2,976 results
1949ref. 140941039Evanston IL: The Library of Living Philosophers Inc 1949. First Edition. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition first printing. Bound in publisher's original dark blue cloth stamped in gilt. Near Fine with toning to pages offsetting to endsheets former owner name to front free endpaper and small sticker ghost to front paste down. In a Very Good dust jacket with fraying and chip at bottom spine end and short closed tear at head light edge wear toning and soiling to rear panel. The Library of Living Philosophers, Inc unknown
1923ref. 171111001Princeton: Princeton University Press 1923. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First American edition first printing. Near Fine with slight fade to spine cloth gilt stamping very sharp on front cover. Previous owner bookplate to front paste down with patch of abrasion at nearby gutter. Pages toned with several hinges just slightly over-opened. In a Very Good dust jacket with a large chip and tear at the top of the spine toning to spine and edges and several small edge tears. A very nice copy in the scarce dust jacket. Princeton University Press hardcover
2021ref. 113562Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press 2021. Hardcover. Fine in Very Good dust jacket. 2" tear up from bottom edge of DJ spine and 4" tear from rear DJ bottom long edge; rear bottom DJ edge is creased between the two tears; DJ in mylar protector. ; Editors are Diana Kormos Buchwald Ze'ev Rosenkranz Jozsef Illy Daniel J. Kennerfick A. J. Kox Dennis Lehmkuhl Tilman Sauer and Jennifer Nollar James. Blue cloth boards. Shipping will be extra for this heavy book please inquire. ; 7 3/4 x 10 1/4"; 1021 pages. Princeton University Press hardcover
2021ref. __0691216819Princeton Univ Pr 2021. Hardcover. New. 1192 pages. 10.00x7.48x2.80 inches. Princeton Univ Pr hardcover
ref. 9789358561579Fingerprint Publishing. New. New Fingerprint Publishing unknown
ref. 0394494598.Ghardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. hardcover
ref. 0870190032.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
ref. 0810832208.Ghardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. hardcover
1923ref. 20260506001New York: Dodd Mead and Company 1923. Hardcover. Good. 23 cm. Dodd Mead and Company Published 1923. Hardcover viii 216 pp.; 23 cm; First Edition dated 1923 on title page with no additional printings; with seven diagrams; printed at the University Press Aberdeen. In Good condition lacking the dust jacket. Blue cloth-covered boards with the original printed paper label on the spine bearing the title and authors. Mild to moderate shelf wear with some color loss along the edges and soiling and toning to the spine cloth. The paper spine label has chipping along the right edge with loss to the upper right corner. A few razor-thin cracks to the binding but the text block remains very solid in the boards. Pages mildly toned with heavier toning to the endpapers and pastedowns. Otherwise unmarked.The first English-language collection of original memoirs on the special and general theory of relativity. Translated by W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffery from the German collection "Des Relativitätsprinzip" Teubner 4th ed. 1922 with notes by A. Sommerfeld. Gathers key papers in the development of modern physics including Einstein's "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" 1905 Minkowski's "Space and Time" 1908 Einstein's "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity" 1916 and Weyl's "Gravitation and Electricity" along with contributions by Lorentz on Michelson's interference experiment and electromagnetic phenomena.Contents: Michelson's Interference Experiment by H. A. Lorentz; Electromagnetic Phenomena in a System Moving with Any Velocity Less Than That of Light by H. A. Lorentz; On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies by A. Einstein; Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy-Content by A. Einstein; Space and Time by H. Minkowski; On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light by A. Einstein; The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein; Hamilton's Principle and the General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein; Cosmological Considerations on the General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein; Do Gravitational Fields Play an Essential Part in the Structure of the Elementary Particles of Matter by A. Einstein; Gravitation and Electricity by H. Weyl. Dodd, Mead and Company hardcover
ref. 3662275279.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
1949ref. 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
ref. 329146Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press 2015-04-13. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good Dust Jacket. 5x0x8. 1st printing with complete number line. Near fine hardcover in very good dust jacket DJ has some rubbing. From a private home collection. Text unmarked and clean pages bright and crisp. Binding is tight sturdy and square. Boards look great corners sharp. Ships same or next business day from Dinkytown in Minneapolis Minnesota. Due to the size/weight of this book extra charges may apply for international shipping. Princeton University Press hardcover
