterhead Princeton December 20 1941 to Mrs. Eryl Rudlin saying that he expects the visa to be granted but does not feel he ought to approach the Mexican government directly. “The Mexican authorities know that I am interested in the case of the Alexander-Katz family; they have kept me informed about the whole development of the matter. I have no doubt that admission to Mexico will be granted as it has been granted to hundreds of people in the same situation. I can give Mr. Alexander-Katz a recommendation but it is out of the question that I ask the Minister of Education to send him an official invitation. I have already done what could be done without intrusion.” Despite what he writes here to calm Mrs. Rudlin Einstein might have exerted some gentle pressure on Mexico by contacting the Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Gilberto Bosques; or the Alexander-Katz visas may have already being granted at that moment. The Einstein Archives is silent on this subject. But soon after Einstein soon wrote this letter in 1942 a telegram to the young Alexander-Katz family arrived stating that Einstein and Rudolph Uhlman a lawyer in New York had secured visas through Ambassador Bosques for them to escape to Veracruz Mexico aboard the ship San Thomé. In Mexico Brigitte she became a noted author actress director and translator. She became the first woman in Mexico to produce and direct television programs. Speaking five languages she also worked as a translator for UNESCO and Amnesty International. Her daughter Susana and granddaughter Sophie also became actors. unknown
1951Best.-Nr. 140033New York: Simon and Schuster 1951. Later printing of this classic work which traces the development of ideas in physics. Octavo original blue cloth. Boldly signed by both authors on the front free endpaper "A. Einstein. 53" and "L. Infeld 1958." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. We have never seen another example signed by both authors. Rare and desirable. Upon publication The Saturday Review of Literature praised Evolution of Physics as "masterly Einstein and Infelds book should do much to spread an understanding and appreciation one of the great dramas in the evolution of human thought." Simon and Schuster hardcover
1954Best.-Nr. 2832Princeton NJ: np 1954. First edition. nb. Fine. EXTREMELY RARE AND BEAUTIFUL SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF EINSTEIN BY FREDERICK PLAUT. SIGNED ON THE IMAGE BY EINSTEIN: "A. Einstein 54". A fine photograph of Einstein in 1954 a year before his death sitting in his Princeton home surrounded by books and holding his pipe gazing slightly away from the camera. In his 1964 collection of photographs The Unguarded Moment the photographer Frederick Plaut explains the circumstances of his evocative photo of the elderly Einstein: "There must be a moment in every professional photographer's life when he is so in awe of his subject that he can scarcely focus his camera. That moment for me was when I met Albert Einstein at his home in Princeton. Certainly the great man was not formidable; he greeted my wife and me graciously and proceeded to chat with her while I went to work. I remember that she asked him about his music and when he told her that he no longer played his violin she murmured 'That's too bad.' He smiled 'Ah no. It would have been too bad if I went on.' In the final moments of our visit Einstein looked at me very seriously. 'I hope' he said 'you can sell these pictures for a good price.' Astounded I blurted out: 'Oh no Sir. I have nothing to sell. I just wanted to photograph you.' His face clouded. 'Not sell them If I had known that I never would have let you take them.' After we left I realized the significant of a delightful remark attributed to Mrs. Einstein. Someone once asked Mrs. Einstein whether she understood Professor Einstein's theory of relativity. She answered without hesitation 'No but I understand Professor Einstein'" Frederick Plaut The Unguarded Moment A Photographic Interpretation. The photographer Frederick Plaut moved to the United States from Europe in 1940. After being "discovered" by the legendary photographer Edward Steichen Plaut soon was invited to exhibit in numerous exhibitions. "At the Museum of Modern Art his photographs have been shown in many exhibitions including: 'The Family of Man' 'Music and Musicians' 'The Exact Instant' and others. Plaut's work has appeared in Time Life Esquire Look Saturday Review Vogue U.S. Camera Modern and Popular Photography andRealities et al" The Unguarded Moment. Provenance: Acquired directly from the family of the original recipient Arthur Klein with the original mailing envelope stamped "Jan 27 '54" from The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton where Einstein was working at the time. Arthur Klein is primarily known for founding with his wife Luce Spoken Arts a highly influential company formed in the 1950s that created and distributed recordings of the works of famous writers and artists usually reading from their own works. Princeton NJ: 1954. Silver gelatin print approximately 4.75 x 6.75 inches. With Plaut's studio stamp on verso. Fine condition with Einstein signature - nicely centered at the base of the photograph - particularly strong. As Plaut mentioned in his account of the photographic session he never intended to sell this photograph and it is likely very few of these photos were printed and distributed. EXTREMELY RARE: WE CAN FIND NO OTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED BY EINSTEIN. np unknown
1938Best.-Nr. 366717Princeton New Jersey 1938. 7 lines typed in German on letterhead of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Mathematics watermarked Chieftain Bond signed in ink. 4to 9-7/8 x 7-1/8 inches. Old folds. Fine. 7 lines typed in German on letterhead of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Mathematics watermarked Chieftain Bond signed in ink. 4to 9-7/8 x 7-1/8 inches. Im Jahre 1837 habe ich ein Affidavit für meine Verwandte Fräulein Ursula Einstein ausgestellt. Ich erkläre hiermit dass ich dieses Affidavit aufrechterhalte und bereit bin di notwendigen Unterlagen neu zi liefern wenn es gewünscht wird. den 31. Oktober 1938 signed Professor Albert Einstein. "In the year 1937 I signed an affidavit on behalf of my relative Miss Urusula Einstein. I hereby state that I continue to certify this affidavit is correct and am ready to submit the necessary documents anew if this is requested." Albert Einstein 1879-1955 German-born physicist renowned for developing the theory of relativity in papers published in 1905 and 1916 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 and left Germany in 1933. He was associated with the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. This statement was almost certainly prepared in connection with efforts to assist his relative in emigrating. In a letter to his sister Maja Winteler-Einstein then resident in Switzerland dated December 1938 Einstein wrote "I am now working as some sort of itinerant relief committee and buckets of letters are coming in . I am helping the Ulm relatives with emigrating". Ursula Einstein born 1916 was able to get out; in 1940 she was a refugee in Port-au-Prince and later reached Brazil. Her younger sister Barbara was not so fortunate. Barbara Einstein born 1918 took her own life in March 1943 after her fiancé Harry Jacob was taken off to the concentration camps. A choice Einstein autograph. unknown
1915Best.-Nr. 5863Berlin: Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1915. First edition. First editions very rare offprint of the first two of the papers published in November 1915 that document his final version of the general theory of relativity. "In the half century and more of Einstein's work in science one discovery stands above all as his greatest achievement. It is his general theory of relativity" Norton. . EINSTEIN'S COMPLETION OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY. First editions very rare offprint of the first two of the papers published in November 1915 that document Einstein's final version of the general theory of relativity. "In the half century and more of Einstein's work in science one discovery stands above all as his greatest achievement. It is his general theory of relativity" Norton. "There was difficulty reconciling the Newtonian theory of gravitation with its instantaneous propagation of forces with the requirements of special relativity; and Einstein working on this difficulty was led to a generalization of relativity - which was probably the greatest scientific discovery that was ever made" Dirac quoted in Chandrasekhar p. 3. Einstein's special theory of relativity 1905 showed that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial i.e. non-accelerating frames of reference. It was then natural to ask whether it was possible to extend this principle of relativity to the more general