zotero/storage/NI2K6IKS/.zotero-ft-cache

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Cladby
JURGEN RENN AND ROBERT SCHULMANN

SHAWN SMITH

-

Albert Einstein/Mileva Mari¢
‘the
Edited and with an Introduction by Jurgen Renn and Robert Schulmann
Translated by Shawn Smith
In 1903, despite the vehement objections of his parents, Albert Einstein married Mileva Mari¢, the companion, colleague, and conhdante whose influence on his most creative years has given rise to much speculation. Beginning in 1897, after Einstein and Mari¢ met as students at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, and ending shortly after their marriage, these fifty-four love letters offer a rare glimpse into Einstein’s relationship with his first wife while shedding light on his intellectual development in the period before the annus mirabilis of 1905. Unlike the picture of Einstein the lone,
isolated thinker of Princeton, he appears here both as the burgeoning enfant terrible of science and as an amorous young man beset, along with his fiancée, by financial and personal struggles—among them the illegitimate birth of their daughter, whose existence is known only by these letters.
Describing his conflicts with professors and other scientists, his arguments with his mother over Mari¢, and his difficulty obtaining an academic position after graduation, the letters enable us to reconstruct the youthful Einstein with an unprecedented immediacy. His love for Marié, whom he describes as ‘“‘a creature who is my equal, and who is as strong and independent as | am,” brings forth his serious as well as playful, often theatrical nature. After their marriage, however, Mari¢é becomes less his intellectual companion, and, failing to acquire a teaching certificate, she subordinates her professional goals to his. In the final letters Einstein has obtained a position at the Swiss Patent Office and mentions their daughter one last time to his wife in Hungary, where she is assumed to have placed the girl in the care of
(continued on back flap)

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Albert Einstein Mileva Marié
The Love Letters

Albert Einstein
Mileva Maric
BrThe Love Letters
EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JORGEN RENN AND ROBERT SCHULMANN TRANSLATED BY SHAWN SMITH
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Copyright © 1992 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Oxford
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955. [Correspondence. English. Selections] Albert Einstein/Mileva Marié—the love letters / with an introduction by Jiirgen Renn and Robert Schulmann ; translated from the German by Shawn Smith. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-691-08760-1 1. Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955—-Correspondence. 2. Einstein-Marié, Mileva, 1875—1948—Correspondence. 3. Physicists—Correspondence. I. Einstein—Mari¢, Mileva, 1875-1948. II. Renn, Jiirgen, 1956— . I. Schulmann, Robert J., 1942—.IV. Smith, Shawn, 1968-. V. Title. VI. Title: Love letters. QC16.E5A4 1992 530”.092—dc20 91-40183
This book has been composed in Adobe Times Roman Designed by Jan Lilly
Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 352) )1

The imagination of a boy is healthy, and the mature imagination of a man is healthy; but there is a space of life between, in which the soul is in a ferment, the character undecided, the way of life uncertain, the ambition thick-sighted: thence proceeds mawkishness, and all the thousand bitters which those men I speak of must necessarily taste in going over the following pages.
John Keats, Preface to Endymion (1818)

Contents
gr
Foreword, by Martin J. Klein
Introduction
Textual Note
Translator’s Note
The Letters:
Mari¢ to Einstein, after 20 October 1897 Einstein to Marié, 16 February 1898 Einstein to Mari¢, after 16 April 1898 Einstein to Mari¢, after 16 April 1898 Einstein to Mari¢, after 28 November 1898 Einstein to Mari¢, 13 or 20 March 1899 Einstein to Marié¢, early August 1899 Einstein to Mari¢é, 10? August 1899 UFO P ONE WMNN ari¢ I to EiN nstein, after 10 August—before 10 September 1899 10 Einstein to Mari¢é, 10 September 1899 11 Einstein to Mari¢, 28? September 1899 12 Einstein to Mari¢é, 10 October 1899 13 Marié to Einstein, 1900? 14 Einstein to Mari¢, 29? July 1900 15 Einstein to Mari¢, 1 August 1900 16 Einstein to Mari¢é, 6 August 1900 7 Einstein to Mari¢é, 9? August 1900 18 Einstein to Mari¢, 14? August 1900 Wey Einstein to Marié, 20 August 1900 20 Einstein to Mari¢é, 30 August or 6 September 1900 21 Einstein to Mari¢, 13? September 1900 22 Einstein to Mari¢, 19 September 1900 23 Einstein to Mari¢, 3 October 1900
vil

Lo&]SOn’n1
13 15 17 18 no 21 22 24 a} a7 Zo B1 5fe a2,

CONTENTS
24 Einstein to Mari¢é, 23 March 1901 25 Einstein to Mari¢é, 27 March 1901 26 Einstein to Mari¢, 4 April 1901 27 Einstein to Marié, 10 April 1901 28 Einstein to Mari¢, 15 April 1901 29 Einstein to Mari¢, 30 April 1901 30 Mari¢ to Einstein, 2 May 1901
3] Mari¢ to Einstein, 3 May 1901
32 Einstein to Mari¢é, 9 May 1901 33 Einstein to Mari¢, second half of May? 1901 34 Mari¢ to Einstein, second half of May? 1901 35 Einstein to Mari¢é, second half of May? 1901 36 Einstein to Marié, 28? May 1901 37 Einstein to Mari¢é, 4? June 1901 38 Einstein to Mari¢, 7? July 1901
39 Marié to Einstein, ca. 8 July 1901
40 Einstein to Marié, 22? July 1901
Al Mari¢ to Einstein, 31? July 1901 42 Marié to Einstein, early November 1901
43 Mari¢ to Einstein, 13 November 1901
44 Einstein to Maric, 28 November 1901
45 Einstein to Maric, 12 December 1901 46 Einstein to Maric, 17 December 1901 47 Einstein to Maric, 19 December 1901 48 Einstein to Maric, 28 December 1901 49 Einstein to Mari¢é, 4 February 1902 50 Einstein to Mari¢, 8? February 1902 51 Einstein to Mari¢, 17? February 1902 52 Einstein to Mari¢é, 28 June 1902 or later 53 Einstein-Marié to Einstein, 27 August 1903 54 Einstein to Einstein-Mari¢é, 19? September 1903
Notes
Literature Cited
Dili

36 38 4] 42
46 48 49 50 51 a2 I 54 aD 56 37 59 60 62 63 65 66 69 70 72 73 The) 76 AL. 78 78
81
— 103

Foreword
sr
This collection of letters introduces us to an Einstein we had not previously known. The familiar Einstein, whose image produces instant recognition throughout the world, is the patriarchal figure who spent the last two decades of his life in Princeton, working on his never-completed unified field theory and giving his support to a variety of valiant efforts to preserve rationality in a world that sadly needs it. The scientist’s Einstein, from whom this patriarch developed, is the younger man who between 1905 and 1925 created much of the conceptual and theoretical structure on which the physics of our century has been built. But what we have here is a youth just in the process of becoming Albert Einstein, and for that reason an extremely interesting youth.
As this series of letters begins in 1897, the eighteen-year-old Einstein is in his second year as a student at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, enthusiastic about what he is learning and eager to share his ideas and reactions with his fellow student, Mileva Maric, in whom he is becoming seriously interested. As their relationship develops and deepens, he writes to her freely and openly about much that is _ going on inside him—his feelings about her, his family, and him- — self, and his thoughts about the life he sees around him and the life he wants to live with her. Because Mari¢ shared at least some of his scientific interests and his love for his subject, Einstein also tells her about his reading and about the scientific ideas. stimulated, provoked, and set free by this reading: We also get to know Marié through her own letters, and we see the maturity, independence, and strength that Einstein valued so highly at this time.
During the six years spanned by these letters, Einstein and Marié lived through much together. By 1903 they are married, she is pregnant, and Einstein is established in his position at the Swiss Patent Office, promising to “get ahead” so that they “don’t have to
ee

FOREWORD
starve.”! His scientific career has already begun and will shortly burst forth in the great works of 1905; her plans for a career have apparently been abandoned. Their marriage would not survive for much more than a decade, despite the promise manifest in these letters.
Even a casual reading of this correspondence will show what a rich source it provides for extending our understanding of Einstein’s development. The probing and suggestive Introduction by Jiirgen Renn and Robert Schulmann sets these letters in a number of contexts and shows how they can be mined by scholars.
Richard Ellmann once wrote: “The controlled seething out of which great works come is not likely to yield all its secrets.”* He was referring to literary works, but his remark applies just as well to scientific ones. Nevertheless, a correspondence like the one presented here goes a long way toward helping us see where that “controlled seething” has its start.
Martin J. Klein
1 Letter 54.
? Ellmann, Richard. Golden Codgers: Biographical Speculations (New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1973), p. 16.