1918ref. 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
1908ref. 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
1912ref. 2508Paris: Gauthier-Villars 1912. First edition. Original wrappers custom box. Very Good. RARE FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF THE REPORTS FROM THE HISTORIC FIRST SOLVAY CONFERENCE "THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN PHYSICS EVER ORGANIZED" AND A CRITICAL MOMENT IN THE BIRTH OF QUANTUM PHYSICS. In the short time that followed Planck's hypothesis of the universal constant that would bear his name the greatest minds in physics were largely at a loss about how to deal with the bizarre theoretical results that followed let alone the experimental results which confirmed them!. Much of the focus at the time was on black-body radiation including work by Planck himself as well as Lorentz Rayleigh and Jeans. However shortly before the first Solvay conference a young Einstein had also started investigating the related question of materials' specific heat. Kuhn. "The purpose of the first Solvay Conference was thus two-fold: first there was the need to examine whether classical theories molecular-kinetic theory and electrodynamics could in some undiscovered ways provide an explanation of the problem of black-body radiation and of the specific heat of polyatomic substances at low temperatures; secondly to consider phenomena in which the theory of quanta could be successfully used." Mehra. Underlying these questions was the more fundamental mystery of how to interpret the existence of the Planck constant. There were two camps both of which were represented at the conference. Planck's took the constant to indicate some fundamental constraint on the radiative processes of emission and absorption. For example "Sommerfeld introduced a version of the quantum hypothesis which he considered to be compatible with classical electrodynamics. He postulated that in 'every purely molecular process' a quantized quantity of action is exchanged." Staumann. Einstein's camp on the other hand took the quantum of action to represent the physicality of a perhaps pseudo-corpuscular theory of energy exchange - his photons of light. Although the debates that followed the lectures included in the proceedings did not rise to the famous heated exchange that Einstein would have with Bohr at the 1927 Solvay conference we do see some of the young Einstein's hotheadedness as he opens the debate following Planck's plenary lecture: "What I find strange about the way Mr. Planck applies Boltzmann's equation is that he introduces a state probability W without giving this quantity a physical definition. If one proceeds in such a way then to begin with Boltzmann's equation does not have a physical meaning." As translated by Straumann. It would take another 14 years for quantum mechanics to be fully formalized but the first Solvay conference represents a pivotal point in quantum history: "During 1911 the situation changed quickly. Articles that applied the quantum to other topics then outnumbered those on blackbody radiation for the first time and some were backed by impressive experimental evidence. In part because of that evidence physicists like Planck and Lorentz who had previously taken the constant h to be characteristic only of the radiation problem began to consider additional areas in which others had earlier staked quantum claims." Kuhn. Albert Einstein and the Solvay Conference: Among the most renown scientists of the day - including Ernest Rutherford Marie Curie and Max Planck - Einstein made quite an impression. At age 32 he was the second youngest participant in the conference. The youngest was British physicist Frederick Lindemann later to become scientific adviser to Winston Churchill. Although "Einstein had already published so many masterpieces none had actually been put to the test and his theories were looked on rather as tours de force than as definitive additions to knowledge. But his pre-eminence among the twelve greatest theoretical physicists of the day was clear to any unprejudiced observer." Frederick Lindemann quoted in Brian. References: Headline quote from the Solvay Institute website. Kuhn T. 1978 Black Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity 1894-1912. University of Chicago Press. Mehra J. 1975 The Solvay Conferences on Physics: Aspects of the Development of Physics Since 1911. Straumann N. 2011. On the first Solvay Congress in 1911. The European Physical Journal H 363 379-399. Denis Brian Einstein: A Life p.82. Paris: Gauthier-Villars 1912. Octavo original wrappers; custom box. Splits to top and bottom joint of upper wrapper two creases to front wrapper. Text in fine condition largely unopened. FIRST PRINTINGS IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS ARE EXTREMELY SCARCE. Gauthier-Villars unknown