case of frames of reference in arbitrary states of motion. This problem became linked to a theory of gravitation with Einstein's 'equivalence principle' of 1907 according to which the effects of gravity are locally equivalent to those of accelerated motion. Einstein's first steps towards a geometrical theory of gravitation were taken in August 1912 when his friend Marcel Grossmann provided the necessary mathematical tools. "Some time between August 10 and August 16 it became clear to Einstein that Riemannian geometry is the correct mathematical tool for what we now call general relativity theory. The impact of this abrupt realization was to change his outlook on physics and physical theory for the rest of his life" Pais p. 210. The resulting 'Entwurf' theory 1913 had much in common with the final theory of 1915 but based on a fallacious argument Einstein abandoned the requirement that the theory should be 'generally-covariant' i.e. that arbitrary frames of reference should be allowed. "After three years of fruitless peregrinations the revelation came to Einstein that he had been constantly on the wrong track although in 1913 he had been so near to the right solution" Lanczos p. 211. On November 4 1915 he presented to a plenary session of the Prussian Academy a new version of general relativity 'Zur allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie' "based on the postulate of covariance with respect to transformations with determinant 1" and stated that he had "completely lost confidence" in the 'Entwurf' equations. On November 18 he published his calculation of the precession of the perihelion of Mercury based on the new theory: its agreement with observation confirmed that the theory was correct the Entwurf theory predicted half the observed value of the precession. "In June 1905 while still a patent examiner in Bern Einstein submitted his famous work on the electrodynamics of moving bodies to the Annalen der Physik. This work contained his special theory of relativity in which he asserted the equivalence of all inertial frames of reference as a fundamental postulate of physics. The question which then naturally arose was whether it was possible to extend this principle of relativity to the more general case of frames of reference in arbitrary states of motion. But he could find no workable basis for such an extension until he tried to incorporate gravitation into his new special theory of relativity for a review article in 1907 'Uber das Relativitätsprinzip und die ausdemselben gezogenen Folgerungen' Jahrbuch der Radioaktivitat und Elektronik 4 1907 411-62. The difficulties of this task led him to a new principle later to be called the 'principle of equivalence.' "On the basis of the fact that all bodies fall alike in a gravitational field Einstein postulated the complete physical equivalence of a homogeneous gravitational field and a uniform acceleration of the frame of reference. This extended the principle of relativity to the case of uniform acceleration. It also foreshadowed the problem whose complete solution would lead him to his general theory of relativity: the construction of a relativistically acceptable theory of gravitation based on the principle of equivalence" Norton p. 258. One application of the equivalence principle proved crucial to the subsequent development of his ideas on general relativity. Einstein considered an observer standing on a rotating disc - a non-inertial accelerating reference frame. According to special relativity measuring rods aligned with the circumference of the disc will contract due to their motion whereas measuring rods positioned along the radius of the disc will not. Hence the ratio of the circumference of the disc to its diameter will be less than π. "The spatial geometry for the rotating observer is therefore non-euclidean. Invoking the equivalence principle Einstein concluded that this will be true for an observer in a gravitational field as well. This then is what first suggested to Einstein that gravity should be represented by curved space-time. "To describe curved space-time Einstein turned to Gauss's theory of curved surfaces a subject he vaguely remembered from his student days at the ETH in Zürich. He had learned it from the notes of his classmate Marcel Grossmann. Upon his return to his alma mater as a full professor of physics in 1912 Einstein learned from Grossmann now a colleague in the mathematics department of the ETH about the extension of Gauss's theory to spaces of higher dimension by Riemann and others. Riemann's theory provided Einstein with the mathematical object with which he could unify the effects of gravity and acceleration: the metric field" Janssen p. 65. The first product of this collaboration was the Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten Relativitätstheorie und einer Theorie der Gravitation published before the end of June 1913 which contained many of the essential features of the final general theory of relativity; most importantly it introduced the 'metric' of space-time. In Minkowski's formulation of special relativity 1908 the most important quantity is the 'world function' of two events which determines the metric and causal structure of space-time. If these events have coordinates x y z t and x' y' z' t' in some inertial reference frame the world function is: c2t' - t2 - x' - x2 - y' - y2 - z' - z2 where c is the speed of light. Its crucial property is that it depends only on the two events and not on the choice of inertial reference frame - in other words it is unchanged 'invariant' when x y z t and x' y' z' t' are both subjected to any Lorentz transformation. Einstein and Grossmann began with the world function in differential form: ds2 = c2dt2 - dx2 - dy2 - dz2 If we now subject x y z t to an arbitrary coordinate transformation not necessarily a Lorentz transformation this takes the general form ds2 = g11dx12 g12dx1dx2 . ; the collection of quantities gμν which in general depend on the coordinates x1 x2 x3 x4 is called the metric. Based on analogy with Newton's theory Einstein expected that the gravitational equations should be of the form Gμν = Tμν where Gμν is a purely geometric quantity constructed solely from the metric gμν and its derivatives up to the second order and the 'stress-energy tensor' Tμν contains the information about the matter that is producing the gravitational field including energy density momentum fluxes and stresses. The question was: what exactly should Gμνbe Einstein and Grossmann found that generally covariant equations did not seem to be compatible with energy-momentum conservation or reduce to the equations of Newtonian gravitational theory for weak static fields both essential requirements of the correct theory. Einstein therefore decided to settle in the 'Entwurf' for equations with very limited covariance - instead of arbitrary changes in coordinates only linear ones were allowed. The restricted covariance of the 'Entwurf' field equations continued to bother him until in late August 1913 he convinced himself that such restrictions are unavoidable by means of the infamous "hole argument" first published as an addendum to the reprint of the 'Entwurf' article in Zeitschrift für Physik in January 1914. This ingenious argument showed correctly that if the gravitational equations were generally covariant the metric gμν would not be uniquely determined by the matter distribution i.e. by Tμν. He concluded incorrectly that this implied that general covariance must be ruled out the hole argument does not work if only linear coordinate transformations are allowed. The appropriate analogy is with electromagnetism: the metric is analogous to the scalar and vector potentials of electromagnetism and it was well known certainly to Einstein that these potentials are not uniquely determined by the charges and currents producing the electromagnetic field. That the 'Entwurf' theory was incorrect was made clear by Einstein's attempt in collaboration with Michele Besso another former classmate to explain the motion of the perihelion of Mercury. In 1859 Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier had observed the 'precession' of Mercury's orbit: this orbit is an ellipse but the ellipse is not fixed in space but slowly rotates. From early on in his search for a new relativistic theory of gravitation Einstein had been interested in the problem of Mercury's perihelion. In a letter to his friend Conrad Habicht in 1907 Einstein had already expressed his hope that such a theory would explain the anomalous advance of Mercury's perihelion. Besso visited Einstein in Zürich in June 1913 and the two men calculated the precession expected on the basis of the 'Entwurf' theory. Disappointingly it was only about half the observed anomaly. Einstein left Zürich in March 1914 to take up a professorship in Berlin which was to be his home until December 1932. He made no further progress