January 2018 Auction Ends Thursday, January 25th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/25/2018
Albert Einstein autograph letter signed from April 1917, with interesting content on his Theory of General Relativity, which he had published only two years prior. Einstein writes to his close friend and scientific collaborator Michele Besso, whom Einstein called "the best sounding board in Europe"; Besso was, in fact, the only individual credited in Einstein's paper on the Theory of Special Relativity. Writing in German on Sunday, 29 April 1917, Einstein addresses a few different topics, not only General Relativity, but also quantum physics and his close friend Friedrich Adler, who had, astonishingly, recently assassinated Austrian Minister-President Karl von Sturgkh. Einstein comes to his friend's defense, describing his personality and wondering how he could help him. Einstein writes in small part, "…Yesterday I presented a little thing about the Sommerfeld-Epstein formulation of quantum theory before the thinned ranks of our Physical Society. I want to write it up in the next few days. L[evi-]Civita wrote a critical paper on gen[eral] rel[ativity]. I think however that he is wrong…" Earlier in the letter Einstein discusses Adler, whose trial for the assassination of von Sturgkh was within days of Einstein's letter. Einstein expresses his willingness to help Adler and examines his personality: "…A. proved himself a selfless, calm, hard-working, goodhearted, conscientious man who was highly esteemed by everybody, and that it is my heartfelt desire, therefore, to intercede for him…A. is a rather sterile rabbinical mind, obstinate, without a sense of the real. Ultra- selfless with a strong tinge of self-torture, even suicide. A real martyr-type…I just received a manuscript on relativity from him, completed within the past few days, in which, with the conviction of the prophet, he broadly expounds quite worthless subtleties, so that I am painfully caught in the dilemma of how to respond to it. I have been racking my brain about this. He keeps drawing on [Ernst] Mach's theories to the point of exhaustion…you are much wiser about human affairs than I am…Albert". Three page letter measures 5.5" x 8.25" on card-style stationery. Light creasing and horizontal fold, else near fine condition. Originally from the collection of Michele Besso.
Albert Einstein Defends His Theory of General Relativity Two Years After He Published It -- ''...L-Civita wrote a critical paper on gen[eral] rel[ativity]. I think however that he is wrong...''
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