ref. 0691156743.Gpaperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. paperback
1943ref. 2376Princeton NJ: np 1943. First edition. nb. Fine. EINSTEIN OFFERS STRONG AND PRESCIENT WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE LEADER OF THE NAACP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Background: Einstein's fight against racial discrimination in the United States: The imperative "to protect the rights of the individual. was Einstein's most fundamental political tenet. Individualism and freedom were necessary for creative art and science to flourish. Personally politically and professionally he was repulsed by any restraints. "That is why he remained outspoken about racial discrimination in America. As a Jew who had grown up in Germany Einstein was acutely sensitive to such discrimination. 'The more I feel an American the more this situation pains me' he wrote in an essay called 'The Negro Question' for the January 1946 issue of Pageant magazine. 'I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.'" Isaacson Albert Einstein 505. Even more directly in his 1946 commencement speech to Lincoln University the first degree-granting Historically Black College and University HBCU in the United States Einstein strongly denounced segregation as "an American tradition which is uncritically handed down from one generation to the next" noting that "There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States. That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it." This remarkable letter - from 1943 - is one of the earliest examples of his interest in condemning racism in the United States. The letter: Dated 22 September 1943 and handwritten on his embossed Mercer Street Princeton letterhead Einstein writes in English to Walter F. White the enormously influential African-American civil rights leader who led the NAACP from 1929-1955 praising him for his work and revealing his own awareness of and frustrations with racism and prejudice in America. The text reads in full: Dear Mr. White: I have been quite impressed by the address you delivered some years ago at a meeting of the Princeton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I know how hard it is to awaken the conscience even of good-hearted and well-meaning people when deep rooted prejudices are in the way. It is a great work indeed which you are doing relentlessly for the betterment of the living conditions of our Colored fellow-citizens for justice and for the accomplishment of national unity of the American people. With sincere respect and kind wishes Yours Albert Einstein ------------- On April 28 1940 White was the keynote speaker at "an inter-racial meeting sponsored by the Princeton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" where his topic was "What Happens to Democracy When It Encounters the Color Line." Princeton Herald April 26 1940. At the time Princeton did not admit African Americans and the community was debating the question of whether or not to end segregation at the university. Princeton in fact did not admit its first African-American student until the fall of 1947. Einstein - writing in 1943 - notes that he heard White speak "some years ago". Something clearly must have deeply impressed Einstein about White's speech for him to write this thoughtful letter to White over three years after the event. Note: In addition to its content this apparently unpublished letter is also remarkable for being one of the very few letters Einstein hand-wrote in English during this period as German was still very much his preferred tongue. Princeton: September 22 1943. One page on Einstein's embossed Mercer Street Princeton letterhead 7.25x10 in visible handsomely matted and framed with a photograph of Einstein. Fine condition. np unknown
1916ref. 2364Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friedr Vieweg and Son 1916. First edition. Original wrappers. Very Good. FIRST PRINTING IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF ONE OF EINSTEIN'S MAJOR WORKS: HIS FIRST PAPER ON THE DERIVATION OF PLANK'S LAW AND PROVIDING THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR THE LASER. "Einstein commended the 'unparalleled boldness' of Planck's derivation of 1900 meaning not only the problem itself but also the fact that it was based on assumptions that were not entirely free of contradictions. Einstein now succeeded in the first of two papers in eliminating that flaw. More interesting than the derivation itself was the general character of his methods. Einstein proceeded from Niels Bohr's basic--and by then well tested--assumption that the electrons within an atom occupy a number of discrete energy states and are able through emission or absorption of radiation to pass from one of those states to another. Added to this was an assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium between radiation field and atom as well as a consideration of the 'classical' limiting case at high temperatures--and there was