213 Ergebnisse
1979Best.-Nr. 228499Beijing: Ke xue chu ban she 1979. v 111p. slender paperback very good. Translation of the fifth edition of "The meaning of Relativity. Ke xue chu ban she unknown books
1966Best.-Nr. WMCE001New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. 1966 First edition first printing. Signed and inscribed by Mays on front free endpaper: "To Joe / Best Wishes / Willie Mays." Publisher's green and orange cloth with "Willie Mays" in blind to front board and spine lettered in black and orange; in its original unclipped dust jacket designed by Bob Korn with white front panel lettered in brown orange and green and a green spine. About fine book with light fading to spine and a hint of rubbing to foot of spine; very good price-clipped dust jacket with light wear to spine ends and some edgewear. With Beckett Letter of Authenticity. Overall a great boldly inscribed copy. Presentation copies from Mays are exceedingly scarce. In this book Willie Mays tells his life story with the help of prolific sportswriter Charles Einstein. Mays started playing professional baseball at 16 in the Negro Leagues and was soon drafted by the New York Giants. He went on to play 21 seasons with the Giants winning a World Series with the team in 1954. His over-the-shoulder catch in that World Series is one of the most iconic moments in sports history. A 24x All-Star and a 12x Gold Glove award winner Mays was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 and was voted to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. . Signed. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Dust Jacket Included. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. hardcover books
1958Best.-Nr. 325801New York: Monthly Review Press 1958. 12p. staplebound pamphlet very good. Reprinted from the May 1949 issue of Monthly Review. Monthly Review Press unknown books
Best.-Nr. 74322New York: Monthly Review n.d. 9p. staplebound pamphlet small ink mark at lower left corner crease otherwise very good. Reprinted from the May 1949 issue of Monthly Review. Monthly Review unknown books
1922Best.-Nr. 37429Braunschweig: F. Vieweg & Sohn 1922. Weil 124. F. Vieweg & Sohn unknown books
1906Best.-Nr. 504131906. Einstein Albert 1879-1955. Über eine Methode zur Bestimmung des Verhältnisses der transversalen und longitudinalen Masse des Elektrons. In Annalen der Physik 21 1906. 583-586pp. Figs. Text-illust. 214 x 140 mm. Laid-in item: notecard with penciled notes probably in the hand of Lord Rayleigh. Red cloth gilt spine. Frontis portrait of P. Curie d. 1906. Whole volume: viii 1056pp. 9 plates 5 b/w silver photos 4 folding. Small cut on spine starting approximately two inches from the head and is about three inches in length -very thin- otherwise Very Good. First Edition Whole Volume. In his landmark 1905 paper on special relativity Einstein used the velocity-dependent concepts of transverse and longitudinal mass for the moving electron these terms have now been replaced with the concept of relativistic mass first defined by Lewis and Tolman in 1909. In the present paper Einstein proposed an experimental method for determining the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal mass and invited experimentalists to verify his special theory of relativity. Einstein later abandoned velocity-dependent mass concepts stating in 1948 that "it is better to introduce no other mass concept than the rest mass" quoted in L. B. Okun "The concept of mass" Physics Today 1989: 31-36. Lavenda A New Perspective on Relativity pp. 7-8. Weil's Einstein Bibliography no. 14. Boni's Einstein Checklist no. 14 John William Strutt third Baron Rayleigh Lord Rayleigh 1842-1919 was a british mathematician and physicist; he was one of the very few members of higher nobility who won fame as an outstanding scientist. Rayleigh was born as the son of John James Strutt second Baron and his wife Clara Elizabeth La Touche eldest daughter of Captain Richard Vicars R.E. Lord Rayleigh was awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies." Rayleigh provided the first theoretical treatment of the elastic scattering of light by particles much smaller than the light's wavelength now known as "Rayleigh scattering" - a process which notably explains why the sky is blue. He also made extensive contributions to fluid dynamics e.g. the Rayleigh number critereon for the stability of the Taylor-Couette flow etc. Rayleigh also formulated the circulation theory of aerodynamic lift. His derivation of the Rayleigh-Jeans law for classical black body radiation played an important role in the birth of quantum mechanics i.e. the Ultraviolet catastrophe. During the first World War he was president of the United Kingdom government's Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Notable students of the 3rd Lord Rayleigh include J.J. Thomson 1856-1940 and Sir William Ramsay 1852-1916 who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the elements in air." In 1871 he married Evelyn Balfour sister of the future prime minister the Earl of Balfour and daughter of James Maitland Balfour and his wide Blanche the daughter of the second Marquis of Salisbury. They had three sons the eldest of whom Robert John Strutt 1875-1946 was to become Professor of Physics at Imperial College of Science and Technology London. Strutt inherited the title of fourth Baron Rayleigh after his father's death in 1919. nobelprize.org. Also in this volume: Einthoven Willem 1860-1927. Weitere mitteilungen ueber das saitengalvanometer. Analyse der saitengalvanometrischen kurven. Masse und spannung des quarzfadens und widerstand gegen die fadenbewengung. Erster teil. In Annalen der Physik ser. 4 21 1906. 483-514 pp. Willem Einthoven 1860-1927 was a Dutch doctor and physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 "for his discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram" nobelprize.org. . unknown books