on the gravitational equations until the summer of 1915 although a detailed exposition of the 'Entwurf' theory was published in October 1914 in which Einstein maintained the need for restricted covariance and even claimed that this determined the gravitational Lagrangian uniquely. "Einstein still believed in the 'old' theory as late as July 1915 between July and October he found objections to that theory and his final version was conceived and worked out between late October and November 25 . What made Einstein change his mind between July and October Letters to Sommerfeld and Lorentz show that he had found at least three objections against the old theory: 1 its restricted covariance did not include uniform rotations 2 the precession of the perihelion of Mercury came out too small by a factor of about 2 and 3 his proof of October 1914 of the uniqueness of the gravitational Lagrangian was incorrect. Einstein got rid of all these shortcomings in a series of four brief articles offered here . "On November 4 Einstein presented to the plenary session of the Prussian Academy a new version of general relativity 'based on the postulate of covariance with respect to transformations with determinant 1'. He began this paper by stating that he had 'completely lost confidence' in the equations proposed in October 1914. At that time he had given a proof of the uniqueness of the gravitational Lagrangian. He had realized meanwhile that this proof 'rested on misconception' and so he continued 'I was led back to a more general covariance of the field equations a requirement which I had abandoned only with a heavy heart in the course of my collaboration with my friend Grossmann three years earlier' . "Einstein and Grossmann had concluded that the gravitational equations could be invariant under linear transformations only and Einstein's justification for this restriction was based on the belief that the gravitational equations ought to determine the gμν uniquely a point he continued to stress in October 1914. In his new paper he finally liberated himself from this three-year-old prejudice. That is the main advance on November 4. His answers were still not entirely right. There was still one flaw a much smaller one which he eliminated three weeks later. But the road lay open. He was lyrical. 'No one who has really grasped it can escape the magic of this new theory.' "The remaining flaw was of course Einstein's unnecessary restriction to unimodular transformations. The reasons which led him to introduce this constraint were not deep I believe. He simply noted that this restricted class of transformations permits simplifications of the tensor calculus . The new equations are a vast improvement over the Einstein-Grossmann equations and cure one of the ailments he had diagnosed only recently: unimodular transformations do include rotations with arbitrarily varying angular velocities. In addition he proved that the new equations can be derived from a variational principle and that the conservation laws are satisfied" Pais pp. 250-252. On November 11 he submitted a 'Nachtrag' to his paper of a week earlier. "Einstein proposes a scheme that is even tighter than the one of a week earlier. Not only shall the theory be invariant with respect to unimodular transformations . but more strongly it shall satisfy the condition that the determinant of the matrix gμν is equal to minus one . During the next two weeks Einstein believed that this new condition had brought him closer to general covariance . One week later he remarked that 'no objections of principle' can be raised against it" ibid. pp. 252-253. Norton p. 309 points out that Einstein had in fact made a significant advance in this paper: namely he had finally found generally covariant field equations that reduced to the Newtonian equations in the weak field limit" ibid. p. 253. On November 18 still retaining the restrictions of his paper of a week earlier Einstein presented in 'Erklarung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie'"two of his greatest discoveries. Each of these changed his life. The first result was that his theory explains . quantitatively . the secular rotation of the orbit of Mercury discovered by Le Verrier . without the need of any special hypothesis. This discovery was I believe by far the strongest emotional experience in Einstein's scientific life perhaps in all his life. Nature had spoken to him. He had to be right. 'For a few days I was beside myself with joyous excitement'. Later he told Fokker that his discovery had given him palpitations of the heart. What he told de Haas is even more profoundly significant: when he saw that his calculations agreed with the unexplained astronomical observations he had the feeling that something actually snapped in him . "Einstein's discovery resolved a difficulty that was known for more than sixty years. Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier had been the first to find evidence for an anomaly in the orbit of Mercury and also the first to attempt to explain this effect . In 1859 he found that the perihelion of Mercury advances by thirty-eight seconds per century due to 'some as yet unknown action on which no light has been thrown . a grave difficulty worthy of attention by astronomers'" ibid. pp. 253-254. A more accurate measurement of 43 seconds was made by Simon Newcomb in 1882 and this was precisely the value predicted by the new theory. The prediction of the bending of light in a gravitational field was treated only briefly in 'Erklarung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie' probably because no accurate measurement of it had been made so this prediction could not be confirmed at the time. Einstein had realised in 1907 based on the equivalence principle that some bending of light should occur but he believed that the effect was too small to be observed. In 1911 he realized that the effect could be detected for starlight grazing the sun during a total eclipse and found that the amount of bending in that case is 0''.87 - this value could in fact have been computed by Newton from his law of gravitation and his corpuscular theory of light. In 3 Einstein discovered that general relativity implies a bending of light by the sun equal to 1".74 twice the Newtonian value. This factor of 2 set the stage for a confrontation between Newton and Einstein. "It was not until May 1919 that two British expeditions obtained the first useful photographs and not until November 1919 that their results were formally announced . In March 1917 the Astronomer Royal Sir Frank Watson Dyson drew attention to the excellence of the star configuration on May 29 1919 an eclipse date for measuring the alleged deflection . Two expeditions were mounted one to Sobral in Brazil led by Andrew Crommelin from the Greenwich Observatory and one to Principe Island off the coast of Spanish Guinea led by Eddington. Before departing Eddington wrote 'The present eclipse expeditions may for the first time demonstrate the weight of light i.e. the Newton value; or they may confirm Einstein's weird theory of non-Euclidean space; or they may lead to a result of yet more far-reaching consequences - no deflection' . The expeditions returned. Data analysis began. According to a preliminary report by Eddington to the meeting of the British Association held in Bournemouth on September 9-13 the bending of light lay between 0''.87 and double that value. Word reached Lorentz. Lorentz cabled Einstein . Then came November 6 1919 the day on which Einstein was canonized" Pais 304-305. At a joint meeting of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society on that date Dyson concluded his remarks with the statement "'After a careful study of the plates I am prepared to say that they confirm Einstein's prediction. A very definite result has been obtained that light is deflected in accordance with Einstein's law of gravitation'" ibid. p. 305. Three remarks may be made on the speed with which after eight years of struggle Einstein completed these final papers on his theory. The first is that Einstein had come very close to the correct gravitational equations in the second half of 1912 - they are recorded in his 'Zurich notebook' - but he discarded them because of his arguments against general covariance as we have seen. Once he no longer believed in these arguments he could return to the work carried out in the Zurich notebook and complete it. The second is that the detailed calculations in 3 relating to Mercury's perihelion were in fact very similar to those he had carried out with Besso in 1913 and so required relatively little extra effort. The final point is that Einstein was in competition with the great Göttingen mathematician David Hilbert. Weil 75 76 77; Chandrasekhra 'The general theory of relativity: Why "It is probably the most beautiful of all existing theories" Journal of Astrophysics 5 1984 pp. 3-11; Eisenstaedt The Curious History of Relativity 2006; Janssen 'Of pots and holes: Einstein's bumpy road to general relativity' Annalen der Physik 14 Supplement 2005 pp. 58-85; Lanczos Einstein Decade: 1905-1915 1974; Norton 'How Einstein found his field equations: 1912-1915' Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 14 1984 pp. 253-316; Pais Subtle is the Lord 1982. Large 8vo 253 x 180 mm pp. 778-786 & 799-801. Original printed wrappers. Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften unknown