Planck's formula. This brief argument. also covers emission stimulated by the radiation field; thus the formulas already by implication contain the theory of the laser though it was to take nearly half a century to be realized" Folsing Albert Einstein 389. Weil 85. The "implication" containing the theory of the laser was more fully developed in his companion paper "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation" published a few weeks later. In the first paper Einstein wrestled with the concept that the atomic emission of radiation could be a directed process; in the second paper he convincingly demonstrates that this is indeed the case. IN: Verhandl. D. Deutch. Phys. Ges. Vol 18 pp. 318-323. Braunschweig: Druck und Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg and Son 1916. Octavo original wrappers; housed in custom half leather chemise. One thread literally resewn on wrappers a little creasing and soiling. A beautiful copy. RARE IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS. Druck und Verlag von Friedr Vieweg and Son unknown
1948ref. 2327Princeton NJ: np 1948. framed. Fine. ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED IMAGES OF EINSTEIN SIGNED BY MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER YOUSUF KARSH. On February 11 1948 Yousuf Karsh perhaps the most accomplished portrait photographer of his generation visited The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton to fulfill a dream of his: to photograph Albert Einstein. As he later explained: "Among the tasks that life as a photographer had set me a portrait of Albert Einstein had always seemed a 'must' - not only because this greatest refugee of our century has been accounted by all the world as the most outstanding scientist since Newton but because his face in all its rough grandeur invited and challenged the camera." Karsh: Beyond the Camera David Travis ed. "At Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study I found Einstein a simple kindly almost childlike man too great for any of the postures of eminence. One did not have to understand his science to feel the power of his mind or the force of his personality" official Karsh website. "Awed before this unique intellect I yet ventured to ask Einstein his views on human immortality. He mused for a moment and then replied 'What I believe of immortality There are two kinds. The first lives in the imagination of people and is thus an illusion. There is a relative immortality which may conserve the memory of an individual for some generations. But there is only one true immortality on a cosmic scale ant that is the immortality of the cosmos itself. There is no other.' "He spoke of these ultimate mysteries as calmly as he might a student's question about mathematics - with such an air of quiet confidence indeed that I found his answer profoundly disturbing to one who held other views. Knowing him to be an accomplished violinist I turned the conversation and asked if there were any connection between music and mathematics. 'In art he said 'and in the higher ranges of science there is a feeling of harmony which underlies all endeavour. There is no true greatness in art or science without that sense of harmony. He who lacks it can never be more than a great technician in either field.' "Was he optimistic about the future harmony of mankind itself He appeared to ponder deeply and remarked in graver tones: 'Optimistic No. But if mankind fails to find a harmonious solution than there will be disaster on a dimension beyond anyone's imagination.' To what source should we look for the hope of the world's future 'To ourselves' said Einstein. He spoke sadly yet serenely as one who had looked into the universe far past mankind's small affairs. In this humor my camera caught him. the portrait of a man who had traveled beyond hope or despair." Yousuf Karsh Regarding Heroes. Opening quote from: Colin Naylor ed. Contemporary Photographers. Silver print. Photo taken Princeton 1948. Printed later. Signed by Karsh in full beneath the image on photographer's mount. With Karsh's original calling "card" - a 4x10 inch cardboard slip - included. Image: 8x9 inches. Framed to an overall size of 12x15 inches. Fine condition. np unknown
1953ref. 2270Princeton NJ: np 1953. First edition. custom folder. Very Good. TOWARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE EINSTEIN WRITES TO ONE OF HIS FRIENDS FROM THE PATENT OFFICE CONCERNING ONE OF THE CENTRAL STRUGGLES OF HIS SCIENTIFIC LIFE. COMMENTING ON THE WORK OF DIRAC EINSTEIN ADMITS THAT ALTHOUGH HE "CAN'T TAKE A STATISTICAL FOUNDATION OF PHYSICS SERIOUSLY" HE FINDS IT "DIFFICULT TO MOVE BEYOND IT". Background: Einstein's struggle with accepting a strictly statistical quantum theory has been one of the most discussed and debated topics of twentieth-century physics. When introduced to the statistically-based quantum mechanics of Heisenberg Born and Jordan in 1926 Einstein famously wrote to Max Born that "Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the 'old one.' I at any