1926Best.-Nr. 374131926. Weil 153. Offprint from S. preuss. Akad. Wiss. unknown books
1933Best.-Nr. 45000Paris: Société Anonyme Les Illustrés Français 1933. First edition. Softcover. g- to vg. Large quarto 11 1/2 x 8". 105 3pp. Original photo-illustrated wrappers with white lettering to front cover. This scarce issue of "Témoignages de Notre Temps" Witness to our Time is a loving and moving tribute to Jewish life and culture that spans ancient times to the early 1930s with the spectre of Hitler and the early persecutions of Jews in Nazi Germany Hitler became chancellor a few months prior on January 30th. Includes texts by Albert Einstein Dr. Chaïm Weizmann and others along with hundreds of splendid black-and-white photogravures many full page including Helmar Lerski's impressive series on Jews in Palestine. "Témoignages de Notre Temps" was edited by noted French photographer and publisher Lucien Vogel. Wrappers partly creased along edges. Page 5 with four "Spécimen" stamps not affecting lettering. Lower corner of the first 18 pages slightly creased. Lower front corner bumped thus slightly affecting pages throughout. Text in French. Wrappers in overall good- to good interior in good to very good condition. Société Anonyme Les Illustrés Français unknown books
1946Best.-Nr. 376560Princeton New Jersey 1946. 1 1/2 pages on recto and verso of quarto sheet of letterhead for the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists. Folded for mailing else Fine. Folding green cloth slipcase. 1 1/2 pages on recto and verso of quarto sheet of letterhead for the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists. An invitation written in Einstein's capacity as Chairman of the Trustees of the Committee to Lesser to attend a three day conference in Princeton the following month and asking him to be his special guest at a luncheon on the 17th of November. Einstein writes Lesser "as one who shares with American scientists a sense of the responsibility and urgency with which this great new force has impressed upon our lives ." and notes that one of the chief aims of the conference will be for "the scientists to reach final agreement on our program of education for survival ." Perhaps it was in his capacity as film producer that Lesser was considered a potential contributor beyond simple monetary help. The letter is addressed to Lesser at the Paramount Building 1501 Broadway NYC. Lesser 1890-1980 was a successful film producer a career that spanned the silent era up through such productions as THUNDER OVER MEXICO 1939 and OUR TOWN 1940 to the long string of post 1943 Tarzan films when he once again reacquired the rights after having produced the Buster Crabbe serial of 1933. He received the 1960 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. unknown books
1953Best.-Nr. 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 books
1948Best.-Nr. 3094Princeton: np 1948. first edition. Very Good. ONE OF EINSTEIN'S MOST DIRECT STATEMENTS ON GOD: A POWERFUL AND CONCISE PRECURSOR TO HIS CELEBRATED "GOD LETTER". In the letter dated September 25 1948 and addressed to the Indiana University student Barbara Homans Einstein writes: "I believe that the idea of a personal God is too anthropomrphic sic and childlike to be considered seriously. We have to content ourselves with that modest insight which is accessible to us." The letter is a strikingly concentrated statement of Einstein's religious philosophy. In two sentences he rejects the notion of an anthropomorphic personal deity while setting against it a characteristically modest view of human knowledge: rather than claiming access to metaphysical certainty "we have to content ourselves" with the limited understanding available to us. That formulation places the letter squarely within one of the most important recurring themes of Einstein's later correspondence: his distinction between conventional belief in a personal God and his own sense of awe before the rational order of the universe. Six years later in his famous letter to the philosopher Eric Gutkind of 3 January 1954 Einstein would return to the same subject in far greater detail describing the word "God" as an expression of human weakness and rejecting traditional religious conceptions with exceptional directness. Christie's described the Gutkind letter as Einstein's most fully articulated statement of his religious and philosophical views; it sold in 2018 for $2892500 at Christie's. The present letter is remarkable because the essential position of the later "God Letter" is already present here in distilled form. The shared target is the anthropomorphic personal God: a conception Einstein repeatedly rejected while maintaining that a profound sense of wonder before the structure of nature could still be called religious. It is a direct statement of Einstein's mature religious philosophy anticipating the central argument of the 1954 "God Letter" by more than five years. Typed letter signed "A. Einstein" to Barbara Homans. Princeton 25 September 1948. One page 8 1/2 x 11 in typed on Einstein's Princeton stationery with embossed address at head; signed "A. Einstein" in ink. Folded for mailing with light toning and a few small stains. np unknown books