Introduction
gr> Fe
Publishing love letters necessarily raises a variety of expectations among readers and some hesitation on the part of editors and publishers to infringe on a private sphere. While the letters may allow a reader to intrude into past intimacies and passions, they may on the other hand serve only as indecipherable remnants of sentiments and experiences that were shared and then faded long ago, or reveal lives trapped in a humdrum routine masked by emotional phrasing. If one is lucky, however, as we are in the case of the correspondence between the young Albert Einstein and Mileva Marié¢, love letters introduce their reader to wellsprings of emotional and intellectual development of the correspondents, wellsprings that are inaccessible through other sources.
The letters in this volume compel a change in our understanding of the early relationship between Albert and Mileva and of their common apprenticeship in physics. Although insights into their relationship are limited by the relatively few occasions when separation of the two lovers led to an exchange of letters, numerous themes are touched upon that provide glimpses into their mutual concerns. One of the surprises is the extent to which Mileva— usually depicted as an incidental shadow of Albert’s early years— can be observed sharing his scientific enthusiasm and interests. But while, at first sight, the fifty-four love letters presented here promise to unlock the secrets of Mileva’s personality and of her role in the developing field of theoretical physics, we are, on closer inspection, disappointed by the small number of letters from her—only eleven out of the fifty-four. In all probability, Albert carelessly discarded some of the letters he received from Mileva. We are also struck from the outset by an asymmetry in the voices of the two lovers— his, self-assured, dramatic, masterful in the command of his native German; hers, often understated, self-effacing, tentative in a language foreign to her native Serbian—which inevitably mars our per-
£4

INTRODUCTION

oy 2 ad

ception of the relationship. Fragmentary and personal as the love

ni : letters are, they make it difficult to decipher Mileva’s enigmatic per-
sha
sonality, Extensive research is needed into her background and into

the cultural and social context in which this extraordinary young

woman, the only female student ofphysics in her university class,

. mo S BaLgLe

searched for a role in life. Just as a slim volume of love letters cannot offer a coherent

view of Mileva Marié’s life, it cannot provide answers to all ques-

tions biographers, historians of science, and the interested layman

may pose concerning the intellectual contributions of both Mileva

and Albert. What we propose to do in this introduction, instead of

separating out the different strands of their science and their ro-

mance, is to touch on some of the themes relevant to both. This

correspondence, we believe, affords a new understanding of the

combination of intellectual and emotional resources that made pos-

sible Einstein’s path-breaking contributions of his miraculous year,

the annus mirabilis of 1905.

The publication of Einstein’s three fundamental contributions _

z 7

< AC “

to‘threedifferent

areas

of physics in

1905 is a unique

event in the

history of science. In this one year, a young man of twenty-six years

of age changed forever our accepted view of the physical world. He

introduced the revolutionary concept of light quanta, an idea that

conflicts with one of the most well-established physical theories of

the nineteenth century—the wave theory of light—and opened the

way to the development of modern quantum theory. Only weeks

after making this contribution, Einstein, who at the time was only a

junior civil servant in the Swiss Patent Office, submitted his expla-

nation of Brownian motion for publication. The phenomenon itself

had probably been known since the time when microscopes were

invented in the seventeenth century, but several generations of bota-

nists, physiologists, and physicists had struggled in vain to find the

cause of this irregular and unceasing motion of very small bodies

suspended in a liquid. In one stroke, Einstein’s explanation cleared

the path for the acceptance of molecular reality. Finally, only a

month later, Einstein submitted what is no doubt the greatest of his

early contributions, the special theory of relativity. The intellectual

xii

INTRODUCTION
culture of our time cannot be fully understood without taking into account the impact of this theory. Not only the electrodynamics of moving bodies, but every physical theory that has been formulated since then has had to confront Einstein’s revolutionary changes in the notions of space and time.
What do we know about the circumstances of this revolution, and what of the young man who launched it? Historians of science and Einstein himself in his later reminiscences refer us to the giants on whose shoulders he stood, and there can be no doubt that the masters of late nineteenth-century physics—Planck, Lorentz, Boltz- 7 mann, and others—created the preconditions for Einstein’s path- | breaking contributions. But these achievements, although based on ' prior results, should still be recognized as the triumph of new concepts rather than as a merely technical refinement of earlier accomplishments.
How could a young man who had only recently received a sec;4 _ ondary-school teaching certificate see that which remained obscure _to masters in the field? Our historical access to the revolutionary ‘Einstein has until recently been rather limited. For the most part it
relied on his later recollections, on the accounts of those who met and knew him, on administrative records, and on a modest collection of his correspondence from this period. There are virtually no } ¢a/¢ contemporary sources on the prehistory of the_1905 publications. area
Drafts of these papers have not survived, nor are extensive discussions of their contents available from Einstein’s early corre-
spondence. The situation has markedly improved since a systematic exam-
ination and presentation of his papers and correspondence was organized in the early 1980s under the direction of John Stachel. This editorial project was conceived in part as an archaeological enterprise whose success depended on the interplay of historical interpretation and archival fieldwork. It was by dint of such a combined effort that the letters presented in this volume were uncovered in 1986 with the gracious assistance of Einstein’s granddaughter Evelyn Einstein, who first drew our attention to their existence. These letters, all dating from the crucial years before Einstein made his
xilt

INTRODUCTION
“8 «revolutionary contributions to physics, have dramatically enhanced our chances of giving plausible answers to the question posed above. But where did these letters come from? On Mileva’s death in 1948, her literary effects were transferred from Switzerland to the United States, where her oldest son Hans Albert was a professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. After divorcing Albert in 1919, Mileva had maintained her residence in Zurich until the end of her
. life and never remarried. Though the divorce proceedings were very \ bitter,a reconciliation of sorts was achieved by the latetwenties,
and in the last two decades of her life several hundreds of letters were exchanged between Mileva and Albert, which will appear interspersed in future volumes of the Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein.
The letters presented here comprise the surviving correspon» dence of their courtship and were written at the turn of the century.
The first was written a year after the couple began their studies together (1897) and the last two are from the year of their marriage (1903). The various locations in which the letters were written reflect the footloose life of the correspondents. The first is from Heidelberg in 1897, where Mileva spent the winter semester 1897— 1898. Others are from Zurich, where both lived while attending the Swiss Federal Polytechnic (ETH); from Milan, where Albert’s parents lived; from Mileva’s home in what was then southern Hungary, now the Voivodina region of Yugoslavia; from Winterthur and Schaffhausen in Switzerland, where Albert held temporary teaching jobs; from Stein am Rhein on the Swiss-German border, where Mileva briefly stayed at a dramatic point in her life; from resorts in Switzerland, where Albert vacationed with his mother and sister; and from Bern, where he finally found a secure position at the Swiss Patent Office in 1902.
Almost twenty-one years old, Mileva entered the ETH in 1896, the same year as Einstein, who was three-and-a-half years her
junior. She was, inthatyear,the only woman beginning studies in
the mathematical section of the School for Mathematics and Science Teachers. In her first letter, written from Heidelberg, she shows
, of xiv

INTRODUCTION

her fascination with a lecture in which the German experimental physicist Philipp Lenard has explained the relationship between the mean velocity of a molecule and the average distance traversed by
it between collisions, a topic that was later to become relevant in Einstein’s studies of Brownian motion. Her early letters to Einstein
indicate a high degree of self-consciousness and independence, discipline in her studies, and a healthy measure of impudence. On one

occasion she deigns to grant him a letter, mimics his use of south

German dialect, and pokes fun at the pomposity of German profes-

sors. But while the saucy tone in her earlier letters is not unlike that 7

displayed in so many letters by Einstein himself in this period and | an"

throughout his life, her sense of isolation as the only female student|

in her class is almost terized by a fatalistic

palpable, tone, and

and her later unfortunately

letters give

are little

often charac-|| indication of i\

x Ns
“\A,

how her scientific interests were developing.

} ;

wLsk. a

cV

f

-

The correspondence reveals for the first time some of the dra- |

matic moments in Mileva’s life—events that forced her into the

background of Einstein’s success story. In 1901 Mileva attempted /

for the second time to obtain her teaching certificate from the ETH

‘> and was again unsuccessful. Six months later she gave birth to a )

daughter fathered by Albert. At the time neither of the baby Lie-

- serl’s parents had a secure income. The birth of the illegitimate girl

made their situation even more precarious, since it endangered Ein-

“—stein’s chances of gaining a positionin the stuffy social environ-

Ee ment of Switzerland’s capital, Bern. Be that as it may, Lieserl was

born and spent her childhood far from Switzerland, probably in the

care of Mileva’s relatives in the area which Mileva called home.

