Albert EinsteinBiblio.com
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ref. A9780691026107Paperback / softback. New. Presents Einstein's writings from the final period of his work in Switzerland. The material in this volume documents Einstein's search for a relativistic theory of gravitation a search that ended in Berlin in the fall of 1915 with the completion of the general theory of relativity. paperback
1949ref. 343971949. On scientists and military work: “The majority of really good scientists in this country have withdrawn from military work…The young ones who cannot lean upon a standing of their own have generally given in to the almost irresistible pressure. One cannot expect it to be any different."" Einstein and other scientists faced the harsh reality of the product of their work after the war and the bombing of Japan; Here Einstein in a way grapples with his own role On the timeless nature of fighting for what you believe: “The truth appears foolish to the insane.Lost people are content to find themselves in agreement with the masses."" <img class=""alignnone wp-image-34606 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20251001204256/Einstein_Letter_11-1-1600x897.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""897"" /> Although Albert Einstein’s participation in the production of the atomic bomb was limited the public perceived his role as crucial and he was in fact the face of the project to many. The reasons were that although he did not work on the Manhattan Project the US effort to build the bomb his famous equation E=mc2 provided the theoretical basis for understanding the immense energy released in nuclear fission which is the process that powers the bomb. And his 1939 letter to President Roosevelt co-signed by Leo Szilárd alerted the US government to the potential of nuclear weapons and prompted the start of research that eventually led to the Manhattan Project. Feeding the public perceptions of his responsibility were publications like The Smyth Report a history of the development of the bomb published the day after the bombing of Nagasaki which ascribed great historical weight to Einstein’s 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in catalyzing the development of the bomb. In 1946 Time magazine published the famous cover featuring Einstein’s portrait backgrounded by an enormous mushroom cloud emblazoned with “E=mc2” and the accompanying article by Whittaker Chambers referred to him as “the father of the bomb” a title which resonated in the popular imagination. A March 1947 Newsweek cover featured Einstein above the headline “Godfather of the Atomic Bomb”. Einstein was hounded by the association throughout the rest of his life culminating in his November 1954 admission to Linus Pauling “I made one great mistake in my life when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made….” Albert Einstein was known for his dedication to morality which he said was “of the highest importance” as well as beliefs that stemmed from morality like pacifism anti-militarism and loyalty to the facts taught by science. He viewed morality as fundamentally human and believed that ethical behavior should form a basis for both individual well-being and the collective good of humanity. Thus for Einstein the pursuit of morality was the most vital human endeavor essential for bringing beauty and dignity to life and ensuring the survival and thriving of the human race. He shared these beliefs with Dr. Herbert Jehle. Dr. Jehle was a pioneering theoretical physicist whose work spanned quantum field theory biophysics and astrophysics. He was a student and friend of Einstein in the 1920s in Germany; and a disciple and friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At Princeton in 1947 he provided Richard Feynman with the spark which would lead to his path integral formulation. Einstein had left for the United States in 1933 the same year that Jehle received his doctorate from the Technische Hochschule Berlin. In the same year Dietrich Bonhoeffer Jehle's friend and mentor stepped down from his professorship at Berlin in protest of the Nazi ascent to power. In 1940 Jehle refused to assist in the German armament and atomic project and was interned in concentration camps. Escaping in 1941 with the help of Quaker and Christian relief organizations Jehle made his way to the United States where he took a position at Harvard University until leaving for Princeton in 1947. At Princeton Jehle's pacifist beliefs coincided with Einstein's own and they reconnected bonding over shared views of social responsibility and ethics in science and playing music together regularly Einstein on violin Jehle on the piano. Jehle was also the editor of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science newsletter of which Einstein was a member. Jehle additionally submitted articles to other science publications. During the 1950s Jehle collaborated with Linus Pauling on DNA research as well as advocating with Pauling for peace. In the early 1960s Jehle worked as a consultant to Marshall Nirenberg at the NIH on DNA-coding for which Nirenberg also won a Nobel Prize for in 1968. Jehle's 1949 article ""For a Universal Morality"" asserted that ""participation in war preparations posed a challenge to man's conscience under any circumstances. and urged that scientists refuse to