1952Best.-Nr. 3091Princeton: np 1952. First edition. no binding. Very Good. EXTRAORDINARY EINSTEIN LETTER IN ENGLISH EXPLAINING SIMULTANEITY ONE OF THE CENTRAL TENETS OF RELATIVITY THEORY. Einstein's "1905 paper on special relativity is widely regarded as having destroyed the classical conceptions of absolute time and space along with absolute simultaneity and absolute length which had reigned in physics from the times of Galileo and Newton to the dawn of the twentieth century. The Special Theory teaches us that simultaneity is not as we supposed an absolute concept but is always relative to some inertial frame of reference. If we change the inertial frame of reference we change the events to be reckoned simultaneous." -Craig and Smith Einstein Relativity and Absolute Simultaneity The concept of simultaneity lies at the core of relativity theory. The very first sub-section of Einstein's legendary 1905 paper on Special Relativity is introduced by the title "Definition of Simultaneity" and "in the second paragraph of his 1905 relativity paper Einstein proved that simultaneity as defined in the first paragraph is a relative concept. This means as Einstein explained that 'we must not ascribe absolute meaning to the concept of simultaneity; instead two events that are simultaneous when observed from some particular coordinate system can no longer be considered simultaneous when observed from a system that is moving relative to that system.' In these words Einstein for the first time offered an explicit definition of what he means when he speaks of a relative concept. As we see it is a concept whose validity depends on the coordinate system chosen or in brief it is a frame-dependent concept. Simultaneity is no longer a binary relation depending also on the coordinate-frame involved. Furthermore Einstein's proof of the relativity of simultaneity in this paragraph is the first ever published rigorous proof of the relativity of a physical concept. The relativity of simultaneity became also the first major subject of dispute between proponents and opponents of the theory of relativity" Max Jammer Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond. When Einstein expanded his relativity theory into his General Theory of 1916 the notion of simultaneity became less well-defined and more problematic and therefore much-debated. Einstein in the present letter is answering a question from Dr. Waldron Gardiner a physician apparently without any particular expertise in relativity theory about the concept of simultaneity in space the domain of general relativity. Dated July 10 1952 the letter reads in full: Dear Sir: "Your difficulty stems from the fact that you do not distinguish between general and special theory of relativity the latter being a limit case where you neglect gravitation. In the latter case there are special coordinate systems inertial systems and with respect to such system the concept of simultaneity has a sharp meaning and can be defined empirically by light signals. In general relativity the space and time coordinates have no direct physical meaning so that also the concept of simultaneity of spatially distant events has no physical meaning. Physical meaning can be attributed to this concept only in certain special cases which are characterized by certain symmetry qualities. Such case is not realized in nature. But in those idealizations which we use to represent expanding space there are coordinate systems representing space-time in the mathematically simplest form. With respect to such coordinate systems simultaneity has meaning but the definition of simultaneity as defined in special relativity theory is out of place here. Very sincerely yours SignedA. Einstein PrintedAlbert Einstein In short Einstein is explaining to Dr. Gardiner that since "space and time coordinates have no direct physical meaning" in cosmological terms i.e. there are no frames of reference that cover all of space his understanding of simultaneity in general relativity is flawed and based on the model of special relativity "a limit case" achieved only through a reductive and localized application of general relativity. Einstein concludes the letter with the provocative comment that in idealized systems representing expanding space simultaneity has meaning and in fact this "meaning" of simultaneity in general relativity has become a fertile area of exploration over the years see Jammer ibid. Note: A carbon of Dr. Gardiner's original letter to Einstein is included. Princeton: July 10 1952. One 8.5 x 11 inch page of Einstein's Institute for Advanced Study letterhead. Signed "A. Einstein" in ink. Date corrected from July 9th to July 10th. Usual but very light folds small spot of soiling at top left corner; a tiny bit of toning to extreme edges. Housed in custom presentation folder. LETTERS BY EINSTEIN DISCUSSING MAJOR ELEMENTS OF RELATIVITY PARTICULARLY IN ENGLISH ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE. np unknown books