Best.-Nr. 225685/5/33. Germany as an island of intellectuals is no longer possible he writes blaming the fall of his country and exile of his colleagues on poor education a vestige of Bismarck ""I am almost collapsing under all my responsibilities."" A glimpse into the tragic end to the scientific flowering of pre-Nazi Germany along with Einstein's explanation for why it all happened A rare letter from a brief but consequential period in Einstein's life: after he left Germany but before he arrived in America Einstein had long been a revered scientist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and was employed by Berlin University. At the beginning of March 1932 he returned to Germany from a visit to the United States where he had discussed heading the soon-to-open Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey. He determined to accept and to spend half the year in Berlin and half the year in Princeton. But that year the Nazis were on the rise. It was becoming increasingly obvious to Einstein that his life was in danger. A Nazi organization published a magazine with Einstein’s picture and the caption “Not Yet Hanged” on the cover. There was even a price on his head. In December 1932 Einstein again left Germany to be a visiting professor at CalTech in Pasadena California. When Hitler was appointed German chancellor on January 30 1933 the physicist had just arrived in New York on his way to California to lecture on his theory of relativity. Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany was now open swift and often violent. Prominent Jews were denounced by Nazi officials attacked in the media and subjected to violence and arrest. As a vocal opponent of Nazism and a staunch advocate of pacifism Einstein was a particularly attractive target. Fortunately at the time Hitler came to power Einstein was already in the United States. Nonetheless the Nazis publicly agitated against Einstein as a symbol of “Jewish degeneracy” and accused him of spreading “atrocity propaganda.” In February and March 1933 the Gestapo repeatedly raided his family’s apartment in Berlin. Despite his own March 15 1933 declaration of self-imposed exile from Nazi Germany as well as warnings from friends that it was too dangerous to return Einstein and his wife decided to travel back to Germany intending to visit their summer cottage. At the end of March they arrived in Antwerp on the SS Belgenland owned by the shipping company Red Star Line. There they learned that Nazis had ransacked their cottage in Caputh at which point they decided that re-entering Germany was unwise. In April 1933 Einstein discovered that the new German government had passed laws barring Jews from holding any official positions including teaching at universities. Thousands of Jewish scientists were suddenly forced to give up their university positions and their names were removed from the rolls of institutions where they were employed. Einstein was now without a permanent home unsure where he would live and work and equally worried about the fate of countless other scientists still in Germany. He rented a house in De Haan Belgium where he lived for a few months. In late July 1933 he went to England for about six weeks where he was introduced to Winston Churchill. Einstein asked Churchill to help bring Jewish scientists out of Germany. British historian Martin Gilbert notes that Churchill responded immediately and sent his friend physicist Frederick Lindemann to Germany to seek out Jewish scientists and place them in British universities. In October 1933 Einstein returned to the US and took up his position at the Institute for Advanced Study. He had already revoked his German citizenship in Brussels and handed in his notice at Berlin University. He would never return to Germany. Michele Angelo Besso was a Swiss/Italian engineer. A Sephardic Jew by birth he was a close friend of Einstein during his years at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich and then at the patent office in Bern where Einstein helped him to get a job. Einstein called Besso ""the best sounding board in Europe"" for scientific ideas. In Einstein's original paper on special relativity he ended the paper stating ""In conclusion let me note that my friend and colleague M. Besso steadfastly stood by me in my work on the problem here discussed and that I am indebted to him for many a valuable suggestion."" After his resignation in 1890 Otto von Bismarck was venerated as unified Germany’s founding father not only during the remaining twenty-eight years of the monarchy but also albeit less emphatically in the Weimar Republic in Nazi Germany and in the Federal Republic. Throughout Germany numerous Bismarck statues are testament to the admiration. Hamburg has three. His memorialisation even went beyond Germany; the capital of the US state of North Dakota for example is named after him. Einstein was evidently not a proponent of the erstwhile unifier of Germany. As Einstein wrote of Bismarck’s influence ""The characteristic feature of this mentality is that people place the importance of what Bertrand Russell so tellingly terms “naked power” far above all other factors which affect the relations between peoples. The Germans misled by Bismarck’s successes in particular underwent just such a transformation of their mentality—in consequence of which they were entirely ruined in less than a hundred years."" In this letter he encourages Besso to let him have his suggestions for saving Hermann Weyl from the regime – through substituting him for Einstein on a proposed trip to Spain would seem disastrously tactless. He sends his regards to Anna Besso with the rueful remark that the German example bodes ill for an intellectual utopia which she had proposed. Weyl would go on work with him at Princeton. These two men were among Einstein's closest friends and colleague - Jewish or closely tied to Jewish relatives. He is rushing to get them out. Typed letter signed in German Le Coq-sur-mer Belgium May 5th 1933 to Besso. ""Dear Michele! I was not affected personally but just about everybody else who is kind of close to me was. Bismarck’s dismal education policy is wreaking havoc again with the German people. ""I would love to follow your suggestion regarding Weyl if I saw any possibility at all especially since I am almost collapsing under all my responsibilities. Even the slightest attempt to replace me with someone else in Spain would without a doubt be perceived as extremely upsetting. Have you not thought of that ""Rushed greetings to you Albert."" He writes a postscript: ""Greetings to Anna from me and tell her she can judge herself based on the current German conditions what her concept of 'island of intellectuals' would look like."" In July 1933 upon Einstein’s request a committee of 51 American artists intellectuals and political leaders came together to form the International Relief Association. Among them were the philosopher John Dewey the writer John Dos Passos and the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Other prominent citizens including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt soon joined the effort. Its mission as The New York Times reported on July 24 1933 was to “assist Germans suffering from the policies of the Hitler regime.” But Einstein did much more. He tried to persuade political leaders in the United States and Europe to take action to help the Jewish populations at risk particularly those of his colleagues in Germany's scientific community which was very hard hit. He worked tirelessly to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis and to find them places of refuge and employment. Many immigrants to the United States during the mid to late 1930s were Jewish between 1939 and 1940 more than half of all immigrants were Jews most of them refugees fleeing persecution in Europe. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-22732 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204162353/Folder-site-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown
1502Best.-Nr. 2446215/02/1933. He revises the typescript of his interview with the War Resisters League of which he was Honorary Chairman and calls out William Randolph Hearst and the head of the press and film empire in Germany who aided Hitler’s rise On philosophy: “The intellect without the emotions is insignificant”; On racism: “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” They ought to be “accepted with friendliness as equal members” On the press: He criticizes William Randolph Heart by name but says “The freedom of the press is necessary despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it.”. On pacifism and peace keeping: “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being” “Society needs some form of organization for security and protection in international life” and “An international police force…is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order it's not contrary to pacifism”. This document has never previously been offered for sale and was acquired by us from the family that has had it all this time Einstein was well known as a pacifist until Hitler’s rise to power. In 1930 on his second visit to America he joined the War Resisters League and accepted the office of Honorary Chairman. Einstein spoke to the organization that year saying “True pacifists must publicly declare in time of peace that they will not take up arms under any circumstances… even if only 2% of those assigned to perform military service should announce their refusal to fight governments would be powerless they would not dare send such a large number of people to jail.” The league then issued a pamphlet “Einstein on War Resistance” that was widely read and discussed. Meanwhile back in Germany the rising Nazi movement found a convenient target in Einstein and relativity branding the latter “Jewish physics” and sponsoring conferences and book burnings to denounce Einstein and his theories. The Nazis even enlisted other physicists to denounce Einstein; “One Hundred Authors Against Einstein” was published in 1931. When asked to comment on this denunciation of relativity by so many scientists Einstein replied that to defeat relativity one did not need the word of 100 scientists just one fact. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24605 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150044/Einstein-Feb-15-1933-3-1-1600x209.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""209"" /> In December 1932 Einstein decided to leave Germany. The reason: it became obvious to him that his life was in danger. A Nazi organization published a magazine with Einstein’s picture and the caption “Not Yet Hanged” on the cover. There was even a price on his head. In January 1933 Einstein came to the United States to serve at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena California as a visiting professor. The appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor took effect late that month and Einstein decided he would not return to his home in Germany where he had been a professor at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He would instead return to Europe and assess the situation from there. He and his wife Elsa returned by ship to Belgium in March 1933 to find that that their residences in Germany had been raided numerous times. Einstein accepted the fact that he could not return to Germany and turned in his passport to the German consulate; he also formally renounced his German citizenship. By the summer Einstein learned that his name was on a list of assassination targets. He resided in Belgium for some months and then moved to England for a short period. On October 17 1933 he returned to the US and took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in New Jersey. And there he remained until his death. On February 15 1933 after Hitler had taken power but before Einstein learned that his homes had been raided he granted an interview to the War Resisters League at the home of one of its officials John Dorland. Dorland wanted the interview to be read aloud at the upcoming March 2 meeting of the members in Pasadena. He prepared a five page typescript of the interview and sent it to Einstein to review. As Dorland said in his cover letter to Einstein “Would you be kind enough to read it and if the answers misrepresent you in any detail may we request that you revise it in such particular as we are very anxious to have these correct.” He also asked Einstein's permission to read the interview aloud. This is the original typescript of the Einstein interview sent to Einstein by Dorland complete with Einstein’s handwritten notations. It is the only such annotated interview of Einstein that we have seen and it covers important topics. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24606 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150037/Einstein-Feb-15-1933-2-1-1600x247.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""247"" /> On page one Einstein makes it clear he was not ready to abandon his resistance to war. “The War Resisters” he stated at the interview “are doing a fine work. They have done more than any other peace group. A strong organized minority who have declared themselves absolutely against war is very powerful.” Question from Dorland. “Can we hope to convince everybody” Answer: “Oh no we cannot convince everybody but we do not need to. One strong man is worth much and has great influence Individuals thoroughly convinced and small groups working earnestly are of the utmost value.” Q: “In trying to arouse interest is it better to appeal to the intellect or the emotions” A: “To both; the intellect without the emotions is insignificant.” On page two Einstein states that “Public protests are very valuable” as is control over munitions production. “The private munitions business is a great threat to the peace of the world and there should be government control. Public opinion is not yet awake to the atrocities of the munitions firms.” Then Dorland changes the subject to “race relations.” Einstein responded “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” Then Einstein hand writes in some thoughts. If they are not afforded such security “they should isolate themselves from the rest of society since they are not accepted with friendliness as equal members.” Then some fascinating free thoughts emerge. Clearly thinking of the Jews in Germany he crosses out “It insecurity is not so bad” and instead says “They can achieve a healthy existence”. But thinking of the current situation he finishes the thought by adding at least “Up until now!” He surely had less confidence about the future. On page three Einstein discusses the part to be played by international organizations. “The main thing is organization. Disputes will always come but we must have other methods than war for settling them. Society needs some form of organization for security and protection in international life.” Einstein then writes in “Obligatory court of arbitration. Unconditional obligation of the states to accept their verdicts and enforce them.” He is then asked which is less threatening to the progress of peace a professional army or universal military conscription. Einstein answers “The professional army is better because then only the professional soldiers become imbued with the military spirit.” Asked about Japan leaving the League of Nations he hand writes “It is better to let Japan secede from the League of Nations rather than have it the League compromised by a bad compromise.” Sooner let them go than compromise principles to keep them in. Lastly he is asked for his definition of a pacifist and responds “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being.” <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24607 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150030/Einstein-Feb-15-1933-5-1-1600x242.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""242"" /> On page four Einstein continues by saying that a pacifist “must be active in the prevention of war; that is he must support justice arbitration and conciliation.” In terms of having some international force enforce the peace Einstein is in favor. “an international police force as suggested by the French is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order it's not contrary to pacifism. This international force would exist only for a transition perhaps 20 years.” Dorland then asks Einstein “What do you think of the control over public opinion by the press” Einstein in the interview stated it was not good but in this document he elaborated further. “The freedom of the press is necessary despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it. This is the point with the biggest dependence of the peace movement peace work on economic circumstances. Hearst in America and Hugenberg in Germany demonstrate this fact with frightening clarity”. Alfred Hugenberg was the head of a press and film empire in Germany who aided Hitler’s rise. Einstein’s comparison of William Randolph Hearst with him is interesting. He clearly feels that the press in the wrong hands motivated by profit and political power was a danger. The next question was “Are religious bodies a power for peace” Einstein’s answer: “Not greatly now.” On the final page Einstein states his belief that though no one can change human nature “we can change traditional institutions.” <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24608 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150023/Einstein-Feb-15-1933-4-1-1600x231.