participate in war work under any government democratic or totalitarian"" see Nathan & Norden Einstein on Peace p 514. The editor of the Bulletin Eugene Rabinowitch rejected the article in a letter to Einstein to which Einstein replied advocating Jehle's position praising Jehle for not being “deterred by taboos” and then sent this letter to Jehle. It is interesting to think how time and war had affected Einstein's thinking. Where his letter did much to advance the nuclear militarization and as a scientist he felt a need to intervene here is advocating the opposite. Autograph letter signed on paper watermarked ""Whiting Mutual Bond Rag Content""Princeton 1949 to Herbert Jehle endorsing the article by Jehle that had been submitted to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on the topics of science and morality and cautioning Jehle on the complications of his position in the post-war world. “I have read your article several times and find that it agrees exactly with my thinking. In accordance with your wishes I am sending your paper with my recommendation to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in the hope that they will publish it. “I doubt however that the effect will correspond with the good intentions of the article. The truth appears foolish to the insane. He suspects disloyal intent and revolts against the thought that the 'foreigner' considers himself a better judge of what Americans should do. There are after all few who think and feel in a supra-national manner. Lost people are content to find themselves in agreement with the masses. “The majority of really good scientists in this country have withdrawn from military work more so than it was ever the case in Germany. The young ones who cannot lean upon a standing of their own have generally given in to the almost irresistible pressure. One cannot expect it to be any different since few are born to be martyrs - if no mass movement drives them in that direction. I see the real justification of your approach in the attempt to help generate such a mass movement. “The predicament in which we are is in a certain sense timeless. The public institutions necessarily represent a rather low moral level as do the men who stand behind these institutions. The individual is at the mercy of these institutions the standards of which he must recognize to be low if he is conscientious and not completely without ideas. He is thus forced into some compromise since he sees that that kind of necessarily imperfect institution cannot be dispensed with. “If those who see the light do not stand honestly and courageously for the good the world will get deeper and deeper into the morass. In expressing my joy that you have acted in this way and continue to do so I remain with friendly greetings. Yours A. Einstein.” With: Autograph statement as a PS from Einstein in German with Jehle's autograph English translation beneath and annotations above transcribing his recommendation for Jehle which Einstein sent to the editor of the Bulletin. “I am sending you this book article. It comes from a younger physicist who is courageous enough to simply say what is evident without being deterred by taboos. I hope that his note can be published in the Bulletin.” An important letter reflecting Einstein's post-war advocacy for morality and peace and assessments of the place of scientists in the moral sphere as well as realistic observations on and understanding of world politics. We obtained this letter directly from the Jehle family. <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
ref. 342445/11/19. A remarkable letter before his great fame referencing and shown to Marie Curie Einstein who helped free so many from the jaws of Nazism makes an impassioned plea for a World War I German POW in France who would escape but later die in the Holocaust In 1905 while a young patent clerk and physicist in Bern Switzerland Albert Einstein obtained his doctorate and published a paper that explained his newly developed Special Theory of Relativity. This unlocked many mysteries of the universe and introduced the world to the idea equating mass and the speed of light with energy which we know today as e=mc2. Einstein's insight and one element that distanced his work from that of Newton was to recognize that mc2 was the proper energy of mass the energy associated with that mass and was independent of its motion. Mass must be measured in this way as resting mass. This was a foundation of e=mc2. The breakdown of molecules therefore released energy. This energy is often used by cells to perform work such as powering movement. In the early years of the 20th century thanks to the development of mass spectrographs science had acquired the capacity to ""weigh"" atoms with extreme precision. Indeed Einstein provided the theoretical explanation for Brownian motion while French Chemist Perrin experimentally verified Einstein's theory solidifying the evidence for the existence of atoms. Scientists among them Perrin noted that when comparing the mass of a helium nuclei to that of the four elementary nuclei it was made of there was a slight discrepancy—one helium atom was slightly lighter than four hydrogen atoms; in other words the whole was smaller than the sum of the parts. Where did the missing mass go Einstein knew the answer: in accordance with his famous E=mc_ equation a tiny fraction of the mass had been transformed into a formidable quantity of energy. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-34256 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20250724151316/Einstein-Nov-1919-1-1600x709.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""709"" /> The French mathematician Paul Langevin understood the formidable source of energy that resulted from these ""transmutations."" But it was Jean Perrin a professor of physical chemistry in Paris who first proposed in 1919 that the fusion of hydrogen into helium was the energy source of the Sun and stars accounting for the billions of years of sunshine past and the billions of years to come. During this time radiation studies too were in their infancy. Marie Curie famously decided to do her thesis on radiation recently discovered in uranium by Henri Becquerel. She found that an ore containing uranium was far more radioactive than could be explained by its uranium content. This led her and her husband Pierre to the discovery of a new element that was 400 times more radioactive than uranium. In 1898 it was added to the Periodic Table as polonium named after Curie’s birth country. Then Curie discovered an even more radioactive element radium and through observation of radium made a fundamental discovery: Radiation wasn’t dependent on the organisation of atoms at the molecular level; something was happening inside the atom itself. The atom was not as scientists believed at the time inert indivisible or even solid. This discovery led to an overlapping one: At the time people did not know what powered the Sun. Many however thought it was Radium. Perrin was one of those who believed this. His hypothesis borrowing from E=MC2 was that radiation in the form of Radium was emanating from bodies like earth causing the breakdown of molecules on the Sun and that the breakdown was powering the Sun and other stars. In 1919 Perrin sent to Einstein his new publication proposing this theory. Einstein's response notes the breakdown of molecules and the released energy can likely be accomplished by other means than radiation. He uses the mathematical equation for the breakdown of one molecule into atoms. He references a first order reaction a chemical reaction where the rate of the reaction is directly proportional to the concentration of only one reactant. In simpler terms if you double the concentration of that reactant you double the reaction rate. A common example is radioactive decay. And he gives his best to the Madame Curie. Einstein had last met in Paris with Perrin Pierre Langevin Professor of Experimental Physics at the Collège de France and Curie then Professor of Physics at the Sorbonne on the occasion of Einstein’s lecture to the French Physical Society in late March 1913. They first met at the Solvay Congress in Brussels in autumn 1911. At the same time Einstein who helped so many Jews escape Germany during World War II had a distant cousin the geologist August Moos who had volunteered in the German infantry at the start of the First World War in 1914. After being taken prisoner in 1915 he made several attempts to escape which resulted in a sentence that prevented his release after the armistice of 1918. His mother asked for help from Einstein who turned to his friend Perrin as well as mathematician and statesman Paul Painlevé asking them to intercede. Moos was finally released in February 1920. He would work as an oil geologist in the interwar period before being tragically arrested due to his Jewish heritage under the Nazi regime. Moos would die in the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II. Typed letter signed in French signed “A. Einstein"" November 5 1919 to Professor Jean Baptiste Perrin who would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1926 for his work on the atomic structure of matter. ""Dear Perrin! I received your publications and thank you cordially. Your opinion of the primary importance of radiation for all chemical reactions still seems to me dubious even if it was certain which it is not that reactions of the type J_ - JJ added by hand are of the first order. It would be possible for example that J_ molecules whose internal energy exceeds a certain limit would decompose in accordance with radioactive bodies. ""One more prayer. One of the parents of one of my cousins—a geologist—is a prisoner of war in France. His widowed mother having lost her other son in the war is in the greatest pain for her only son since he had tried to flee several times. She shudders at the thought that the man—through his old efforts to flee in a very difficult situation—might try to flee again and be shot. Wouldn't it be possible to do something for this young scholar"" He goes on to give the address of August Moos held in Charleville Ardennes and concludes by offering his ""many friendships for you Mr. Langevin and Madame Curie."" Below he notes an ink spill draws an arrow and writes ""drop of editorial sweat from editing."" Perrin responded the very same day confirming that he believed rays from Earth were breaking down molecules in the sun and that he assumed the first order nature of the reaction. In other words he did not agree with Einstein that radiation was not breaking down molecules releasing energy and powering the sun. ""I do indeed believe that I2 Einstein used