1938Best.-Nr. 366717Princeton New Jersey 1938. 7 lines typed in German on letterhead of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Mathematics watermarked Chieftain Bond signed in ink. 4to 9-7/8 x 7-1/8 inches. Old folds. Fine. 7 lines typed in German on letterhead of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Mathematics watermarked Chieftain Bond signed in ink. 4to 9-7/8 x 7-1/8 inches. Im Jahre 1837 habe ich ein Affidavit für meine Verwandte Fräulein Ursula Einstein ausgestellt. Ich erkläre hiermit dass ich dieses Affidavit aufrechterhalte und bereit bin di notwendigen Unterlagen neu zi liefern wenn es gewünscht wird. den 31. Oktober 1938 signed Professor Albert Einstein. "In the year 1937 I signed an affidavit on behalf of my relative Miss Urusula Einstein. I hereby state that I continue to certify this affidavit is correct and am ready to submit the necessary documents anew if this is requested." Albert Einstein 1879-1955 German-born physicist renowned for developing the theory of relativity in papers published in 1905 and 1916 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 and left Germany in 1933. He was associated with the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. This statement was almost certainly prepared in connection with efforts to assist his relative in emigrating. In a letter to his sister Maja Winteler-Einstein then resident in Switzerland dated December 1938 Einstein wrote "I am now working as some sort of itinerant relief committee and buckets of letters are coming in . I am helping the Ulm relatives with emigrating". Ursula Einstein born 1916 was able to get out; in 1940 she was a refugee in Port-au-Prince and later reached Brazil. Her younger sister Barbara was not so fortunate. Barbara Einstein born 1918 took her own life in March 1943 after her fiancé Harry Jacob was taken off to the concentration camps. A choice Einstein autograph. unknown books
1942Best.-Nr. 1265881942. Signed. EINSTEIN Albert. Typed letter signed. Princeton November 3 1942. One sheet measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches typing on recto only; matted and framed with a portrait of Einstein entire piece measures 21 by 17 inches. $38000.An exceptional typed letter signed by Einstein on precursors like Johannes Kepler's work to his Special and General Theories of Relativity beautifully framed.The letter on letterhead from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton reads in full: ""November 3 1942. Mr. Felix W. Cartier. Laconite Minn. Dear Sir: Since the times of Kepler one has found approximation formulaes for the mean distances of the planets from the sun. It is sure that there are not precise laws behind those approximate relations. It may be possible to understand the irregularities of this kind with the methods of statistical mechanics. But hitherto nobody seems to have been able to do so. In any case there is no analogy between such regularities and the quantum laws in molecular physics. Very truly yours signed A. Einstein. Prof. Albert Einstein.""Early in the 17th century Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses rather than perfect circles. This great discovery paved the way for Isaac Newton's laws of gravity and for Albert Einstein's general and special theories of relativity. Previous to Einstein's time people believed in real distances and absolute time and showed that instruments could not objectively measure the distances between planets. Einstein's theories which hypothesized that light and space curve near a massive object revolutionized scientific thought and gave man an exciting new perspective of his universe.Einstein's letter reflects on some of the most important scientific revelations in the history of physics and astronomy. Kepler defined three laws of planetary motion; however the one specifically referred to in this letter is that all planets move about the Sun in elliptical orbits having the Sun as one of the foci. If the Universe then consisted only of two point massesÑthe Sun and a planetÑthe orbit of that planet would make a perfect closed ellipse that returned the world to its starting location with each trip around the Sun. But in a Universe governed by Newtonian gravity with a plethora of massive bodies in our Solar System that ellipse will precess or rotate slightly in its orbit.In the mid-1800s orbital deviations of Uranus from its predicted motions led to the discovery of Neptune as the outermost world's gravitational influence accounted for the excess motion. But in the inner Solar System the nearest planet to the Sun Mercury was experiencing a similar problem. With detailed accurate observations going back to the late 1500s thanks to astronomer Tycho Brahe we could measure how Mercury's perihelion its closest orbital point to the Sun was advancing. The number we came up with was 5600"" per century just over 1.5 degrees