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""231"" /> This document is full of gems: “The intellect without the emotions is insignificant”; “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” They ought to be “accepted with friendliness as equal members”; “Society needs some form of organization for security and protection in international life”; “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being”; “An international police force…is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order it's not contrary to pacifism”; and “The freedom of the press is necessary despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it.” This is a great and fascinating rarity. A search of public sale records going back over 40 years turns up only one other example of an Einstein annotated interview nor have we ever had one. It wasn’t long in 1933 before the intensity of the threat from Naziism convinced Einstein that only force would be a deterrent a Hitler triumph. He resigned from the War Resisters League later in 1933. To Einstein pacifism became not an absolute concept but one that had to be re-examined depending on the magnitude of the threat. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24457 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150746/Folder-site-8-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown
1954Best.-Nr. 2625423/02/1954. An increasingly uncommon letter of Einstein on the role of religions philosophy peace and the dangers of the atomic age that he helped usher in <img class=""alignnone wp-image-26334 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204132831/Einstein-Feb-28-1954-1-e1674939062835-1600x216.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""216"" /> Albert Einstein believed that wars stood in the way of human progress and he was a lifelong pacifist though he did not believe in pacifism at any price or in all situations. He was also an active promoter of world peace from the days of World War I right up to his death in 1955. In fact one of his last acts before his death was to add his signature to a statement of nine scientists warning that the world risked universal annihilation unless the institution of war was abolished. Knowing his stance people from all over the world appealed to him to assist various causes consistent with these beliefs and to give statements supporting individuals and groups that did so. Einstein was also not a member or follower of any organized religion. He considered himself a Jew but was not a practicing Jew. And as for the Christian churches he felt that it “since Constantine has always favored the authoritarian State as long as the State allows the Church to baptize and instruct the masses"". Their conduct in the years up to World War II was worse than disappointing he thought as they made the devil’s bargain - the evil compromise - with the Hitler regime. Einstein addressed this saying “Since when can one make a pact with Christ and Satan at the same time"" He added ""The Church has always sold itself to those in power and agreed to any bargain in return for immunity…If I were allowed to give advice to the Churches I would tell them to begin with a conversion among themselves and to stop playing power politics.” This idea of an evil compromise or devil's pact is central to his feelings about organized religion. There was one exception to his criticism of religions - the Quakers. Their community aims at purifying the Christian world and generating social reform by creating direct experience with God without intervention of clergy or other expressions of church. The Quakers greatly influenced science and industry and their community is noted for the pursuit of peace and non-violence. Thus Einstein’s views fit into their belief system. “If I were not a Jew I would be a Quaker” he once wrote. Speaking to a Quaker gathering in 1938 he said ""With admiration and respect I have seen in the course of many years how successfully and selflessly the Society of Friends has worked in the entire world to lessen human suffering and to make the teachings of Christ apply to real life. Everyone who is concerned about a better lot and a more dignified stature for humanity owes deep gratitude to the Society of Friends. This Society is an admirable testimony against the assertion that every organization by its very nature kills the spirit which has called it into life.” <img class=""alignnone wp-image-26335 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204132818/Einstein-Feb-28-1954-2-e1674939294283-1600x653.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""653"" /> In 1949 the Australian pathologist Alton R. Chapple who was a Quaker wrote to Einstein in the then-current climate of concern regarding the perils of the atomic age for ""a few words of leadership and hope"". Einstein responded stressing the necessity for moral courage by the individual. He said that power is often in the hands of power-loving persons who know very little restrictions when it comes to the realization of their ambitious goals; and answering negatively the question whether self-restraint on what “productive thinkers and explorers” research might not prevent further development of means of mass destruction. He gave three main reasons: 1 The already existing means of destruction are effective enough to bring about total destruction; 2 People really devoted to the progress of knowledge concerning the physical world like Faraday or Rutherford have never worked for practical goals let alone military goals. And nobody could know in advance what kind of application might be developed on the basis of their discoveries; and 3 People of technical skill are so numerous and so dependent economically that they cannot be expected to refuse employment offered them by the state or private industry even if they were able to clearly recognize that their work will lead to disaster on a world-wide scale. He concluded that hope can only be based on the intellectual and moral independence of a sufficient number of people since “honesty and courage of the individual to stand up for his convictions on every occasion is the only essential thing”. Chapple wrote Einstein again in 1954 about the Quakers and a perceived contradiction that Chapple discerned in the 1949 letter thinking that Einstein stated that he does not expect people to refuse to work in research that generates knowledge for the means of mass destruction. Einstein responded to Chapple giving a virtual primer on his world view and opinions on how a religion and religious individuals could live a moral life and contribute something valuable to society and the cause of peace. This he felt the Quakers did. Typed letter signed on his blind-embossed letterhead Princeton February 23 1954 to Alton Chapple in Australia illuminating Einstein’s judgment and standards of conduct. “Thank you for your letter of February 16th. I consider the Society of Friends the religious community which has the highest moral standards. As far as I know they have never made evil compromises and are always guided by their conscience. In international life especially their influence seems to me to be very beneficial and effective. “There seems to me to be no contradiction in my remarks in my former letter to you. The rules applying to a moral elite can not be expected to be followed by the rank and file.” So here Einstein praises those religions with “the highest moral standards”. He especially lays out the need for them and for individuals to avoid “evil” compromises and to always be guided by conscience. If an individual does these things or a dedicated group like the Quakers they will gain influence that is both beneficial and effective. Einstein does stand by his statement in the 1949 letter maintaining that from his experience moral elites lead and that those in rank and file don’t necessarily follow that lead. In a sense he is saying that an ethical elite exercising leadership has the best chance of saving the world. An increasingly uncommon letter of Einstein on philosophy peace the role of religions and religious individuals and the dangers of the atomic age that he helped usher in. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown
1905Best.-Nr. 19259Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth 1905. FIRST EDITION. Line-block and halftone text illustrations one folding table 3 halftone plates 1 collotype plate. Contemporary cloth-backed marbled boards title and date in gilt on spine; an excellent copy with the small stamp of the University of Basel on the fly-leaf preserved in a clamshell box. First edition journal issues of three important early papers by Einstein. In the first paper “Einstein suggested that light be considered a collection of independent particles of energy which he called ‘light quanta.’ Such a hypothesis he argued would provide an answer to the problem of black-body radiation where classical theories had failed and would also explain several puzzling properties of fluorescence photoionization and the photoelectric effect” Norman. It was for this paper together with one of the photoelectric effect “Zur theorie der Lichterzeugung und Lichtabsorption” published in 1906 that Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. The second paper proved according to Einstein himself that “according to the molecular theory of heat bodies of dimensions of the order of 1/1000 mm. suspended in liquid experience apparent random movement due to the thermal Brownian molecular movement quoted by R.W. Clark Einstein New York 1984 p. 87. Experimental verification of the predictions made in this paper contributed to proving the physical reality of molecules. The third paper on the electodynamics of moving bodies was Einstein’s first statement of the special theory of relativity. In it he argued that all motion is relative to the inertial system in which it is measured and that matter and energy are equivalent. As he himself remarked “it modifies the theory of space and time.” I: Weil 6; Norman 689; II: Weil 8 Norman 690; III: Weil 9 Dibner Heralds of Science 167; Grolier/Horblit 26b Norman 691A. Johann Ambrosius Barth unknown
Best.-Nr. 2034512/12/30. We obtained this photograph directly from the Guard heirs and it has never before been offered for sale In December 1930 Albert Einstein visited America for the second time. It was originally intended as merely a two-month working visit as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology but Einstein’s popularity made the trip headline news. After arriving in New York City Einstein was taken to various places and events including Chinatown a lunch with the editors of The New York Times and a performance of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera on December 12 where Einstein an opera buff who revered Mozart Bach and other great composers was cheered by the audience on his arrival. William Guard was engaged by the Manhattan Opera Company as a press representative upon its organization in 1906. Upon the company's dissolution he took a similar position with the Metropolitan Opera remaining with the company until his death in 1932. Einstein met Guard at his office on his visit to the Met. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-26178 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204133729/Einstein-Opera-1-e1673307039907-1600x1193.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1193"" /> Newspapers reported on December 14 1930: “Einstein Theory Defined in Sentence”. “At last Prof. Einstein has hit upon a one sentence definition of relativity which anyone can understand. He was chatting recently in the office of William Guard factotum of the Metropolitan Opera. ‘Professor’ said Guard ‘I have a definition of your relativity theory and I would like to know if it is correct.’ The Professor smiled. There are presumed to be only a handful of wise men in the entire world who are able to understand it. ‘My definition is this’ said Guard. ‘There is no hitching post in the universe—so far as we know.’ Einstein laughed and nodded assent vigorously.” A spectacular 8 by 10 inch photograph of Einstein inscribed and presented by the great scientist to Guard on his visit to the Met: ""Mr. William J. Guard / A. Einstein / 12. XII.30.” We obtained this photograph directly from the Guard heirs and it has never before been offered for sale. unknown
1916Best.-Nr. 6164Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg and Son 1916. First edition. First edition complete journal issue in original printed wrappers inscribed by Einstein to fellow Nobel Laureate Walther Bothe. "This work represents a major step forward in quantum theory" Calaprice p. 297. It introduced the concept of stimulated emission of radiation the theoretical basis for the laser; it also contained a new derivation of Planck's radiation law which provided as a by-product a justification of the frequency rule forming the basis of Bohr's theory of atomic spectra. . DISCOVERY OF STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION THE PRINCIPLE OF THE LASER INSCRIBED BY EINSTEIN TO A FELLOW NOBEL LAUREATE. First edition complete journal issue in original printed wrappers inscribed by Einstein to fellow Nobel Laureate Walther Bothe. "This work represents a major step forward in quantum theory" Calaprice p. 297. It introduced the concept of stimulated emission of radiation the theoretical basis for the laser; it also contained a new derivation of Planck's radiation law which provided as a by-product a justification of the frequency rule forming the basis of Bohr's theory of atomic spectra. "According to Albert Einstein when more atoms occupy a higher energy state than a lower one under normal temperature equilibrium it is possible to force atoms to return to an unexcited state by stimulating them with the same energy as would be emitted naturally" Britannica. This is 'stimulated emission.' "To claim that Einstein almost invented the laser would be an exaggeration but the laser's underlying mechanism stimulated emission of radiation was a creation of his radiation theory" Kleppner pp. 32-33. "During the summer of 1916 less than a year after he had completed the general theory of relativity Einstein made a new major contribution to the quantum theory. The two papers he wrote then deal with the quantum theory of radiation by arguments that do not depend on the classical electromagnetic theory as had all earlier treatments of Planck's radiation law . When Einstein returned to the radiation problem in 1916 the quantum theory had undergone a major change. Niels Bohr's papers had opened a new and fertile domain for the application of quantum concepts - the explanation of atomic structure and atomic spectra. In addition Bohr's work and its generalizations by Arnold Sommerfeld and others constituted a fresh approach to the foundations of the quantum theory of matter" DSB. In this paper "Einstein considers a system of atoms in equilibrium with an external radiation field. An atom can change its internal energy state by absorbing or emitting radiation. Einstein introduces three basic assumptions about these exchanges of energy between matter and field. First the probability of absorption of radiation is proportional to the radiation density. Second there are two kinds of emission processes: one - spontaneous - following a law like that of radioactive decay; the other - stimulated - induced by the radiation field and with probability proportional to the radiation density. Third at equilibrium the atoms are distributed among their internal states according to the Boltzmann distribution law. From these assumptions Planck's law follows in a simple way. Einstein was very pleased with his derivation which he characterized in a letter to Besso: 'An amazingly simple derivation of Planck's formula I should like to say the derivation.' As a bonus from his derivation Einstein found that the energy difference between two internal energy states of the atom had to be equal to hv with v the frequency of the radiation absorbed or emitted in transitions between these two states thus confirming one of the postulates of Niels Bohr's theory of spectra" Papers 6 xxiii-xxiv. "Einstein meant the second part of this study a proof of the oriented character of the emission process to be his most essential contribution to quantum radiation theory this second paper was published later in 1916 as 'Zür Quantentheorie der Strahlung'. Instead Bohr gave more importance to the new deduction of the blackbody law; for this deduction reinforced the basic assumptions of his atomic theory and completed them with a statistical description of radiation processes" Darrigol p. 120. Provenance: Inscribed by Einstein on front wrapper "für. Dr Bothe" i.e. Walther Bothe 1891-1957. "In 1929 in collaboration with W. Kolhörster Bothe introduced a new method for the study of cosmic and ultraviolet rays by passing them through suitably arranged Geiger counters and by this method demonstrated the presence of penetrating charged particles in the rays and defined the paths of individual rays. For his discovery of the 'method of coincidence' and the discoveries subsequently made by it which laid the foundations of nuclear spectroscopy Bothe was awarded jointly with Max Born the Nobel Prize in Physics 1954" . While Einstein commended Planck's epoch-making derivation of his radiation law in 1900 which ushered in the quantum era he had also noted its limitations. Einstein also saw inconsistencies in Planck's derivation of his law. For Einstein this inconsistency