rare am convinced that He is not playing at dice." Einstein letter to Born from 4 December 1926. From the onset "Einstein regarded the quantum theory as descriptively incomplete. What he meant was that in typical cases the probabilistic assertions provided by the theory for an individual quantum system do not exhaust all the relevant and true physical assertions about the system. Put briefly according to Einstein the typical statistical story told by quantum theory is not the whole story." Arthur Fine "What is Einstein's Statistical Interpretation or Is It Einstein for Whom Bell's Theorem Tolls". Einstein's discomfort with the new theory haunted him for the next three decades and his challenges to the theory were the cause of some of the most fertile and defining moments of modern science notably the celebrated "Bohr-Einstein debates" begun at the Fifth Solvay Conference 1927 and his monumentally influential "EPR" paper of 1935 "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete" written with Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen. As late as 1949 in his "Reply to Criticisms" published in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist Einstein notes that Born and Wolfgang Pauli in their contributions to the volume "deprecate the fact that I reject the basic idea of contemporary statistical quantum theory insofar as I do not believe that this fundamental concept will provide a useful basis for the whole of physics" and spends the majority of the essay explaining his position and distinguishing between his acceptance of the model for "ensembles of systems" while still rejecting it for an "individual physical system". The letter: Dated September 12 1953 and written to his old colleague at the patent office in Bern Joseph Sauter the letter translated from the original German reads in full: Dear Mr. Sauter If I am able to I will gladly assist Mr. Keberle. I have heard of you often from my old friend Besso and I have also received a manuscript which deals critically with handwritten Dirac's presentation of the statistical approach to quantum theory. I have not been able to judge it myself because it is simply impossible for me to take a statistical foundation of physics seriously. But I have to admit that it is difficult to move beyond it. Yours sincerely signed A. Einstein. Albert Einstein. The recipient Joseph Sauter worked with Einstein at the Bern Patent office during the years he was developing the ideas for his revolutionary papers of 1905. "Among his colleagues at the Patent Office Einstein discovered one with similar scientific interests-Dr. Josef Sauter a French-Swiss who had also studied at the Polytechnic and who had been Professor Weber's chief assistant for a while. Sauter like Einstein tried to fill the gaps in the Polytechnic's syllabus by private study so that Einstein was able to discuss with him Maxwell's thermodynamics and Helmholtz's and Hertz's theoretical concepts. The two also discussed Einstein's publications on thermodynamics with the result that Sauter discovered a mistake in them which Einstein accepted 'without being the least upset.' Fifty years later Einstein recalled 'that I had a lot of discussions with Sauter about. my thermal-statistical papers'. At least as important as his help with the 'rewriting and amending' were Sauter's connections with scientific circles in Bern to which he soon introduced his new colleague." Albrecht Fölsing Albert Einstein. Edouard Keberle mentioned in the first line by Einstein was a Bulgarian physicist who at the time of the letter had just left the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Bern over a publication dispute. Not long after this letter - in early 1954 - Keberle accepted a post at the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City. It is unclear if Einstein helped him in any way to get this position. Michele Besso - also mentioned in this letter - was Einstein's close lifelong friend. What prompts Einstein to declare that "it is simply impossible for me to take a statistical foundation of physics seriously" is the mention of a manuscript on the work of Paul Dirac. Philosophically Dirac was almost the opposite of Einstein - he had no interest in probing the interpretations of quantum theory wryly noting in his paper "The Inadequacies of Quantum Field Theory" that "The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been dealt with by many authors and I do not want to discuss it here. I want to deal with more fundamental things." It is revealing in this letter that although Einstein re-states his objection to a statistical basis of quantum theory he has doubts about his position admitting - less than two years before his death - that he still has difficulty moving beyond it. Typed Letter Signed. Princeton NJ: September 12 1953. One 8.5x11 inch sheet with Einstein's embossed Mercer Street address at top. Custom silk presentation folder. With original mailing envelope with postmarks. A few small smudges usual folds; fine condition. ONE OF EINSTEIN'S FINAL STATEMENTS ON ONE OF THE CENTRAL TENETS OF HIS SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHY. np unknown