over a 100 year period. But of that 5025"" came from the precession of Earth's equinoxes a well-known phenomenon while 532"" was due to Newtonian gravity.But 5025"" plus 532"" comes up short by a small but significant amount. Attempts at explanationÑincluding the existence of an unknown inner planet interior to MercuryÑall failed. But after Einstein's special theory of relativity came out in 1905 mathematician Henri Poincare showed that the phenomena of length contraction and time dilation contributed a fraction between 15-25% of the needed amount towards the solution dependent on the error. That plus Minkowski's formalization of space and time as not separate entities but as a single structure bound together by their union spacetime led Einstein to develop the general theory of relativity. On November 25 1915 he presented his results computing the spectacular figure that the contribution of the extra curvature of space predicted an additional precession of 43"" per century exactly the right figure needed to explain this observation sending shockwaves through the astronomy and physics communities. Less than two months after this Karl Schwarzschild found an exact solution predicting the existence of black holes. The deflection of starlight and gravitational redshifts/blueshifts were realized as possible tests and finally the solar eclipse of 1919 validated general relativity as superseding Newtonian gravity. Expected fold lines. An incredible letter scarce in its important content. unknown books
1946Best.-Nr. 1206241946. Signed. EINSTEIN Albert. Typed letter signed. Princeton April 3 1946. Single sheet of gray letterhead measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches; p. 1. Matted and framed with a portrait entire piece measures 19 by 15-1/2 inches. $9500.Original typed letter signed by Albert Einstein thanking his friend Dr. Isadore Held for his birthday wishes as well as for sending a new book that Einstein found both ""extraordinarily enlightening"" and humorous. Text in German.The letter typed on Einstein's personal letterhead with his name and Princeton address blindstamped at the top reads in full translation: ""3 April 1946. Dear Mr. Held: I would like to express my sincere thanks for your birthday wishes and for the sending of the last work of this wonderful contemporary. I have already read quite a bit and find that it is extraordinarily enlightening. His penetration into the mentality of far-off times and attitudes toward thinking is most remarkable and his humor no less. With fond greetings to you and your dear wife. Yours signed Albert Einstein."" This letter was written to Austrian-American medical Dr. Isadore Held who was friends with Einstein since at least 1938. Held and Einstein shared numerous interests particularly related to Jewish humanitarian relief and Israel. At Held's death Einstein wrote to his widow that ""True goodness emanated from this man who alleviated the harshness of human relations and who understood and forgave all weaknessesÉ As a role model for his fellow men he was the best that a human being can be."" Einstein was not a huge fan of birthdays though he happily acknowledged well wishes from friends. Just before turning 65 Einstein crankily said to a New York Times interviewer: ""What is there to celebrate Birthdays are automatic things. Anyway birthdays are for children."" In a 1954 letter to physicist Hans Mhsam Einstein described his birthday as ""a natural disaster a shower of paper full of flattery under which one is drowned."" Einstein was generally quite shy and did not like to be the center of attention particularly from strangers obsessed with his accomplishments and fame. However well-meaning letters and small gifts like the book given by Held were always welcomed and graciously accepted by Einstein. Original mailing creases and a few pinpoint holes along top edge possibly from stapling. About-fine condition. unknown books
1934Best.-Nr. 1478Princeton: np 1934. 1st Edition. No Binding. Very Good. AN IMPORTANT SIGNED LETTER in English by Einstein revealing his reservations of associating with communism even in the fight against fascism. Written from Princeton NJ to Professor Albert Sprague Coolidge of Harvard University and dated February 16 1934 the letter reads: My dear Professor Coolidge: I had an opportunity of meeting personally Lord Marley and has sic very favorably impressed by his personality. It became known to me that he sympathizes with the Russian Government i.g. with the Russian communist party and that the committee for which he is active is influenced by communists. The problem as to the attitude which is advisable to be taken towards this committee is rather complicated. On the one hand the world-wide danger of fascism makes it necessary that all enemies of fascism cooperate; on the other hand an action which has communist leanings might endanger that fight since the important task undertaken in defense of culture and civilization may be linked up with interests of a political party. I myself have severed my connections with the committee which with my permission had used my name up to the end of last year. It seems to me advisable to take an attitude as follows: to help their action against fascism