The letters between Lieserl’s parents allow one to speculate that she

was eventually given up for adoption and that a friend of Mileva’s

\ may have been helpful in arranging the matter, Lieserl was never to

be mentioned again in any of the surviving letters, and all attempts

to find clues about her later life have failed. What we do know is

that on June 16, 1902, Albert began a provisional appointment as a \)’ o
Technical Expert, third class, at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, and

that half a year later he married Mileva there.

rSrrI eo"

Little was known about the youthful Mileva before the letters ais

xO

INTRODUCTION
presented here were uncovered. Beyond the facts that she was of Serbian ethnic origin, was the daughter of a prosperous Hungarian civil servant, before coming to Switzerland had received special dispensation to attend courses in mathematics and physics at an allmale secondary school in Zagreb, and had begun her Swiss university training in medicine—information for which we are indebted to the earlier research of two Serbian biographers—not much more can be gleaned.
The life of the young Albert, on the other hand, or “the corpse of my childhood,” as he once mockingly referred to it, has been relatively well explored. His family had offered him a background rich in occasions for the intellectual development that prepared him for his later study of physics. Born in Ulm in southern Germany in 1879, he grew up in Munich, where his father and uncle owned an electrotechnical enterprise in which dynamos, electric meters, arc and incandescent lamps, telephone systems, and the like were produced. By the start of Albert’s correspondence with Mileva, his father had moved the business to northern Italy, a region that was experiencing rapid economical and industrial development at the turn of the century. Not many firms in the capital-intensive electrotechnical business could survive the tough competition with larger enterprises, and the firms founded by Hermann Einstein, first in Munich, then in Pavia, then in Milan, were all liquidated after a few years. The financial problems of the family weighed heavily on Albert, the only son. They are a significant factor in his decision to pursue a career in engineering when he made his first attempt at entering the ETH in 1895 at the age of sixteen.
Some of Einstein’s earliest experiences with science in childhood and adolescence, experiences he remembered half a century later when he wrote an autobiographical sketch, had their origin in the electrotechnical setting of the family business. As a precocious adolescent, he wrote a scientific essay on the state of the ether in a magnetic field and sent it to a favorite uncle. His long-standing interests in problems of the ether and in electrodynamics are also evident in his letters to Mileva, where he calls them his “hobby horses”
xvi

INTRODUCTION
(Letter 10) and is at first afraid to bore her with these topics, but then draws her more and more into his fascination with them.
By the time Einstein began his studies at the ETH, he had left behind the period in which his family could provide him with intellectual stimulation. But the emotional ties, with his mother Pauline and his sister Maja in particular, as well as a sense of obligation to his father, remained as strong as they were ambivalent. His parents opposed the liaison with Mileva and attempted more than once to end it. Yet Albert visited his parents frequently or spent vacations with them even in times of high tension and open conflict over his relationship with Mileva or, as he referred to it, the “Dollie affair.” In Letter 14 he attempts to demonstrate—to Mileva and possibly to himself—his casual superiority in dealing with maternal opposition by describing a scene in his mother’s bedroom at a resort hotel, where he tells his mother of his intention to marry Mileva. His sarcastic and colorful depiction of a middle-class matron, desperate at the thought of losing her only son to a woman of lower station, certainly reflects some of Pauline Einstein’s objections to this mésalliance. More telling is the reflection on its author. Einstein’s sense of theater and dramatic flair are evident and he fully exploits a situation that allows him to declare his steadfastness and love while ridiculing the philistine protests of his mother. Mileva’s reaction to parental opposition is more matter-of-fact, and she repeatedly counsels Albert to hold his fire. Grudgingly, he comes to acknowledge his lover’s emotional maturity in the matter and admits that it would have been better had he held his tongue. This volubility seems never to have left Einstein, although in later yearsitwas cloaked in the self-imposed reticence of the wise man. In 1912, in preparing a friend for a first encounter with Einstein, the physicist Max von Laue said: “You should be careful that Einstein doesn’t talk you to death. He loves to do that, you know.”
In embarking on his romance with Mileva, Albert decided in favor of a relationship with an emotionally and intellectually mature woman. Even as he began courting Mileva, he was turning his back on an earlier affair. After failing to gain entrance to the ETH in
xvii

INTRODUCTION
1895, Albert spent a year in the town of Aarau, a short distance from Zurich. There he attended the final year of secondary school, and it was there that he also had his first romance, one of which his mother seems to have approved. It was with Marie Winteler, daughter of the schoolteacher Jost Winteler, in whose home Albert boarded while attending school across the street. Two years older than Albert, Marie did not seek an intellectual partnership with her friend. Instead she refers to herself in a letter to him as “the little, insignificant, foolish darling that can neither do, nor understand anything.” After Albert had moved on to Zurich and met Mileva, he
+
PORN » still sent Marie his dirty laundry and she mailed it back to him. Together ‘with his new Serbian girlfriend, whose calm independence and intellectual ambition he admired, he sought to create a bond of intellectual companionship that was impervious to the petty con-
s cerns and hopes of innocent puppy love. He considered himself
“lucky to have(found Mileva,‘“aa creature who iismy equal and who iS as strong and independent. as Iam!” (Letter 23). But at the same time, he also saw in her a lover with whom he could withdraw into their little student “household” in Zurich, or enjoy a trip into the Swiss Alps, free from worries and ambitions. While the letters of this volume cast a new light on Mileva and on Albert’s early relationship with her, this seems at first glanceto
“ be. far less the case for Einstein, the promising scientist, whose image is so well defined by later reminiscences. But for the first time we are able to reconstruct the youthful Einstein with an unprecedented immediacy from these contemporary letters documenting his intellectual development in the midst of the conflicts of his adolescence. For instance, we find that the rebelliousness and theatrical attitude in his personal life are paralleled in his developing self-image as a lonely revolutionary of science. This is most clearly evident in his description of his first scientific polemics, on which he proudly reports to Mileva. In 1901, Albert had at first reacted with enthusiam to Professor Paul Drude’s publication of an electron theory of metals, in which the phenomena of heat and electrical conduction are both explained by an “electron gas,” conceived in analogy to the kinetic theory of gases. He had earlier thought of this
xvili

INTRODUCTION

analogy himself, and the twenty-two-year-old Einstein thus considered Drude a colleague, an equal with whom he could argue privately over particulars. On writing a letter to Drude containing two “factual objections,” he received a dismissive response indicating that Drude thought otherwise. To an intellectual father figure, Ein-
stein now confides that he will “soon make things hot for the man” by publishing his objections, and then he categorically proclaims
that unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Although Einstein never published the promised attacks on

Drude, he had already brought acts of defiance and independence to successful conclusions. At age fifteen he decided without consulting

his parents to leave his high school in Munich, probably to avoid

military service. This gesture of independence greatly frightened the older Einsteins, but his equally independent decision to apply to the

engineering division at the ETH appears to have mollified them. Yet

when he failed the entrance examination, it seemed that he had bit-

ten off more than he could chew. Luckily, a family connection in the

small town of Aarau helped him to spend a year at an exceptionally

moder and well-equipped institution of learning, the Aargau can-

tonal high school. Its liberal spirit and the simple dedication of the

teachers, who refused to rely on external authority, deeply im-

pressed Einstein. It is generally agreed that the time in Aarau was of

considerable importance for him. Although we know that some of

his teachers were not only schoolteachers but researchers in their

own right—in linguistics, in geology, and in physics—it has re-

mained unclear what exactly their contribution to his intellectual de-

velopment was, mainly because there was hardly any contemporary

evidence of relevance to this development between Einstein’s time

in Aarau and the annus mirabilis of 1905.

Does the correspondence with Mileva offer new heen.

the role of the various intellectual influences on ea

a

offer a missing link in the development leading to 19052-1f we ex-

amine the correspondence for the roots of the revolutionary papers

of that year, and for those of relativity in particular, we must_con- “av a

clude that the letters do not enable us to reconstruc(tindetail)the

development from some of Einstein’s well-known youthful specula-

Saige

—

eons

INTRODUCTION

tions to his later contributions. But the letters do show how the in-

terest in electrodynamics—Einstein’s avocation since the age of

sixteen—has now become more specific, and that it is already fo-

cused on the topics that would mark his later fundamental contri-

bution: the electrodynamics of moving bodies, the problematic

character of the notion of the ether, and the relativity principle. The

earliest letters in this volume already show him studying the con-

;

temporary literature. Here he expresses his doubts about the con-

cept of ether motion and has an idea about the effect of relative _

motion with respect to the ether on light propagation, while at the | I

same time conceiving an experiment to investigate light propaga- \° .»
tion in transparent bodies moving with respect to the ether. Unfortu- __)*

nately, the letters do not specify precisely why Einstein had doubts ‘’

regarding the motion of the ether, what the idea about motion rela- |

tive to the ether was, and what particular experiment he was con-

templating.

Woe

For almost two years the topic of electrodynamics of moving ©

bodies surfaces‘only in| passing references in Albert’s letters—and’|

does not appear inMileva’ Sat all}but his unceasing interest in the F

subject as well as the fact that he continues to discuss it with Mileva )”C ,

and with his friends Michele Besso and Marcel Grossmaannnn..can be ofl ¥
taken for granted. In the spring of 1901, he discussed key problems __

such as the separation of ether and matter and the definition of ab-

solute rest with Besso; a month earlier, he had even written to Mi- ’aN

/leva about‘‘our work on relative motion” (Letter O5y At the end of

¢

yr,

“ the year he was working on what he expected to become a major “,”

treatise on the electrodynamics of moving bodies, a paper that ap- ApYba

parently included a proposal for"investigating the motion of matter oscox

relative to the ether/We do nnoet know the‘content of the planned* \ al
treatise, just as we do not know Mileva’s possible contribution to )™ tg je it; but whatever it was, all available evidence indicates that the / ay

planned paper was a far cry from the relativity paper of 1905. =/ |

a Rosetta stone for deciphering itshistory.On theotherhhand,‘the

letters are full of references to ideas, research projects, library work, and planned experiments that have no direct ROM Us on thSe ee

; ey

f f

+7

xx

r—/f, f WaagrJasSh

(AL ed ter

3 f ip “| d IeNsTRODUCTION

me

e

breaking

achievements

of the annus

mirabilis.

This

wealth

~~
of de- \

athe /}
= |

scription

would

make

the

love

letters

between

Albert

and

Mileva

une?