J but Perrin used I decomposes like radioactive bodies and I devoted a chapter of my work to this but precisely on the conviction that radioactive bodies like I2 are decomposed by light for radium ultra-short X rays emanating from the Earth at _ = 10–11 light which suddenly increases the internal energy. I read your letters to Mrs. Curie and to Langevin. They too send you their very best regards."" Perrin and In addition to this important family and political content Einstein comments on a theory that Perrin had developed in which all chemical transformations including radioactive decay are triggered by radiation calling it ""dubious."" Also significant is the date: one day before the official report of Eddington's expedition debuted before the Royal Society of London confirming Einstein's theory of general relativity. Widespread newspaper coverage of the results vaulted Einstein into immediate international fame. An altogether remarkable letter from one Nobel Prize winner to another shown to yet a third and using the chemical equation for the breakdown of molecules into atoms in his own hand. <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
1941ref. 3262211/9/41. A generous demonstration by Einstein of his loyalty to friends and belief in the importance of music Dr. Theodor Rosenheim was a physician at the famed Medical University Clinic of the Charité in Germany in the 1880s. He was primarily concerned with the physiology and pathology of the digestive tract. He published an early textbook on the “Pathologie und Therapie der Krankheiten des Verdauungsapparates”. Rosenheim was one of the first in Germany to describe and publish on ulcerative colitis. He was intensively involved in the technical development of esophagoscopy and gastroscopy which at that time were only possible with rigid instruments. The Rosenheim line which was named after him described the largest diagonal diameter of the gastric percussion figure. Rosenheim was appointed professor extraordinarius at Berlin University in 1921. He also founded a polyclinic and a private sanatorium for stomach and intestinal patients. He was well respected in Berlin and his private practice developed successfully with a large circle of patients including Albert Einstein. Theodor’s wife was Hedwig Rosenheim and their daughter Kate was a hero of the Holocaust. She helped several thousand children from Jewish families to escape from Germany. She personally accompanied the legendary Kindertransporte to England among other places. She travelled to the USA in 1936 to negotiate directly with the aid organizations there. She then returned to Germany to actively continue the aid campaigns. Theodor died in 1939. Käte Rosenheim was able to flee Berlin together with her 72-year-old mother Hedwig Rosenheim on January 23 1941. They reached Havana Cuba via France Spain and Portugal. From there they were able to continue to New York where they arrived on April 1 1941. Albert Einstein was an accomplished violinist and music lover who was inspired by music in his scientific work. He often said that he would have been a musician if he hadn't pursued science. Another music lover was Hedwig Rosenheim. She had escaped Germany without her possessions especially her precious musical instruments. Upon arrival in the United States she contacted the old family friend Albert Einstein hoping he could help her get a flute either for herself or another escapee one who may have agreed to look for her. Einstein was sympathetic and rose to the occasion. He even contributed some of his personal funds to secure the flute. Typed letter signed his vacation house in Knollwood at Saranac Lake N.Y. September 11 1941 to his old friend Mrs. Hedwig Rosenheim in New York City. “ The matter of i.e. the quest for the flute shall not fail. First one should know what the committee is giving out – or loaning. Second there is the Hebrew Free Loan Society 108 Second Ave. New York which in such cases provides interest-free loans in exchange for the backing of two guarantors. I will serve as a guarantor and contribute 20 dollars on top of that. The man should visit both institutions and can show this letter. In the hope of receiving a positive report soon I remain with warm greetings your A. Einstein.” “PS. Starting next week my address will again be in Princeton.” The committee he referred may have been the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee though there were others as well. It shows a lot about Einstein - his generosity his continued concern for old friends who had escaped from Germany and love for music - that he volunteered to make a personal financial contribution to obtaining the flute. <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
1968ref. 019130Crown Publishers. First Printing. No Statement Of Printing DJ Price Clipped But Exactly Same As First And Came With This Book Publisher's Address As 419 Fourth Avenue On Front And Rear Flaps.Clipped DJ in archival cover edge wear small chips. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1968. Crown Publishers hardcover
1953ref. 019091University of California Press Berkeley / Los Angeles. First Printing. Clipped DJ in archival cover edge wear. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1953. University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Angeles hardcover