but not to identify oneself with the committee. Very truly yours signed A. Einstein P.S. I wish you would be good enough to use this strictly confidentially. In 1934 Lord Baron Marley Dudley Leigh Aman toured the United States to raise funds for his association the World Committee for the Victims of German Fascism. Marley through his committee was "passionately advocating a scheme for which he was to become an international figurehead - resettlement of oppressed German and Polish Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Region" in Siberia. He published a book "The Brown Book of the Hitler Terror and the Burning of the Reichstag sponsored by the World Committee and with an Introduction written by Lord Marley himself which was the first popular exposé of what was happening in Hitler's Germany. It documented the destruction of political parties trade unions and universities book-burning and the building of concentration camps. "At a fundraising dinner held in his honour in New York in February 1934 where Einstein presumably met him just before writing this letter Marley opened the Brown Book and 'speaking quietly declaring that he did not intend to harrow' read aloud to his audience of 600 American Jews some of the collected evidence of Nazi repressions. Here were documentary records of what was happening in Germany - a substantiation of the brutality that hitherto had had no distinct form in the mind of the American Jewish public. What before had been the subject of a growing fear mingled with disbelief was now being presented as hard fact and supported with detailed evidence. The New York Times 8 February 2005 reports the audience being 'startled' by the disclosures and the night ending with $3500 raised for the World Committee" The Jewish Quarterly No. 198. Einstein was correct to be suspicious of Marley's activities for it was later determined that the "World Committee" was indeed a Communist front; Einstein writing here to Coolidge in 1934 was prescient about the motives of the committee. This letter in addition to underscoring Einstein's passionate stance against fascism is particularly important as documentary evidence of Einstein's caution about having any dealings with communism especially considering that the U.S. FBI worried about Einstein's political leanings kept a file on Einstein that grew to 1427 pages. Princeton NJ: February 16 1934. One 8.5 x 11 in. page. Envelope folds minor spotting. An outstanding letter with important and revealing content. np unknown books
1936Best.-Nr. 6550Lancaster PA: American Physical Society 1 March 1936. Second series volume 49 number 5. Very Good. ppl 341-422. Original green wraps. Slight nick at bottom edge of lower wrap else better than very good. Includes the retort by Einstein and Rosen originators of speculation on the existence of "worm-holes" in spacetime to objections made to the general theory of relativity. According to Galina Weinstein: "Between 1935 and 1936 Einstein was occupied with the Schwarzschild solution and the singularity within it while working in Princeton on the unified field theory and with his assistant Nathan Rosen on the theory of the Einstein-Rosen bridges. He was also occupied with quantum theory. He believed that quantum theory was an incomplete representation of real things. Together with Rosen and Boris Podolsky he invented the EPR paradox. I demonstrate that the two-body problem in general relativity was a heuristic guide in Einstein's and collaborators' 1935 work on the Einstein-Rosen bridge and EPR paradox." Also articles by notable physicists on radioactivity electron mobility quantum-mechanical measurement and so on. American Physical Society paperback books
1921Best.-Nr. 37862New York: Harcourt Brace. Very Good. 1921. Hardcover. Good. No dust jacket. Ex-library copy with all the usual stamps etc. suitable for reading or reference not a collector's copy.; Xiii 366 p. 23 cm. . Harcourt, Brace hardcover books
1921Best.-Nr. 611480New York: Harcourt Brace and Company 1921. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition. Octavo. xiii 366pp. Dark blue cloth with spine gilt several foredges unopened. Boards with modest wear and a bit of light discoloration page edges foxed very good. Harcourt, Brace and Company hardcover books
1921Best.-Nr. 450858New York: Harcourt Brace and Company 1921. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition. Octavo. Owner's pencil name a few easily erasable pencil notes in text small spots on front board and a little wear at the spine ends very good. Harcourt, Brace and Company hardcover books
1930Best.-Nr. 510131930. Einstein Albert 1879-1955. Théorie unitaire du champ physique. In Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincaré 1 fasc. 1 1930: 1-24. With: Fermi Enrico 1901-54. La théorie du rayonnement. In ibid.: 25-52. Whole number. 2 74 2pp. 285 x 197 mm. uncut and unopened. Original printed wrappers a bit sunned lower corner of front wrapper chipped and creased. Very good. First Edition. This issue of the Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincaré contains the texts of Einstein's lecture on unified field theory and Fermi's lecture on the theory of radiation both delivered at the Institut in 1929. Weil Albert Einstein Bibliography 174. Not in Fermi Collected Papers. . unknown books