1914ref. 2124Berlin: Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1914. FIRST EDITION OFFPRINT. Original wrappers. Fine. FIRST EDITION COMMERCIAL OFFPRINT ISSUE of Einstein's important 1914 paper on the development of general relativity. "In summer 1914 Einstein felt that the new theory general relativity should be presented in a comprehensive review. He also felt that a mathematical derivation of the field equations that would determine them uniquely was still missing. "Both tasks are addressed in a long paper presented in October 1914 to the Prussian Academy for publication in its Sitzungsberichte. It is entitled 'The formal foundation of the general theory of relativity'; here for the first time Einstein gave the new theory of relativity the epithet 'general' in lieu of the more cautious 'generalized' that he had used for the Entwurf" Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics 1640-1940. "According to John Norton 'How Einstein Found His Field Equations' this major review article was intended to convey the full content of the 1913 'Entwurf' theory: 'The principal novelty lies in the mathematical formulation of the theory. Drawing on earlier work with Marcel Grossman Einstein formulated his gravitational field equations using a variation principle. Using this richer mathematical structure Einstein offered a proof purporting to demonstrate that his theory had the maximum covariance compatible with the hole argument; that is covariance under 'justified' transformation between the 'adapted coordinate systems' he had introduced with Grossman'" Calaprice The Einstein Almanac. Offprint from: Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften XLI 19 November 1914 pp. 1030-1085. Berlin: Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1914. Octavo original wrappers; custom box. Neat early ownership name on front wrapper. Only the slightest wear; a fine copy. Rare. Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften unknown
1937ref. 1984Princeton: np 1937. First Edition. Very Good. AN EXTRAORDINARY LETTER BY EINSTEIN TO HIS SON OFFERING LIFE ADVICE AND DISCUSSING FREUD SHAKESPEARE AND SCHILLER. Addressed to his son Eduard "Tetel" Einstein and signed "Papa" the letter written in ink on both sides of one sheet reads in full translated from the original German: Dear Tetel I hope by now you've received Freud's lectures from Vienna. I've read most of them myself in the past. They really made me admire the Author but they didn't convince me that his theories were correct. I must admit however that based on my personal experiences my conviction about those theories is weakening -- I feel now that he was onto something at least in regards to the main theses. I would have written to you sooner but work is keeping me very busy. Even though they say that the work of a single person will not have much of an impact in the big picture it does not diminish the passion in which we pursue our interests and that is a good thing. Although personal illusions may bring warmth and joy into one's life when young they don't last a lifetime. Life would be bleak if the work and the passion for discovery did not exist. In my free time I am currently reading Schiller's poems which I have neglected since my youth. They feel a bit pompous but at the same time they are enthralling in their choice of words and grammar. I am really happy that I picked them up again. I would have liked to send you another book on the top of the Freud but didn't know which one to send -- especially because I don't get a lot of German writings anymore. When I have some extra free time after finishing Schiller I really want to start reading Shakespeare everything from him I can get my hands on. If you like to read it too perhaps we could discuss it at some later time Albert is a real delight -- he has been traveling up and down the country for the past 6 weeks and will have seen and experienced many interesting things. I really hope he has followed my advice and kept a journal but I am not holding high hopes. When it comes to talking and writing he seems to be chronically constipated. With my warmest regards Papa Einstein's life advice underscoring one of his core beliefs: Einstein often stated that his main goal in life was the quest for truth no matter how difficult and painstaking the quest. He advises Eduard in this letter that it is the pursuit and the work in attaining the goal that brings satisfaction and sustains one throughout life even if "the work of a single person will not have much of an impact in the big picture". This he notes is critical to understand after the illusions of youth have succumbed to reality. Einstein Eduard and Freud: Eduard Einstein nicknamed "Tete" or "Tetel" born in 1910 was the second son of Albert and his first wife Mileva. From an early age he became enamored with the teachings of Freud even hanging a picture of famous psychiatrist on his bedroom wall. By the age