/ j

i }

Lee \

-

“2

‘

toSc Ly

fe «t{

intellectually exciting even if none of the 1905 papers had ever been ritten. lany ¢ofthe references to science are relatedin one way or
another to“what Einstein Jater called his worthless beginner papers.
Molecular forces, thermoelectricity, physical chemistry, and the ki-

}| }-»wm art!

|(f{y { ai »

}

oO

|S

Vet
ite:

netic

theory

of gases

and

liquids

are,

together

with

electrodynamics,

AG the most prominent scientific subjects in the correspondence with | \

Mileva. In spite of his later negative assessment, he is clearly fasci- |

nt ~~

eg nated

by all of these

topics,

some

of which

he first encounters

in his

|

course work at the ETH. The important role that Einstein’s ETH |

physics professor, H. F. Weber, played in the development of his |

student’s scientific interests is just one among many new insights \,/

these letters afford us. Einstein’s reminiscences of later years speak ie almost exclusively of the clash between the rebellious and inde-
pendent-minded student of theoretical physics and the established

experimental physicist and argue that it was unavoidable from the

beginning. The possibility that the brilliant young man could have

been intellectually stimulated by Weber with his somewhat out-

moded physics curriculum is rarely considered.

The letters also throw a new light on the clash that was brew-

ing between Einstein and Weber. Whereas students under Weber’s

supervision usually focused their research on work in the labora-

tory, we see Einstein relying on tables and experimental results

published by others rather than engaging in experimental projects

himself. The boldness with which Einstein attempts to establish

connections between seemingly unrelated data also characterizes

some of his later and more successful contributions to physics.

While at the ETH, his theoretical ambitions had indeed come to out-

weigh his meee involvement with experimental research. But.

Weber, for his part, perhapsbecame increasingly dissatisfied with

the unorthodox oe who.cut.too many corners. As. _a conse-_

quence of the antagonism, Einstein gave up a first attempt at a dis-

sertation, while Weber, at least from Einstein’s point of view,

stopped at nothing to sabotage the young man’s search fora job

after graduation.

:

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xxi

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te

‘Ss v7

INTRODUCTION

Still, the constraints imposed by the empirical orientation at

Weber’s ETH physics institute may have been a healthy influence

on an ambitious, budding theoretician. In all of Einstein’s funda-

mental contributions of 1905, a strong awareness of the experimen-

tally controllable implications can be observed. It seems only fair to

ask whether it is Einstein’s technical orientation, stimulated first by

the family background in electrotechnology and then by his atten-

dance at a technical university, that helps to distinguish his innova-

tive contributions to theoretical physics from the work of contempo-

rary mathematical physicists such as Boltzmann. As a matter of fact,

in one letter to Mileva, Albert tells her that he really admires Boltz-

mann’s gas theory but finds that “not enough emphasis is placed on

a comparison with reality” (Letter 29).

It would, of course, be too simplistic to assume that one or the

other “influence” on Einstein could explain his intellectual develop-

pwe ¢ ment. The well-known image of Einstein the autodidact is con-

,o0¢¢ firmed by the correspondence, and we can observe firsthand the

*°

_ array of texts he consulted. We see him reading, together with

Y Mileva, the classic works of Boltzmann, Drude, Helmholtz, Hertz,

Kirchhoff, Mach, and Ostwald, in addition to the notebooks of his

fellow student, Grossmann, and we can reconstruct from Einstein’s

later contributions the important role this reading had on his educa-

tion. But we also see how he selects with an impressive sovereignty

those aspects of the readings he felt to be essential. Thus he was

convinced that the principles of Boltzmann’s theory were correct,

yet he would not become a blind follower of its mathematical pro-

gram. He would read Ostwald, the anti-atomist, with as much profit

as he read Boltzmann, the atomist. He would carefully study Mach’s

arguments against burdening physics with unnecessary concepts

and eventually discard the ether concept, while accepting Mach’s

criticism of atomism as a challenge and trying to provide evidence

for the existence of atoms.

What is it that enabled Einstein to assimilate the writings of

these seemingly disparate intellectual masters with such judicious-

ness? When one attempts to reconstruct how he developed, as he

later wrote, an eye for the intrinsically significant in the course of

xxXi1

INTRODUCTION

his studies, one should remember that the various intellectual stimuli mentioned in the correspondence fell onto fertile ground. One of the hidden sources for his preparation in physics, mentioned only in

passing in the letters but given prominence fifty years later in autobiographical notes, is the popular compendium on the natural sciences by Aaron Bernstein, written in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The topics treated by Bernstein contain striking parallels to

some of Einstein’s ideas. Bernstein discusses the corpuscular theory

of light that Einstein would revive with his light quantum hypothe-

sis, and he even mentions the possibility of light deflection by a

gravitational field, eventually one of the key proofs of the general

theory of relativity. Closer to Einstein’s early interests, Bernstein

unfolds the theme of atoms and the “secret” forces acting between

them into an all-encompassing panorama of the unity of nature. Al-

though such a picture could no longer do justice to the complexities

of science at the turn of the century, it provided the background for

one of Einstein’s earliest research programs—that of exploring the

analogy between molecular forces and gravitation.

Einstein’s creativity can be explained as little by his reading

on his own of popular science texts as it can by the stimulation he

later derived from Weber’s courses. But the fact that Einstein had a

broad conceptual understanding of physics before he started to as- ; yg >

similate the more technical knowledge—for instance, in Weber’s |’

courses—gave him an intellectual independence with respect to IL" Ye

what he learned, the possibility of picking and choosing from the

manifold of knowledge with which he was confronted, and also the <7 o

capacity todraw connections between subjects that remained ob- }+E -

/Scure ttoothe more conventionally trained. |The letters«ofthis volume \ ay,

/ leave open to what extent Mileva.could draw on similar resources \ , ey

when she took up her studies at the ETH. But they do suggest that

ste

she faced exams with less nonchalance than did Einstein, and that, | (> -

while more pedantic in her studies, she may have been less inde- / (Jp gt

\. pendent in assimilating the received physics tradition./ Peep

en

If readers do not limit themselves to a search for isolated evi-. pvblige

dence of Einstein’s later accomplishments in the correspondence We > y

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INTRODUCTION

presented here, they have a unique chance of gaining glimpses into

}, Einstein’s thinking process, into the way he would elaborate ideas ued aigthat he took from the literature, from his courses, or, as we shall see

a trodaath ‘below, possibly even from an Aarau physics teacher. It is not that

ifD}e

striking hints atlater developments are entirely absent from the cor-

ondence. When Einstein in 1901 is overcome by happiness and

joy—which he naturally wants to share with Mileva—after reading
a paper by Lenard on the generation of cathode rays by ultra-

violet light (Letter 36), a historian of science cannot avoid thinking

‘of Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 that

Lh

earned him a Nobel Prize seventeen years later. But one should

ah

avoid drawing hasty conclusions from such anticipations, which ig-

nore the shifting contexts in his research. Very briefly, let us look at

examples of what we mean.

The turn of the century was an exciting time for the develop-

ment of physics, with new phenomena related to cathode rays, X

rays, or radioactivity discovered year after year. The dispute over

whether cathode rays are particles or waves was, in the late 1890s,

dow increasingly decided in favor of the particle view. For X rays, on the

I sAiW I, " other hand, the question of their nature was still open. R6ntgen ar-

|eves , gued that they are longitudinal waves, but this was far from univer(sally accepted. Einstein’s letters to Mileva show that he did not

{_ stand as aloof from these recent developments of physics as is often

A F argued. Already in 1899 he collaborated with one of the pioneers of

ie i X-ray research in Switzerland, an Aarau physics teacher, Conrad

er

Wiest, with whom he conducted radiation experiments. For many

_.@ years thereafter Einstein attentively followed X-ray research but did

"not publish on the subject. In his light-quantum paper of 1905, he

( proposes a surprising explanation of the photoelectric effect by as-

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suming that, under certain circumstances, light behaves like particles. It may well be that this unorthodox idea first demonstrated its
value to him in the entirely different context of research on X rays,
where similar hypotheses were part of the contemporary debate. It thus appears reasonable to assume that some of Einstein pioneering
contributions emerged from attempts to solve now-forgotten problems, and that in so doing, he developed conceptual tools applicable

aca

INTRODUCTION
to other more prominent riddles. A perhaps even more striking illustration of this serendipitous character of scientific discovery is Einstein’s search for a theory of thermoelectricity. The letters to Mileva | not only amply document his now-forgotten passion for the subject, | but also contain the unexpected revelation that his better-known > contributions to statistical physics—indispensable tools for his later exploration of the quantum puzzle—were embedded in this previ-| ously unknown context of research.
The ideas documented by Einstein’s letters could forever have remained only the half-baked projects of a brilliant adolescent. At the age of sixteen, already convinced that he had the requisite talent, he expressed a desire to become a theoretical scientist. But at times _ during his study at the ETH he seriously entertained the possibility of taking over his father’s business. He accompanied Hermann Einstein on a trip through northern Italy to visit electric power plants set up by his father’s firm, and Einstein junior described this trip in half-serious fashion, as a sacramental ritual for entering the family enterprise (Letter 18). At the ETH he took courses in business and
banking, as well as in insurance statistics. As it turned out, Einstein was fortunate enough to be able to apply his knowledge of statistics
to the explanation of the laws of Brownian motion rather than to the fluctuations of life and death statistics as summarized in the tables of an insurance firm.
Einstein also entertained other professional options, among them teaching and work at a patent office. His study at the ETH prepared him for a secondary-school teaching position, which would allow him to follow in the footsteps of the teachers he admired. He apparently liked teaching and he also knew how to make a living at it. Throughout his student years he gave private lessons, and after obtaining his diploma he worked as a substitute teacher in
mathematics at a technical school in Winterthur, and later as teacher ;
at a boarding school in Schaffhausen. When in July 1901 he learned -J that Mileva was pregnant, he promised to forgo all scientific and professional ambitions, and accept the lowliest position if necessary, in order to marry her..At that time, his highest ambitions seemed thwarted not only Be his fiancée’S pregnana cy, but also be-