1912Best.-Nr. 50337Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth 1912. Einstein Albert 1879-1955. Thermodynamische Begründung des photochemischen Äquivalentgesetzes. In Annalen der Physik 37 832-838 pp. Red cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. Whole volume: 1048 pp. 5 plates 4 folding 1 b/w silver photograph w/ small fold at foot. Figs. Text-illust. 210 x 130 mm. Very good copy. "A supplement published in vol. 38 1912: 881-884 See Book ID: 50338. Einstein presents a continuation of his earlier work on the interaction between light matter and on photochemical processes. It contrasts with earlier work in that it makes no use of the quantum hypothesis. He demonstrates how what he calls 'the law of photochemical equivalence' is deducible by purely thermodynamical arguments if one makes certain plausible assumptions. He wrote a supplement to the paper in five months later in the same journal." p. 291-2. Calaprice Kennefick & Shulmann. An Einstein Encyclopedia. 2015. Weil's Bibliography of Einstein's Papers no. 46. Boni's Bibliographical Checklist no. 42. . Johann Ambrosius Barth unknown books
1907Best.-Nr. 433121907. Offprint from "Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie" 1907. Single sheet pp. 41-42. 287 x 206 mm. Chipped several marginal tears some toning. Fair. First edition offprint issue. "In 1907 Einstein published a paper entitled 'Theoretical Observations on the Brownian Motion' in which he considered the instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle. Einstein showed that by measuring this quantity one could prove that 'the kinetic energy of the motion of the center of gravity of a particle is independent of the size and nature of the particle and independent of the nature of its environment.' This is one of the basic tenets of statistical mechanics known as the equipartition theorem. However Einstein concluded that due to the very rapid randomization of the motion the instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle would be impossible to measure in practice. "Einstein: The Formative Years. unknown books
2005Best.-Nr. CNAP071San Francisco: The Arion Press 2005. Hardcover. New. 10-1/2 by 8 inches eighty pages. Printed by letterpress from lead-alloy type cast in the Mackenzie & Harris typefoundry the formulas were set by hand as was the display type while the prose was composed and cast in Monotype. The types are Modern for the text with special characters as needed for mathematical symbols; Egyptian for the interspersed annotations printed in blue; and Lining Gothic for display. The paper is Schiller a German mouldmade sheet. A pixelated portrait of Einstein is the frontispiece. This image is based on a photograph taken about 1910 rendered as a coarse halftone for reference then handset in units of six-point type: three sizes of solid squares and one centered dot. Over 4000 pieces of type make up the picture. The portrait is printed in gray as is the famous equation: E=mc2 which appears on the flyleaves. The binding is dark blue cloth over boards with a band of tie-dyed Thai paper to create an unusual spatial effect spanning the cover diagonally. The titling on the spine is stamped in silver foil. The edition is limited to 400 numbered copies for sale. One of the great achievements in science Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity was set forth in two papers published in the Leipzig physics journal Annalen der Physik in 1905. The German text was translated into English in 1923 by W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffrey and this is the version with some later corrections that is presented in this book. The Einstein papers are annotated by Richard Muller who has also provided a foreword and afterword. The foreword gives a general overview of the problems Einstein addressed against the background of nineteenth-century physics. The afterword carries the story from the miraculous year of 1905 when Einstein was only twenty-six through the effects of the theory on twentieth-century science. Muller conjectures on the progress of physics had Einstein not appeared and considers his career as a whole its last thirty-five years devoted mainly to an unsuccessful attempt to create a unified field theory. ___POSTAGE: International customers please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA ILAB and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have we are here to help. The Arion Press hardcover books
1921Best.-Nr. 553355Boston: Talmud Society 1921. Softcover. Fine. First edition. 12mo. 64pp. Original cord-tied wrappers printed in red and black. The first and last leaf toned from interaction with the wrappers else about fine. An August issue of the magazine apparently used in October to promote the short-lived magazine this copy with a printed slip affixed to the front wrap: “October 1921. Specimen Copy. Containing an article on the Einstein Theory of Anti-Semitism.” Photographic portrait of Einstein on page 14; along with an English translation of his essay: "Jewish Nationalism and Anti-Semitism: Their Relativity" which originally appeared in the London Jewish Chronicle. Talmud Society unknown books