of twenty he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and consequently was institutionalized several times throughout his life. Einstein's views of Freud's teachings were somewhat more nuanced than those of his son. Initially Einstein did not show much interest in Freud's theories and after their first meeting in 1927 Freud famously remarked "He understands as much about psychology as I do about physics." Over the years however Einstein began studying Freud's works. After corresponding with Freud somewhat regularly throughout the 1930s and even collaborating with him on a project sponsored by the League of Nations "Why War" 1932 Einstein began to move from a deep skepticism to - as indicated in this letter - a growing acceptance. By 1936 - just before this letter was written - Einstein sent birthday greetings to Freud acknowledging: "Until recently I could only apprehend the speculative power of your train of thought together with its enormous influence on the Weltanschauung of the present era without being in a position to form a definite opinion about the amount of truth it contains. Not long ago however I had the opportunity of hearing about a few instances not very important in themselves which in my judgment exclude any other interpretation than that provided by the theory of repression. I was delighted to come across them since it is always delightful when a great and beautiful conception proves to be consonant with reality." In this letter to Eduard Einstein admits to Eduard that he now believes Freud "was onto something at least in regards to the main theses." Einstein Shakespeare Schiller: Einstein's fondness for music is well-known but not as much has been recorded about his literary tastes. It is not surprising and has been previously documented that Einstein had a fondness for the great German poet Schiller but we can find no other references to Shakespeare by Einstein in any other letters or manuscripts. His words to Eduard "I really want to start reading Shakespeare everything from him I can get my hands on" imply that Einstein has recently "discovered" Shakespeare and is excited at the discovery. Note: Although the letter is not dated we can assume that it was written late November - December in 1937 when Einstein's son Albert was visiting the United States a trip he refers to in the letter. Princeton: November - December 1937. One 8.5x11 inch leaf written on both sides. In German. Usual folds otherwise fine. A LONG REMARKABLE AND REVEALING LETTER UNITING THE INTELLECTUAL GIANTS EINSTEIN FREUD AND SHAKESPEARE AND SHARING ONE OF HIS CORE BELIEFS WITH HIS SON. np unknown
1932ref. 1864np: np 1932. First edition. nb. UNPUBLISHED CANDID PHOTOGRAPHS OF EINSTEIN AND LETTERS BY WILLIAM HUBBARD OFFERING AN INTIMATE VIEW OF THE SCIENTIST ON VACATION. On March 2 1932 at the height of his career and world fame Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa set off on a vacation to their German homeland departing from Los Angeles on the M. S. San Francisco. Another passenger aboard the ship was the renowned music scholar William Lines Hubbard. Famous in his own right Hubbard was the music critic for the Chicago Tribune and author of a definitive 11-volume work on the history of opera published 1908. Accompanying Hubbard was his companion Julia Reid their cabins adjacent to that of the Einstein's. As was the practice during this era Hubbard kept detailed journals and letters of his travel experiences. This collection from the estate of Hubbard contains the following items: 1. Three unpublished small black-and-white and sepia photographs. The first photograph 4.5" x 2.5" pictures Einstein his wife Elsa the Ship's Captain Hubbard the tall figure and three other of the ship's passengers dated 3/14/32. The second photograph 3.5" x 3.25" is an outstanding full front image of Einstein his wife Elsa and the ship's Captain. The final photograph 4.5" x 2.5" is a full frontal image of Einstein and his wife Elsa both seated in deck chairs with the ship's Captain standing behind. 2. Typed letter dated March 22 1932 written while sailing through the South Atlantic. Six pages typed front and back on two pieces folded of the ship's original stationary approx. 7.5x11 in. Excerpts on Einstein include: Of our Six Passengers two are Prof. Einstein and wife. They are proving very delightful companions-- sincere unaffected and jolly. At first they were very reserved and merely bowed and smiled and "Guten-Morgan-ed" when entering and leaving the dining room but when they had become rested and saw that none of the rest of us planned to intrude they came forward and have been very genial. She is a great talker but talks interestingly. He walks deck smoking his stubby black pipe or whistling cheerily his gray hair blowing in the breeze. Each forenoon and sometimes in the afternoon he goes to the piano and plays for half hour or so. Plays in that satisfying manner peculiar to a man to whom music is a comfort and who thinks musically. It is in no wise brilliant playing but it is throughly