1954ref. 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
ref. 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
1931ref. 016304Gordon D. Knox. Publisher's green cloth with bright gilt titles to front and spine. Large photo of a bust of Newton on front. Spine in tact but starting along seam. . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1931. Gordon D. Knox hardcover
1935ref. 1383623/05/1935. He prophesizes however that the road ahead for the Jews will be “arduous and very painful” The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey was founded in 1930 by educator Abraham Flexner with funding from department store magnate Louis Bamberger. Flexner first recruited noted mathematicians from Princeton University to join the Institute then broadened its scope by including established scholars in economics politics and humanistic studies. In 1932 Flexner offered Einstein a faculty position at the Institute. Einstein’s decision was effected by historical events as in January 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Soon after Einstein made the decision to resign from his Berlin position give up his German citizenship and accept the position in Princeton. The ocean liner Westmoreland which carried Einstein at age 54 to what would become his new home country arrived in New York Harbor on October 17 1933. <img class=""alignnone size-full wp-image-24695"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204145639/einsteinsig.gif"" alt="""" width=""1920"" height=""1080"" /> Einstein found the Institute and life in the United States congenial so in April 1934 just six months after his arrival Einstein announced that he was staying in Princeton indefinitely and assuming a permanent full-time status at the Institute. He would remain in the United States the rest of his life. Meanwhile he was very much a celebrity and was invited to the White House to meet with the Roosevelts. He politely declined saying he did not want to call attention to himself a position that German Jews had become accustomed to adopting during the rise of Naziism. However the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt intervened writing Einstein directly requesting his presence. So Einstein and his wife Elsa arrived at the White House on January 24 1934 had dinner and spent the night. President Roosevelt was able to converse with them in passable German. Among other things they discussed Roosevelt’s marine prints and Einstein’s love for sailing. On learning that the Einsteins had decided to stay in the United States Roosevelt suggested that the Einsteins should accept the offer of some Congressmen to have a special bill passed on their behalf that he would sign granting them citizenship so that they would not have to endure the five year waiting period. The Einsteins declined the President’s generous suggestion saying they wanted to be treated like any other applicant for American citizenship. Because the Einsteins had not been sure of their ultimate destination and declared themselves as visitors instead of immigrants when they arrived in October 1933 this meant that they would need to leave the U.S. and return again to declare intention to seek citizenship. The United Jewish Appeal UJA planned a fund-raising dinner in Einstein’s honor for May 28 1935. This was exactly the time the Einsteins had set aside to leave the country to perfect their citizenship so he was forced to decline the invitation. He did however provide them with a statement that was received by the UJA on May 25 the very day the Einsteins stepped onboard the Queen Mary to travel to British-owned Bermuda for a few days to satisfy the formalities. The royal governor was there to greet them when they arrived in Hamilton and he recommended the island’s two best hotels. Einstein found them stuffy and pretentious. As they walked through town he saw a modest guest cottage and that is where they ended up. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-32085 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240908143641/Einstein-May-23-1935-1-1600x968.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""968"" /> Typed statement signed in German Princeton May 23 1935 time stamped as received on May 25 to be read at the UJA dinner and issued to the press accordingly. It takes the moral high ground but warns of great dangers ahead. ”Unfortunately because of non-deferrable obligations I can only express in writing my recognition and gratitude for the assistance provided to the many unfortunate people by the dinner on the 28th of May. We can gain consolation in this critical time if we compare the moral standard of our friends and our enemies with each other. The result of such a comparison shows us that our way for world history can be considered the better one even if at times it is arduous and very painful.” Our research indicates that this important statement is unpublished as the dinner was postponed and it was never released to the press. But even this moving and forceful statement was not enough for the event organizers. Learning that Einstein could not attend they postponed the dinner. Instead the $50-a-plate dinner for the benefit of the UJA arranged by that organization and the Council of Jewish Organizations was held in New York City on June 26 with Einstein in attendance. About 1000 people attended the banquet at which Einstein spoke. In his speech Einstein returned to the same theme of morality as in the above statement saying that the ""moral disintegration and intensified national egoism"" of the times requires all Jews to strengthen their ranks to preserve Jewry. Of foremost importance he said was the upbuilding of the settlement in Palestine. On June 28 the UJA announced it was using the proceeds from the dinner to aid German refugees in New York City by allocating funds to local agencies equipped to care for the refugees. Einstein reentered the U.S. from Bermuda on June 3 1935. On January 15 1936 the Einsteins submitted their declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States. <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