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INTRODUCTION
cause he had just received a devastating reply to his criticisms of
Drude’s electron theory. But Mileva’s concern that he might throw away his talent to assume an unacceptable position just to make her
happy was unnecessary: we note that Albert was able to draw on larger reserves of self-confidence and to continue to pursue his plans
-
for a career in science. By contrast, Mileva never had the luxury of choosing between
the conventional path of teacher and more lofty ambitions. Already three months pregnant, she failed in her second attempt to obtain her
' teacher’s certificate, and concerns for her future family and for the
ups and downs of Albert’s search for a position now increasingly overshadowed her own professional desires. In the end she apparently agreed to give up the illegitimate Lieserl and resigned herself \.to having a second child after their marriage. The available evidence
eee that by 1902 Mileva had ceased to be the intellectually and / emotionally formidable partner Albert first began courting in Zurich
\ five years earlier.
This-does not, however, mean that intellectual partnership had become any less important for him. Already in the time-of-his Correspondence with Mileva, Michele Besso emerges “As a friend with \ . whom Einstein could exchange ideas on science in freewheeling discussions. In his early Bern period, Einstein established a discussion group, which he mockingly called the Olympia Academy, with / a pair of other bohemian friends. It would be unfair to dismiss Ein- ie stein’s discussion partners as his “sounding boards,” a -character- sy ization that Besso rejected outright. It was Besso, after all, who had fh originally called Mach’s work to Einstein’s attention and who had » passed on the fund of applied thermodynamics he had acquired | while an engineering student at the ETH. The same Besso pointed > out to his friend in 1905 that the kind of molecular movement, whose laws Einstein had just theoretically derived, had already been , observed earlier and was called “Brownian motion” by physiologists. And it is to his friend Michele Besso that Einstein dedicated . the only acknowledgment in his relativity paper, a paper that stands ki out for its lack of any reference to the literature. The fact that Besso, like so many of Einstein’s later discussion partners, was not a phys-
xxvi

INTRODUCTION
icist may have helped Einstein not only to escape the narrow dog-
matism of some fields in contemporary physics, but also to broaden his horizons: Einstein cherished both the fruitful dilettantism of Besso and his colleagues in the Olympia Academy and the bohemian cameraderie that they and Mileva granted him. Still, the correspondence that shows him and his band of outsiders united against the rest of the world also hints at a deeper truth. Einstein acquired a greater intellectual distance from the bohemian life than his letters at first glance reveal. The bohemian life with Mileva and the bourgeois life with his parents, it seems, were only roles, from which Einstein maintained an inner distance.
The philosophy of Schopenhauer, references to which are occasionally seeded in the Einstein letters from this period, may have provided him with a vocabulary that enabled him to deal with conflicting loyalties and his ambivalent reactions to them—the frustration at what he perceived to be the mindless life of his parents, and yet his dependence on them; his love for Mileva, and yet his feeling of claustrophobia in the little world they had made for themselves; his love for the higher values of science, and yet the sometimes humiliating need of having to struggle to make a scientific career. Schopenhauer would also have struck other sympathetic chords in him, such as his praise of music as the one pleasure in which the solitary genius can find himself, and his biting observations of other people’s weaknesses. It is, after all, Schopenhauer’s portrait of the lonely intellectual that provided a whole generation of educated Germans with a powerful identification, in opposition to the excessively materialistic society of Wilhelmine Germany.
In his aphorisms Schopenhauer defines the philistine—a recurring theme in Einstein’s correspondences—as a man without intellectual needs, and situates him against the “genius” whose role is to lead the blind masses to higher development by merely living among them. Taking distance from these masses, Schopenhauer regarded bourgeois marriage with contempt and saw little difference between wife and prostitute, a view that Einstein expresses in Letter 16. Perhaps even more important is another aspect of this philosophy that also finds Einstein’s sympathy: Schopenhauer formulates a
xxvii

INTRODUCTION
protest against philistine life that permits those who can identify with the “genius” of his writings to continue to live as philistines so long as they do not surrender their inner being to such an existence as well.
A cursory examination cannot nearly exhaust the themes touched on in Mileva’s and Albert’s letters. There is also, for instance, Einstein’s little-known interest in psychology which may have been related to epistemological questions but which, like his reading of Schopenhauer, may also have offered him a vocabulary for reflecting on his emotions. This interest was shared if not stimu_ lated by Mileva’s concern for the physiological and ‘ethical limits of
\ human thinking, evident from several of her letters. To the extent _that the fragmentary character of what has remained permits such a \conclusion, it even seems that psychology was of greater interest to her than physics. But any attempt to assess Mileva’s interest in physics and the ideas she developed in discussion with Albert risks failure for the same reasons that silenced her voice in the letters she wrote: they were discarded, and with them the memory of her possi-
ble contributions. Since we cannot replace by speculation what has been lost in evidence, let us return to the question posed at the beginning of this introduction: How was a young man able to see the conceptual implications in the works of such masters as Lorentz and Planck that they themselves were unable to discern? Einstein was confronted with their results as an outsider, free to interpret them in his own way, and not as an adherent of an established school of thinking from which he would have inherited a more or less comprehensive but closed view of science. Being a nonspecialist in this sense, he was, however, also a young man who could rely on unusual resources of knowledge and experience. This in turn allowed him to impart new meaning to the work of the masters, each of whose achievements was technically sophisticated and might have absorbed the full attention of a disciple. But as a wanderer between the worlds, as a bourgeois and as a bohemian, as an atomist and as a critic of atomism, Einstein was able to partake of the insights and emotions of a variety of worlds and yet yield to none of them.
Jiirgen Renn and Robert Schulmann
xXxDili

Textual Note
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Letters 1 through 51 were originally published in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (CPAE throughout this edition), Vol. 1 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987). The last three letters have not appeared previously, and are scheduled for publication in 1993 in Vol. 5 of CPAE.
The annotation in this volume has been slightly modified from the editorial material in CPAE, Vol. 1, and the forthcoming Vol. 5, which should be consulted if details regarding archival and administrative sources are needed. References to documents in CPAE other than those presented here are indicated by volume and document number.
Physical descriptions of the letters, and the original German texts, are available in CPAE, Vol. 1, and the forthcoming Vol. 5. Where dates are provided in brackets, but not explained by a footnote, the information is taken from a postmark on a postcard or envelope. In cases where a letter appears without salutation or closure, or both, the source is an incomplete draft of a letter or a textual fragment.
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Translator’s Note
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It should be noted that Einstein and Marié address each other with the formal “Sie” form in German until Letter 13, the first letter in which the familiar “Du” is used. The difference is similar to that of the now archaic formal “you” and familiar “thou” distinction in English.
In the early letters, both Einstein and Marié use initials in salutations, indicating a certain stage in their developing intimacy. I have expanded such cases.
I have retained a few German terms that do not have English equivalents. An Assistent (plural Assistenten) assists a professor in his teaching, laboratory, and research duties, often while working to obtain a doctorate or a position as a Privatdozent (unpaid university lecturer). Some Privatdozenten double as Assistenten. The Diplom is roughly equivalent to the baccalaureate and its acquisition requires the completion of a thesis, the Diplomarbeit. The holder of a Diplom can teach his or her subject in a secondary school or be eligible for a professional position in business or industry.
Any untranslatable plays on words by Einstein are explained in the notes.
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Albert Einstein Mileva Marié
The Love Letters

1 Marié to Einstein
roy
(Heidelberg, after 20 October 1897]!
It’s been quite a while since I received your letter, and I would have answered immediately to thank you for your sacrifice in writing a four-page letter, thus repaying a bit of the enjoyment you gave me during our hike together—but you said I shouldn’t write until I was bored—and I am very obedient (just ask Fraulein Bachtold).* I waited and waited for boredom to set in, but until today my waiting
has been in vain, and I’m not sure what to do about it. On the one hand, I could wait until the end of time, but then you would think me a barbarian—on the other, I still can’t write you with a clear
conscience. As you’ve already heard, I’ve been walking around under Ger-
man oaks in the lovely Neckar valley,> whose allure is unfortunately now bashfully cloaked in a thick fog. No matter how much I strain my eyes, that’s all I see; it’s as desolate and gray as infinity.
I don’t think the structure of the human skull is to be blamed for man’s inability to understand the concept of infinity. He would certainly be able to understand it if, when young, and while developing his sense of perception, he were allowed to venture out into the universe rather than being cooped up on earth or, worse yet, confined within four walls in a provincial backwater. If someone can conceive of infinite happiness, he should be able to comprehend the infinity of space—I should think it much easier. And human beings are so clever and have accomplished so much, as I have observed once again here in the case of the Heidelberg professors.
Papa* gave me some tobacco that I’m to give you personally.
He’s eager to whet your appetite for our little land of outlaws. I told him all about you—you absolutely must come back with me someday—the two of you would really have a lot to talk about! But I’ll
have to play the role of interpreter. I can’t send the tobacco, how-

ever, because should you have to pay duty on it, you would curse me and my present.
Is it Herr Sanger who’s become a forester?> The poor fellow probably wants to smother his love in a highly romantic Swiss forest. But it serves him right; what’s the point of him falling in love nowadays anyway? It’s such an old story how much human beings think they know. You could sit and listen to them for the rest of your life and they would still be regaling you with all that they have discovered. It really was too enjoyable in Prof. Lenard’s lecture yes-
terday;® now he’s talking about the kinetic theory of gases.’ It seems that oxygen molecules travel at a speed of over 400 m per second,* and after calculating and calculating, the good professor set up
equations, differentiated, integrated, substituted, and finally showed that the molecules in question actually do move at such a velocity, but that they only travel the distance of 1/100 of a hair’s breadth.