enjoyable to hear. The rest of the time he sits in his steamer chair or in his cabin reading or thinking. On the 14th he had his 53rd birthday and the Capt had ordered from La Libertad Salvador where we had taken cargo the day before large bunches of easter and tiger lilies which in the morning were on the Einstein table together with a birthday cake the ship's cook had made and countless cards and letters which friends had sent. It was all a complete surprise to them both and their happiness was childlike in its spontaneity and sincerity. It was heart warming to watch them. They seem to appreciate being left to themselves and not being lionized. It is the third time they have come through the canal on these boards an they enjoy it to the full. 3. Typed letter dated April 1 1932 written while entering the English Channel. Seven pages on two approx. 8.5x11in sheets folded of the ship's original stationary. Excerpts on Einstein include: We had good fun watching for crocodiles along the banks as we came up the cut and Prof Einstein was especially gleeful when he discovered one. Professor Einstein loves the roung sic weather and has reveled in it. He and the Mme are proving very delightful fellow passengers. She is very chatty but chats interestingly and he struts up and down deck smoking his stubby pipe or whistling like a jolly kid his white hair blowing in the breeze. We have some talks occasionally and he yesterday when he saw the copy of Living Philosophies which I had given me sic before I left San Diego and in which his article is the first took the book and autographed his picture and wrote in remembrance of the happy days on board the San Francisco. I don't think I told you of his birthday which occurred on the 14 of March the day before we reached the Canal. The Capt came to know if it and when the Einsteins came to their table at breakfast they found it decorated with three huge vases of Easter and Tiger lilies which the Capt had secured in La Libertad. The cook had made a gorgeously decorated Torte-- one of the filled and frosted German cakes-- and there were letters and telegrams from friends which had been sent in the Capt's care. It was a complete surprise to the Einsteins and they were like two happy kiddies. It was gladdening to watch their simple and keen enjoyment. Later we had pieces of the Torte which were a bit of muchness for breakfast but which of course we ate. 4. Typed letter dated April 24 1932 written in Merano Italy. Six pages on five 5.5x7in sheets. While recalling a cargo transfer on the M. S. San Fransisco Hubbard writes: The Einsteins were especially enthusiastic and we had a great fun over the boss of the unloading. He was a huge and tremendously rotund gent wearing a soft felt hat and a short overcoat the buttons of which seemed fated to "bust off" at any moment. His chief employment seemed to be running about from side to side of the dock into the warehouse and out again clambering onboard and then clambering off and all the time shouting orders at the top of his voice and gesticulating wildly. Einstein had been reading the "Living Philosophies" which I had loaned him and was especially curious concerning Mencken and how he happened to be included in the great ones in the book. I gave him an outline of Mr. M's greatness and assured him that the book cold sic well largely on account of M being included. All of which amused the Einsteins greatly. So when this wild boss hove into sight that morning and began his excited directing Mrs E said "there is Mister Mencken" and thus he remained so long as we were in Rotterdam. The Einsteins were starting early the next morning for Berlin so they went about 9 pm to the custom house and had their 16 packages bundles and gifts examined. Frau Professor had a funny story to tell of their experience with the 150 pound bag of coffee that had been presented them in Salvador. 5. An official passenger list from the M. S. San Francisco printed on the ship's original stationary 4.75" x 8.25" dated March 2 1932. With "Professor Albert Einstein" and "Mrs. Albert Einstein" shown under the list of cabin passengers going from Los Angeles to Bremen. 6. A postcard depicting Hubbard's profile in black and white 3.45" x 5.45". All items in very good condition letters with wear and soiling at folds and housed in a custom cloth presentation folder. RARE FIRST-HAND TESTIMONY REVEALING THE PERSONALITY OF EINSTEIN IN RELAXED AND INFORMAL MOMENTS. np unknown
1934ref. 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
1938ref. 146188Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1938. First edition of this classic work which traces the development of ideas in physics. Octavo original blue cloth. Presentation copy inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the second free endpaper "For David Stern Albert Einstein 1938." Fine in a near dust jacket with a few small closed tears. Trade editions signed by Einstein are scarce. 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." Cambridge University Press hardcover