1502ref. 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
ref. 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
ref. 1476667918.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
1950ref. 013768Philosophical Library. First Printing. Frontispiece Photographic Portrait By Lotte Jacobi. Unclipped DJ in archival cover toning chips edge wear. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1950. Philosophical Library hardcover
1941ref. 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
ref. 184029/9/54. The fullest summation we have seen by Einstein comparing relativity to Newtonian concepts of space and time Immanuel Kant took both Euclidean geometry and the Newtonian laws of motion to be synthetic a priori principles which from Kant’s point of view function as necessary presuppositions for applying our fundamental concepts of space time matter and motion to our sensible experience of the natural world meaning they are fixed necessary conditions. This idea rested on the absolute nature of space and time the work of Newton and the relationship between geometry and physics. In 1905 while a young patent clerk and physicist in Bern Switzerland Albert Einstein obtained his doctorate and published a paper that explained his newly developed Special Theory of Relativity. This unlocked many mysteries of the universe and introduced the world to ""e=mc2"" equating mass and the speed of light with energy. It established that time and space are not fixed and in fact change to maintain a constant speed of light regardless of the relative motions of sources and observers. Just 10 years later in 1915 Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity which described the universe as a four-dimensional continuum with time added as the fourth dimension where gravitational effects are explained by the warping of space-time. In this theory Einstein incorporated gravity as a geometric property of space-time. The impact of Einstein's work between 1905 and 1915 challenged many principles of physics that had been accepted for centuries. In 1921 he won the Nobel Prize for his work. Time Magazine named him the Person of the Century for the 20th century for his discoveries in relativity and space-time. Einstein is the most important scientist since Isaac Newton and probably the most famous in history. Space and time were considered relativistic more subjective and not the fixed a priori notions that had long permeated the mathematical and scientific worlds. Max Fischler was a California scientist who was interested in the implications of this distinction: were space and time now to be studied together in this context only or were the nature of space and the nature of time different In special relativity what appears simultaneous to one person might not to another - they are relative. You cannot separate space and time; they occur subjectively and semi-dependently but are not tied to the content of that space. With General Relativity space-time remains but matter warps it. It's a field like the sheet of a trampoline but reacts to matter. One needs all four dimensions of space-time and without them the others don't exist. You need matter for space. On September 5 1954 he wrote to Einstein: "".Can anything in your theory of Relativity be said to throw new light on the nature of space and time themselves Or must we rest satisfied with the purely new logical treatment of these conceptions In other words does the new view of space and time as space-time carry any new meaning ontologically beyond the purely mathematical and logical relationship between the two. Or to put it differently: When Minkowski in his famous words said 'Space by itself and time by itself must not sink into the mere shadows and only a kind of union of the two can preserve an independent existence' did he not attach some new real meaning to the 'spacetime' which the old independent notions of space and time could not convey If so in what does this new meaning consist."" Four days later Einstein replied in this letter: Typed letter signed in German on his personal blind embossed letterhead Princeton September 9 1954 to Max Fishler. ""The expression cited in the second paragraph only signifies the wish for logical clarity in the formal expressions. De facto the justification for concepts lies in their ability to comprehend the empirically given. ""In classical mechanics space and time were completed existences which had to be presupposed as real a priori in order to give meaning to the laws of motion. It was a reality in the same sense as the reality of matter; even governing the latter. In this sense