2 Einstein to Marié
oy
Zurich, Wednesday [16 February 1898]
Dear Fraulein, The desire to write you has finally conquered the guilty con-
science I’ve had about not responding to your letter for such a long time, and which has allowed me to avoid your critical eye. But now, even though you are understandably angry with me, you must at least give me credit for not adding to my offense by hiding behind feeble excuses, and for asking you simply and directly for forgiveness and—for an answer as soon as possible.
I’m glad that you intend to return here to continue your studies. Come back soon; I’m sure you won’t regret your decision.! I am convinced that you will be able to catch up rather quickly on our

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most important course work. Still, it’s most embarrassing for me to have to recount the material we’ve covered. Only here will you find the material properly organized and explained.
Hurwitz lectured on differential equations, except for partials, as well as Fourier series, and some on the calculus of variations and double integrals.2 Herzog spoke very clearly and well on the strength of materials, and somewhat superficially on dynamics, but that’s to be expected in a “mass course.”3 Weber lectured masterfully on heat (temperature, heat quantities, thermal motion, dynamic theory of gases). I eagerly anticipate every class of his. Fiedler is lecturing on projective geometry; he’s the same indelicate rough person he always was, and a little impenetrable at that, though he’s always brilliant and profound. In short: a master but unfortunately a terrible pedant too. The only other important course that will give you much to do is number theory, but you can make it up gradually
by studying on your own.*
If you don’t mind my giving you some advice (entirely unselfishly?), you should return as soon as possible, because everything you need to catch up on your studies can be found tightly packed in our notebooks.* To be on the safe side, you might want to write Hurwitz beforehand to clear it with him.® I don’t think you’ll have any trouble in the short or long term in getting a room at the Bachtolds again, as they have one room which is not rented definitely.’ You will, of course, have to give up your old pleasant room which
a Zurich philistine now occupies . . . serves you right, you little run-
away!
But now back to the books. Best wishes, your
Albert Einstein

3 Einstein to Marié gr

[Zurich, after 16 April 1898]!

Dear Fraulein,

When I came home just now, I found the apartment locked

with no one at home, and had to beat a shameful retreat. So, don’t

be angry with me for taking Drude’ in this emergency in order to do

some studying.

Best wishes from your

Albert Einstein

4 Einstein to Marié coy

[Zurich, after 16 April 1898]!

D[ear] F[raulein] M[ari¢],

Please don’t be angry with me for keeping to myself so long.

I was seriously ill, so much so that I didn’t dare leave my room.

Even today my legs are still a little weak. Nevertheless, this after-

noon I gathered up my courage and ventured out for a stroll. I told

Frau Bachtold to invite any of her boarders who feel like it for a

get-together, and I hope you are among those who come. But if you

can’t make it, I'll visit you as soon as I feel well enough. And if I’m

not able to go out, I’ll look forward to your visit soon.

With best wishes, your

Albert Einstein

I’ve read half of the tome already.” I find it stimulating and informative, though the specifics sometimes lack clarity and precision.

5 Einstein to Marié
gr

Dear Fraulein,

[Zurich, after 28 November 1898]!

Marco Besso died Sunday night.” A terrible blow for his family, but better than a miserable life.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to come over this evening to read

with you. Your

Albert Einstein

6 Einstein to Marié
er
[Milan] Monday [13 or 20 March 1899]! Dear [Saud?],
You came vividly to mind during a harsh scolding I just received. This little letter will serve as proof that I thought of you.
To the paragon I give a sample (worthless of course).” Has it arrived yet? If not, then don’t give me such a smug smile. It’s not meant to be eaten. Oh yes—the letter for the paragon will be put inside the sample in emulation of famous examples?—acting boldly is half the battle.
I’m having a wonderful time at home; I’ve spent much of it tending to the innermost joys, that is to say, I’ve been eating a lot, and well, something which has already caused me to suffer a bit from our favorite poetic ailment, like the time at the Sterns* when for hours I sat next to you, my charming table partner. It was then revealed to me in harsh tints how closely knit our psychic and physiological lives are.

The journey was very pleasant, despite the fact unfortunately that my companions in the compartment were all males. There were a couple of frisky Italian boys who sang and laughed and joked with each other, sounding half like little girls, half like puppies. Things went well in Chiasso.> “This fellow doesn’t have anything of interest,” the sly customs officer must have thought to himself. I spent the rest of the journey in deep conversation with a young man about Italian affairs, while a young German salesman on his first trip to Italy took great pains to show off the few Italian expressions he had acquired for just such an occasion with as much elegance and nonchalance as possible. It was as if someone with a trumpet that only played two notes wanted to perform in an orchestra and was continually waiting—continually longing for the next chance to blow his horn.
Your photograph had quite an effect on my old lady.® While she studied it carefully, I said with the deepest sympathy: “Yes, yes, she certainly is a clever one.” I’ve already had to endure much teasing about this, among other things, but I don’t find it at all unpleas-
ant.
My musings on radiation are beginning to take on more substance—I myself am curious if anything will come of it.
Best wishes etc., especially the latter, from your Albert
My old lady sends her best.

7 Einstein to Marié ry

D[ear] D[ollie],

Paradise [Mettmenstetten, early August 1899]!

You must really be surprised to see my hieroglyphics again so soon, especially since you know how lazy I am when it comes to writing letters.

Here in Paradise’ I live a nice, quiet, philistine life with my

mother hen and sister’—it’s just as the pious and the upright imag-

ine paradise to be. In my spare time I’ve studied quite a bit of

Helmholtz on atmospheric movements*—but out of my fear of you

(as well as for my own pleasure), I hasten to add that I promise to

reread it with you later. I admire the originality and independence of

Helmholtz’s thought more and more. You, poor girl, must now stuff

your head with gray theory,> but I know that with your divine com-

posure, you’ll accomplish everything with a level head. Besides,

you are at home being pampered, as a deserving daughter should

be. But in Zurich you are the mistress of our house, which isn’t such

a bad thing, especially since it’s such a nice household! When I read

Helmholtz for the first time I could not—and still cannot—believe

that I-was.doing so without-you.sitting next to me. Ienjoy working

together very much, and find it soothing and less boring. \

My mother and sister seem somewhat petty and philistine to

me, despite the sympathy I feel for them. It is interesting how grad-

ually our life changes us in the very subtleties of our soul, so that

even the closest of family ties dwindle into habitual friendship.

Deep inside we no longer understand one another, and are incapable

of actively empathizing with the other, or knowing what emotions

move the other.

Now you have a little something to decipher, but only a little,

f7kttAitrtHn / #f ;

é

tA

Af

:

1

‘

’

:

>

f

,

‘a ’

f

yy woh

» i

rhe Casal,

4

‘ ’ Cla f

because you can devote only a short time to me now. If you get a chance, write me again, but if not, I’ll know the reason.
Best wishes to your family, and especially to you, from your Albert

8 Einstein to Maric boy

Paradise [Mettmenstetten] Thursday [10? August 1899]!

D[ear] D[ollie],

,

Many thanks for your letter. I would have replied sooner but

I went on a hike through the mountains with the owner of our

hotel’—it was wonderful, by the way (Zug-Einsiedeln*—Upper Lake

of Zurich). I hope you received my first letter, even though it con-

tained little of importance, because otherwise you would most cer-

tainly harbor bitter resentment toward me and consider me an un-

faithful lazybones. The vacation offers me peace and quiet, so it is

the studying that is a welcome diversion for me, not the loafing—

just the opposite of the situation in our household. And you, good

soul, write me that cramming agrees with you—that’s what I like to

hear. You’re such a robust girl and have so much vitality in your

little body. I returned the Helmholtz volume* and am now rereading

Hertz’s propagation of electric force’ with great care because I

didn’t understand Helmholtz’s treatise on the principle of least ac-

tion in electrodynamics.® I’m convinced more and more that the

electrodynamics of moving bodies as it is presented today doesn’t

correspond to reality,’ and that it will be possible to present it in a

simpler way. The introduction of the term “ether” into theories of

electricity has led to the conception of a medium whose motion can

be described, without, I believe, being able to ascribe physical

meaning to it.* I think that electrical forces can be directly defined

10

only for empty space, something also emphasized by Hertz.? Further, electrical currents will have to be thought of not as “the disappearance of electrical polarization over time,” but as the motion of true electrical masses whose physical reality appears to be confirmed by electrochemical equivalents.!° Mathematically they can then always be understood in the form oF+.+.!! Electrodynamics would then be the theory of the movements of moving electricities
and magnetisms” in empty space: which of the two views prevails

depends on the results of the radiation experiments.—By the way,
I haven’t heard anything from Rector Wiiest yet. I'll write to him

soon.