was no reason to reject Planck's quantum theory but it was a reason to study the foundations of traditional radiation theory and if needed revise them. "As Einstein had noted in 1906 Planck's derivation of the Rayleigh-Jeans law uν = 8πν2/c3 kT between average resonator energy uν and radiation spectrum ν only applied to classical resonators T is the temperature k is Boltzmann's constant. A new quantum-theoretical picture of the interaction between matter and radiation was needed. Einstein found it in the summer of 1916 after the completion of his general theory of gravitation left him more time for quantum meditation. "The new picture presumably emerged from a combination of three elements: Einstein's derivation of the law of photochemical equivalence his analogy between quantum states and chemical species and Niels Bohr's theory of atomic spectra. According to Bohr atoms and molecules can only exist in a series of quantum states S0 S1 . . . Sn . . . with well-defined energies E0 E1 . . . En . . . Their interaction with radiation occurs through quantum jumps with characteristic values of the frequency of the emitted or absorbed radiation. Regarding the quantum states as chemical species and remembering his photochemical reasoning Einstein knew that he could derive Wien's law by balancing the absorption process Sn hν → Sn1 with the emission process Sn1 → Sn hν and by making the probability of the first reaction proportional to the density of radiation at frequency ν. Something in this reasoning needed to be altered in order to get Planck's law instead of Wien's. "At this point Einstein appealed to an analogy between classical and quantum theory. According to classical theory an oscillating dipole spontaneously emits radiation whether or not radiation is initially present in its surroundings. When external radiation encounters this dipole it may either be absorbed if the phase of the incoming wave agrees with that of the oscillator or it may be amplified in the contrary case. In the quantum theory of radiation Einstein similarly admitted the existence of three kinds of processes: spontaneous emission Ausstrahlung absorption negative Einstrahlung and stimulated emission positive Einstrahlung. The modern terminology is Bohr's. For the probability per time unit of the respective sorts of quantum jump Einstein assumed the forms Anm ÏνBnm ÏνBmn where n is the upper quantum state m the lower one and Ïν is the density of radiation at the frequency ν. "Einstein did not say much on the nature of the probabilities he thus introduced. He only commented that his theory had the weakness to leave to chance the instant and direction of the spontaneous emission of light. He also noted the similarity between spontaneous emission and radioactive decay. Undoubtedly he would have preferred a theory in which the emission and absorption probabilities were deduced from an underlying deterministic theory. He nonetheless expressed his 'full trust in the present way of reasoning'. The probabilistic description of the interaction was a natural counterpart of the discrete character of quantum states: if a quantum system evolves mostly through quantum jumps then the probability of a quantum jump obviously is the main quantity of physical interest. Instead of speculating on the precise timing and fine structure of the jumps Einstein proceeded to show what could be done by means of the new probability coefficients. "At thermal equilibrium Einstein reasoned statistical mechanics requires the number of atoms in a quantum state n to be proportional to exp−En /kT. The kinetic equilibrium between the atoms and surrounding radiation further requires that the number of quantum jumps from m to n should be equal to the number of reverse jumps: ÏνBnm exp−Em /kT = ÏνBnm Anm exp−En /kT. In the high temperature limit for which Ïν → ∞ this condition gives Bnm = Bmn. Therefore the equilibrium value uν of the density Ïν is given by uνexpEn − Em/kT - 1 = Anm / Bnm. According to a thermodynamic theorem by Wien uν/ν3 must be a function of ν/T only. Hence En − Em must be proportional to ν. Einstein thus derived Bohr's strange frequency rule ΔE = hν with complete generality and without recourse to any of the empirical laws of spectra. He then required the expression of uν to agree with the Rayleigh-Jeans law in the low-frequency limit. The outcome was Planck's law as well as the relation Anm / Bnm = 8πhν3/c3 between Einstein's two probability coefficients . "Einstein's new theory of radiation is now remembered for the introduction of stimulated emission which famously permitted the conception of masers and lasers. For Einstein and for his contemporaries the importance of these memoirs lay elsewhere. First Einstein filled an important gap in the derivation of Planck's law by means of a simple statistical description of radiation processes. Second he corroborated two basic assumptions of Bohr's atomic theory: the existence of stationary states and the frequency rule. In this regard it should be emphasized that before Einstein's and Sommerfeld's contributions of 1916 Bohr believed that his frequency rule only applied to strictly periodic systems. For instance he regarded the Zeeman effect as a violation of this rule. Einstein's new considerations established its complete generality" Darrigol in Cambridge Companion to Einstein pp. 134-136. "The implication of Einstein's theory of stimulated emission was that if one arranges for a large number of atoms to be in identical excited states a stray photon of the right energy can stimulate one atom to emit another photon which stimulates another. and all the atoms release their excess energy in a sudden cascade. What's more the photon released by stimulated emission will be in phase - coherent - with the one that stimulated it and so all the light produced in the cascade will be coherent. "In 1955 American physicist Charles Townes of Columbia University in New York an expert in molecular spectroscopy and his co-workers showed how stimulated emission could be used to make a device for generating or amplifying microwaves which they called a maser microwave amplified stimulated emission of radiation. Three years later Townes and Arthur Schawlow explained how to extend the idea to visible and infrared frequencies to make an 'optical maser' - in effect the laser. "They proposed using ordinary incoherent light to pump atoms into an excited state setting up the 'population inversion' in which the atoms are primed to return to their ground state by emitting photons. And their design used an optical cavity - basically two mirrors between which photons would bounce - to trap the emitted photons while they stimulated more emission. The device they explained would generate 'extremely monochromatic single-wavelength and coherent light'. Theodore Maiman of the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu California described such a device using a ruby crystal already used for masers as the lasing medium in 1960" 'A century ago Einstein sparked the notion of the laser' Physics World History Blog 31 August 2017. Weil 85. Calaprice An Einstein Encyclopedia 2015. Darrigol From c-numbers to q-numbers 1992. Kleppner 'Rereading Einstein on radiation' Physics Today 58 2005 pp. 30-33. Pais Subtle is the Lord 1982. 8vo 228 x 154 mm pp. 315-332. Original printed wrappers. A fine copy. Druck und Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg and Son unknown
1931Best.-Nr. 146050New York: The MacMillan Company 1931. First edition of this volume of Einstein's speeches and letters concerning his views on Zionism. Octavo original cloth. Boldly signed and dated in the year of publication on the front free endpaper "Albert Einstein 1931." Near fine with light toning to the endpapers in the scarce original dust jacket which is in good condition with some wear. Translated and edited with an introduction by Leon Simon. Exceptionally rare signed. Einstein was a prominent supporter of both Labor Zionism and efforts to encourage Jewish-Arab cooperation. He supported the creation of a Jewish national homeland in the British mandate of Palestine but was opposed to the idea of a Jewish state "with borders an army and a measure of temporal power." In a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru dated June 13 1947 he asserted "Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong.The Jewish people alone has for centuries been in the anomalous position of being victimized and hounded as a people though bereft of all the rights and protections which even the smallest people normally has.Zionism offered the means of ending this discrimination." Einstein's speeches lectures and letters concerning Zionism were first published in 1930 by The Soncino Press and eleven of these essays were later collected in The World as I See It published in 1933 which Einstein dedicated "to the Jews of Germany". The MacMillan Company hardcover