Kant was entirely wrong. ""The case was the same as regards the Special Theory of Relativity only that an objective separation of space and time was abandoned in the sense that there could no longer be any objective simultaneity. Here too the four dimensional space is a reality independently of the physical content of space. ""Regarding the General Theory of Relativity however this is principally different. What we call ""space"" is here only an extension of a Field dimensionality hence no longer independent of the content of space. It is real in the same sense as matter but has no real existence independently of matter. When the field is taken away there does not remain any space but just nothing.” Letters of Einstein directly relating to relativity are increasingly uncommon and this is one of the finest such letters we have had. unknown
1702ref. 1536217/02/1953. In this letter from Einstein to David Bohm Einstein discusses the importance of connecting a key principle of the relatively new theory of quantum mechanics the “Born interpretation” to physical quantities that can be measured in the real world. To him it is essential that mathematical theories be connected to measurable quantities. In this letter Einstein’s uneasiness with quantum mechanics is apparent saying that validation of the seemingly random quantum mechanics “…can only be done on the basis of classical mechanics.” Without this validation quantum theory has essentially “no controllable meaning.” <img class=""alignnone wp-image-22637 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204163327/Einstein-born-2-e1639117238988-1600x656.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""656"" /> Max Born was a renowned physicist who was crucial for the development of quantum mechanics and also the Ph.D. supervisor of many important physicists including J. Robert Oppenheimer. Quantum mechanics describes the weird behavior of tiny subatomic particles. It’s also the guiding theory that led to critical technologies like nuclear power MRI machines and transistors in computers and phones. One of Born’s biggest contributions to quantum mechanics was the interpretation of the probability density which is a mathematical operation performed on the “psi-function” in Einstein’s words to predict the most probable physical quantities of a quantum particle. Einstein believed that probabilities only make sense if you can determine the values that they predict independently by measurement. This is easy to do in classical Newtonian mechanics the physics of big things in everyday life. But Einstein said we can’t measure it for something like a “bound electron” i.e. an electron in an atom. In order to interpret Born’s probability density function you need to connect the mathematics to real values. Einstein’s correspondence with Born on this subject is published and famous. To Einstein the universe is observable and measurable. When confronted with one of the principle tenets of Quantum Mechanics Einstein remarked now famously “Quantum mechanics is very imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not the real McCoy. The theory delivers a lot but hardly brings us closer to the secret of the Old One God. I for one am convinced that He does not throw dice.” This statement was made in one of those significant letters to Born. What he meant here is that rules of science cannot be random and in the rolling of dice we would have to accept unknown variables and therefore be unable to predict precisely via objective measurements. Therefore in Quantum Mechanics as in gambling an uncertainty of measurement exists. And to Einstein the universe is observable and measurable. He did not object to Quantum Mechanics per se; indeed he made notable contributions. But he eschewed any reliance on what was not observable and knowable. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-22634 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204163356/Einstein-born-5-e1639117103621-1600x616.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""616"" /> David Joseph Bohm was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th century and who contributed unorthodox ideas to quantum theory neuropsychology and the philosophy of mind. His first book Quantum Theory published in 1951 was well received by Einstein among others. But Bohm became dissatisfied with the orthodox interpretation of quantum theory he had written about in that book.Bohm’s aim was not to set out a deterministic mechanical viewpoint but to show that it was possible to attribute properties to an underlying reality in contrast to the conventional approach. He began to develop his own interpretation the De Broglie–Bohm theory also called the Pilot wave theory the predictions of which agreed perfectly with the non-deterministic quantum theory. He initially referred to his approach as a hidden variable theory. Bohm originally hoped that hidden variables could provide a local causal objective description that would resolve or eliminate many of the paradoxes of Quantum Mechanics the measurement problem and the collapse of the wavefunction. However Bell’s theorem complicates this hope as it demonstrates that there can be no local hidden variable theory that is compatible with the predictions of Quantum Mechanics. The Bohmian interpretation is causal but not local. Albert Einstein who had