Here in Paradise it is always very beautiful, especially since

we have such wonderful weather. We are always having unpleasant

visits from Mother’s acquaintances though. I can usually manage to

escape their mindless prattle by slipping away if we don’t happen to

be at the dinner table. At the end of our stay my aunt from Genoa is
coming,’* a veritable monster of arrogance and insensitive formal-

ism. I’m nevertheless enjoying each and every day of my vacation

in this wonderfully peaceful place. If only you could be here with

me for a while! We understand one another’s dark souls so well, and

also drinking coffee and eating sausages etc... .

You’re probably right that I only imagined the story about you

and Mama. It certainly never would have occurred to you. Make

sure you write me here next time. You must have misunderstood me

earlier. I always enjoy reading your little lines; send me some more

again soon.

Best wishes from your

Albert

Don’t work too hard! Best wishes from Mama and Maja!

Best wishes to your family.
Greetings, P. Einstein’» I would have liked to write you too, but A. wouldn’t let me. M.!®

i153

9 Maricé to Einstein
Br
[Kaé, after 10 August—before 10 September 1899]! D[ear] H[err] E[instein],
Both of your: letters? have found me contented at our country retreat;? I thank you for them, and look forward to receiving another one soon. I certainly hope that you, who have so much time on your hands, don’t follow my example just now that I’m writing somewhat less. Your every letter gives me warm memories of home. Our series of shared experiences has secretly given me a strange feeling that is evoked at the slightest touch, without necessarily conjuring up the memory of a particular moment, and makes me feel, so it seems, as if I were in my room once again.
You’re right not to study much, if only it were true. That your country life is completely peaceful is hard to believe; you’d better enjoy some pleasant walks while you can. The entire time I’ ve been home I’ve gotten no farther than the garden. We don’t go into town at all now because many cases of scarlet fever and diphtheria have been reported. We prefer to remain here in our fresh, healthy air. Novi Sad is a very unhealthy place these days, in addition to being so terribly hot. Our sour cherry trees are blooming for the second time.
Give my best wishes to Frau Einstein and Fraulein Maja; I would be happy to receive a letter from her (that is, of course, with your permission; I don’t understand why not, unless you really have a good reason). The “cramming” proceeds slowly. Fiedler is my biggest headache and the material is the hardest to master.* Perhaps you could write me a little about what to expect on the exam, but don’t think that this means you’re excused from including things other than a report (just in case). Do Fiedler and Herzog® ask for specific things, examples, or do they ask only general questions? Can I also ask you to leave your notebook on heat theory with Frau
12

Markwalder® when you get back to Zurich; I want to look up a few things.

You don’t say in your letter when you’re leaving Paradise. I’1l probably be back in Zurich on the 25th, but rather than looking forward to it, I’m returning with mixed feelings. Don’t you feel sorry for me?’

I hope you’re not letting anyone read my letters; you must give me your word. You said once you don’t like disrespect, and if I feel that this is being disrespectful, you can do it for me! What do you think? P’ll address you differently the next time I write. I’vethought of a nicer way (it is very pious), but it occurred to me too late —

You must excuse me if my scribbling shows signs of ab-

sentmindedness. I seem to have picked up a slight case of it, but not

for long I hope.

Best wishes, and write again soon to your

Df{ollie]

10 Einstein to Marié
gr
Sunday, Paradise [Mettmenstetten, 10 September 1899]!
D[ear] D[ollie], I can finally write to acknowledge your dear little letter.? I
wish I could have answered it the very day it came, but it had to be forwarded to me in Aarau, where it is so lovely that one is easily distracted, and I find it impossible to write.
You poor thing, you must be working so terribly hard! I wish there were something I could do to help, if only by adding some variety to your life or to your studies, or by being your Johnnie, with all the nice odds and ends appended.
All of this will soon be behind you and you can chalk it up as yet another success when you receive that important little piece of
13

white paper. I was pressed for time while in Zurich yesterday and didn’t get a chance to take the physics notebook to your apartment. Don’t pout about it, you little witch! When you get back to Zurich just go up to my room and take whatever you like. If you can’t find
what you’re looking for, ask Frau Markwalder (she knows every-

thing, doesn’t she?). —The day after tomorrow I’m off to Milan

with my mother and won’t be back to “our place” in Zurich until the

beginning of the semester. I would so much like to be in Zurich to

make your exam period more pleasant, but that would understand-

ably cause my parents a great deal of pain.

At present, I’m completely bookless for a week while various

libraries are taking inventory,’ but within a week I can have the mu-

nicipal library send books by Helmholtz, Boltzmann, and Mach* to

me in Milan. So you don’t fret and frown about it, Isolemnly prom-

ise to go over everything again with you. I think we should stay in

Zurich for the holidays some time, so we can enjoy college life

without lectures for a change; what a pleasure that would be.

In Aarau I had a good idea for investigating the way in which

a body’s relative motion with respect to the luminiferous ether af-

fects the velocity of the propagation of light in transparent bodies.°

I even came up with a theory about it that seems quite plausible to

me. But enough of this! Your poor little head is already crammed

full of other people’s hobby horses that you’ve had to ride. I won’t

bother you with mine as well. I can’t think of any other assurances

to offer you, other than to say that you shouldn’t let this little exam

bother you too much. That should be easy for you—especially with

such harmless competition.

Take care of yourself, don’t work too hard, accept my thou-

sand warmest wishes, and address me more nicely in your next let-

ter. Your

Albert

Via Biglia 21

Milano

Best wishes to your family

a”

”

from Mama and Maja.

14

11 Einstein to Marié
iy
Milan, Thursday [28? September 1899]!
D[ear] Dollie], It was nice of you, you sweet girl, to write me when you have
so much strenuous work to do. But you should also know that your letters make me so happy that everyone teases me about it. You must have had to swallow a lot of book dust recently, you poor thing, but it will soon be over—I know how you feel. I’ve been quite a bookworm myself lately, trying to work out several ideas, some of them very interesting. I also wrote to Professor Wien in Aachen? about my paper on the relative motion of the luminiferous ether against ponderable matter, the paper which the “boss” handled in such an offhanded fashion.* I read a very interesting paper by Wien from 1898 on this subject.* He’ll write me via the Polytechnic (if it’s certain!). If you see a letter for me there you can go ahead and open it.
Pll be back at “our place” around the 15th. I’m really looking forward to returning because it’s still the nicest and coziest place I can think of. Maja is going to Aarau mainly because we know a family there quite well,> and also because it’s much cheaper to live there—we must be on our guard.
Frau Markwalder feels obliged to . . . . She is an angel of foresight. I already wrote her that I agreed, and gave her permission to rent the room to whomever she liked. I’1l1 move somewhere on Plattenstrasse, but not into your house—we don’t want to start any rumors.° I’d like to move to the Ziirichberg, and would if it weren’t so far from “our place.”
The fiddling should be behind you by the time you get this letter’—I’ ve been thinking about it so much lately. I’m sure everything will go well—your hard little head assures me of that. If only I could look through the keyhole! When taking such an examination you feel so responsible for everything you think and do that it’s as
15

if you were in a prison. Don’t you think so? Grossmann and I

laughed a lot about these things when we were preparing for the

exam®—but impartially one might say: “Laughing on the outside

while crying on the inside.”

My sister probably won’t spend any time in Zurich at all, and

after accompanying her to Aarau I’ll come right back. I’m starting

to feel uneasy here; the climate doesn’t suit me, and without any-

thing in particular to work on I tend to brood a lot—in short, I’m

beginning to feel the absence of your beneficent thumb, under

which I’m always kept in line.

|

Neuweiler is the dark fellow who always drinks milk.? He also

wears glasses and is rather scrawny. Don’t worry about my going to

Aarau so often now that the critical daughter with whom I was so madly in love four years ago is coming back home.!° For the most

part, I feel quite secure in my high fortress of calm. But I know that if I saw her a few more times I would certainly go mad. Of that Iam certain, and I fear it like fire.

When I’m back in Zurich, the first thing we’ll do is climb the

Utliberg.!! There we can take pleasure in unpacking our memories

of the
we'll

Santis;!?
start in

I
on

can already imagine the fun we’ll have.
Helmholtz’s electromagnetic theory

And then
of light?

which I still haven’t read—{1) because I’m afraid to, and (2) be-

cause I didn’t have it.