suggested that Bohm search for a realist alternative to the prevailing Copenhagen approach did not consider Bohm’s interpretation to be a satisfactory answer to the quantum question. The Copenhagen interpretation is an expression of the meaning of Quantum Mechanics that was largely devised in the years 1925 to 1927 by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It remains one of the most commonly taught interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. According to the Copenhagen interpretation physical systems generally do not have definite properties prior to being measured and Quantum Mechanics can only predict the probabilities that measurements will produce certain results. The act of measurement affects the system causing the set of probabilities to reduce to only one of the possible values immediately after the measurement. In classical mechanics a particle has at every moment an exact position and an exact momentum. These values change deterministically as the particle moves according to Newton’s laws. Under the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics particles do not have exactly determined properties and when they are measured the result is randomly drawn from a probability distribution. The Schrödinger equation predicts what the probability distributions are but fundamentally cannot predict the exact result of each measurement. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-22633 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204163406/Einstein-born-e1639117155596-1600x360.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""360"" /> Typed letter signed on his blind embossed letterhead February 17 1953 Professor Bohm. “Dear Bohm: I thank you very much for the prompt reaction to my little article. I did of course not expect that you would agree with me. For scarcely anyone is inclined to abandon an enterprise in which le has invested a great deal of work. “I do not want to answer your letter in detail although it deserves it very much. Only a short remark concerning the interpretation of Born’s standpoint: “According to Born the physical meaning of the psi-function follows: it determines probabilities f.i. for the value of impulses. this makes sense only if the impulse is defined independently of the mathematical theory by some feasible measurement. This can only be done on the basis of classical mechanics. F.i. if one has calculated the impulse of a bound electron on the basis of a psi-function then this result has no controllable meaning. For there is no possibility to measure such a thing not even approximately. However if one has to do with a makro-object which is at least temporarily approximately free then one is able to determine experimentally at least approximately its impulsef.i. through two successive snapshots or through radar. If it is at all possible to attribute meaning to Born’s interpretation then the impulse the probability of which appears in the theory has to be put equal to the impulse thus measured. Classical approxi_mate measurement of the impulse is however in my example very well feasible without first removing the walls and then waiting some time. Born’s probability therefore has to be interpreted as relative to the impulse thus measured if this probability is to have any meaning at all. “The vanishing of position-probability for the nodes offers no difficulty though it is true that this fact excludes the interpretation of the process as a motion in the strict sense of the word. For the factual process will only approximately be describable as a motion as f.i. the action of a gas upon a small part of the wall is describable only approximately by the concept of pressure. “With regard to the publication of your remarks in the Born volume I have some scruples the reason for which you will readily understand. I have sent a copy of my article to you but not to de Broglie because this would have seemed to me somewhat pretentious. If therefore your answer would be published together with my remarks without de Broglie having had the possibility to do the same he might feel it as an unkindness from my side. “This would be avoided if you would send De Broglie my remarks together with your reply adding that you do this with my consent. If you have done this and have received his reaction to it – then the editors of the Born volume can be approached in the matter. I would consider it as reasonable and justified to do so.” <img class=""alignnone wp-image-22636 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204163341/Einstein-born-3-1-e1639117201589-1600x672.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""672"" /> This is a remarkably detailed scientific letter mentioning numerous significant physicists containing a hand-drawn symbol and directly relating to his important theories. It is also in a sense his defense of his own work including relativity. unknown
ref. 30563905-nnew. unknown
ref. 30563905like new. unknown
ref. 1574532367.Gcassette. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. unknown
ref. 1258004739.Ghardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. hardcover
ref. 0691084076.Ghardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. hardcover
ref. B9781017081169Hardback. New. hardcover
ref. B9781016121873Hardback. New. hardcover
ref. B9781015446908Hardback. New. hardcover