A thousand warm wishes from your

Albert

16

12 Einstein to Marié
gr
Milan, Tuesday [10 October 1899]! D[ear] S[weet] Dfollie],
Now that’s a fine way to behave! You’ve already been comfortably taking your exams for four days now and I, your good colleague and fellow coffee-guzzler, have yet to hear so much as a peep out of you. Isn’t that shocking? I’ll have to rehearse a stern sermon for when I see you next Monday—it will be held as early as possible. And if the girl at the door says that you’ve gone out and I see your shiny little boots in front of the door—as sometimes happens—then I'll just wait a bit more or go get a shave.
I’m taking my sister to Aarau on Sunday and will arrive at my dear ex-landlady’s house in Zurich the very same day.” She simply hasn’t answered the postcard in which I dared to ask if it was within her “infinite capacity for foresight” to find me lodgings somewhere else. In other words, I, the poor little parcel, must wait for delivery until someone finds me an address. When I think how you must now be buried in work, my anger about your not writing me melts away like wax. You poor thing, you’ve really had it a lot harder than I had it in the last year, being so alone and all. But wait—I can already see you smiling at my attempts at consolation, and thinking: such things are of little concern to Dollie; she knows what she wants and has demonstrated this frequently.
But now for something more pleasant—I’m thinking of our household, of course. It will certainly be as nice a place as before. I’m bringing a few luscious goodies from Mama, who promised to send us something for the household every so often: directly to Plattenstrasse 50.3 Pick up a copy of Helmholtz’s electromagnetic theory of light in the meantime! I already crave it quite a bit.
I have done a lot of studying here and have completed my deliberations on the fundamental laws of thermoelectricity.> I have also come up with a very simple method of determining whether the
TT,

latent heat of metals° can be reduced to the motion of ponderable

matter or of electricity, i.e., whether an electrically charged body

has a different specific heat from an uncharged one.’ All of these

questions are related to the analysis of the thermoelement. The pro-

cedures can be carried out very simply and require no equipment

that is not readily available to us.®

That’s enough for today; any more and my parents will tease

me for writing so much without first getting a reply. Best wishes,

and looking forward to a happy reunion, your

Albert

13 Maric to Einstein
c=)

My dear Johnnie,

[1900?]'

Because I like you so much, and because you’re so far away

that I can’t give you a little kiss, ’m writing this letter to ask if you

like me as much as I do you? Answer me immediately.

A thousand kissies from your

Dollie

18

14 Einstein to Marié gr

My dearest Dollie,

[Melchtal] Sunday morning [29? July 1900]!

Because I’m writing in my bed, This letter is with labor read! But I scribble on without a rest

I arrived in Sarnen the day before yesterday? as planned, with the dreadful aunt in tow. We were met by Mama, Maja, and a carriage.’ At this point I was smothered with kisses. Then we drove off, but after a while Maja and I got off to walk. Maja took this opportunity to say that she had not dared to mention anything about the “Dollie affair,” and asked me to “go easy” on Mama—that is to say—to keep my big mouth shut.
So we arrive home,’ and I go into Mama’s room (only the two of us). First I must tell her about the exam,° and then she asks me quite innocently: “So, what will become of your Dollie now?” “My wife,” I said just as innocently, prepared for the proper “scene” that immediately followed. Mama threw herself onto the bed, buried her head in the pillow, and wept like a child. After regaining her composure she immediately shifted to a desperate attack: “You are ruining your future and destroying your opportunities.” “No decent family will have her.” “If she gets pregnant you’ll really be in a mess.” With this last outburst, which was preceded by many others, I finally lost my patience. I vehemently denied that we had been living in sin and scolded her roundly, and was about to leave the room when Mama’s friend Frau Bar came in.® She is a small, vivacious lady: an old hen of the most pleasant variety. We immediately began talking about the weather, the new guests at the spa, the illmannered children, etc. Then we ate, and afterwards played some music. When everyone had left, and the time came for Mama and
19

me to say good night, it started all over again, but “piu piano.” The

next day things were better, largely because, as she said herself: “If

they have not yet been intimate (which she had greatly feared) and

are willing to wait longer, then ways and means can always be

found.” The only thing that is embarrassing for her is that we want

to remain together always. Her attempts at changing my mind came

in expressions such as: “Like you, she is a book—but you ought to

have a wife.” “By the time you’re 30 she’ll be an old witch,” etc.

But now that she’s seen that for the time being her efforts only make

me angry, she’s refrained from giving me the “treatment” for a

while.

3

The people here and their way of life are hopelessly empty,

and I completely understand Maja’s dissatisfaction. She can hardly

wait to get back to Aarau.’ Each meal lasts one hour or more—you

can imagine what hell that is for me. Due to the poor weather, I have

in desperation taken refuge in Kirchhoff.® Besides those already

mentioned, the hangers-on here include my aunt, the English lady,

the Contessa, and her daughter, who is as beautiful as she is stupid

and cold. For Mama’s sake I must flatter and play music for all of

them—otherwise she is offended, particularly since she is doubly

sensitive because of the “affair.”

If only I could be with you again soon in Zurich, my little

treasure! A thousand wishes and the biggest kisses from your

Johnnie

“Kisses from Maja” Don’t write to our dear Weber any more; he’Il be in the country.

20

15 Einstein to Marié gr

My sweet little one,

[Melchtal] Wednesday evening [1 August 1900]!

I’m so happy to know that you’re back home again with your old lady,” who is now fattening up my dear Dollie so she can rest in
my arms healthy and happy once again, as plump as a dumpling. Think of it, you will be resting in your beloved Oxistent’s arms; though I still have no news from Zurich,? the carefree life and good food here have produced high spirits and confidence. I just realized

that I haven’t been able to kiss you for an entire month, and I long
for you so terribly much. No one as talented and industrious as my Dollie, with her skilled hands, is to be found in this entire anthill of a hotel. Mama-in-law has already more or less made up with me and is slowly resigning herself to the inevitable. She has already re-

gained her good mood. I have also written to Papa;* he said he is

sending a separate letter. He will certainly resist at first too, but it

doesn’t matter.

I long terribly for a letter from my beloved witch. I can hardly

believe that we will be separated so much longer—only now do I

see how madly in love with you I am! Indulge yourself completely

so you will become a radiant little darling and as wild as a street

urchin.

Melchtal is a wonderful little river valley formed by high, but

not glaciated, mountains. Our hotel is a particularly excellent feed-

ing establishment, but I feel uncomfortable among these indolent

and pampered people. Especially when I see these overdressed, lazy

women who are always complaining about things. It is then that I

think proudly: “Johnnie, your Dollie is a different kind of girl.”

Brandenberger is also here with his fiancée, a young girl from Zu-

rich whom I like very much.° Both of them are clearly swimming in

bliss—they make a very nice couple.

ZA

Yesterday I was with Maja on a rather high mountain where we found many edelweiss. We had a spectacular view, especially of
the huge glaciers of the Titlis.°
Toward the middle of August we’ll visit Papa in Italy to spend some time in a more southerly clime. Before that I will go to Zurich to check on my position. I have no news from Ehrat either.’ Because it rains a lot, I’ve. been studying a good deal, mainly Kirchhoff’s notorious investigations of the motion of the rigid body.’ I can’t stop marveling at this great work. My nerves have calmed down enough so that I’m able to work happily again. How are yours?
Best wishes to your dear family! Tender kisses from your Albert
16 Einstein to Marié
gr
[Melchtal] Monday [6 August 1900]!
My dear little one, Your first dear little letter from home arrived yesterday. I went
off by myself to read the lines in silence, then twice more, and then I read between the lines with great joy for a long time before shoving the letter into my pocket and smiling to myself. “Mama-in-law” has been very pleasant and doesn’t touch on the “delicate subject” anymore. Since I’ve been in a cheerful mood, and because my popularity among the guests here and my “musical successes” act as a balm on her wounded mother-in-law’s heart, it is quite pleasant here now.
But our correspondence, darling, appears to have been cursed, as you had not received my letter by the time you sent yours. This
is the third one I’m sending.”
Pg

I still haven’t heard anything from Zurich. I guess I’ll have to look into the situation myself. Considering Ehrat’s conscientiousness, the only thing I can think of is that his position is still very much up in the air.
Take it easy, sweetheart, there will be plenty of time later for studying with your Johnnie. Have a good rest in the meantime and enjoy your carefree life.
Papa has written me a moralistic letter for the time being, and promised that the main part would be delivered in person soon. I’m looking forward to it dutifully. I understand my parents quite well. They think of a wife as a man’s luxury, which he can afford only when he is making a comfortable living. I have a low opinion of this view of the relationship between man and wife, because it makes the wife and the prostitute distinguishable only insofar as the former is able to secure a lifelong contract from the man because of her more favorable social rank. Such a view follows naturally from the fact that in the case of my parents, as with most people, the senses exercise a direct control over the emotions. With us, thanks to the
fortunate circumstances in which we live, the enjoyment of life is vastly broadened. But we mustn’t forget how many existences like
my parents’ make our existence possible. In the social development of mankind, the former are a far more important constituency. Hunger and love are and remain such important mainsprings of life that almost everything can be explained by them, even if one disregards the other dominant themes. Thus I am trying to protect my parents without compromising anything that is important to me—and that means you, sweetheart!
If you haven’t said anything to your parents about this yet, don’t! I think this will be better for all parties concerned. Otherwise they might start having the same unnecessary worries and misgivings as my parents. But then you’re a smart girl and know the best way to handle them.
When I’m not with you I feel as if I’m not whole. When I sit,
I want to walk; when I walk, I’m looking forward to going home; when I’m amusing myself, I want to study; when I study, I can’t sit
23

still and concentrate; and when I go to sleep, I’m not satisfied with how I spent the day.
Enjoy yourself, sweetheart, with tender kisses from your Albert

17 Einstein to Marié oy

My dear sweetheart,

Zurich, Thursday [9? August 1900]!

You must be surprised to see me popping up here again so

soon! I’m using the first best excuse I’ve had to get away from my
boring surroundings, even though my mother took it upon herself to observe the deepest silence about the “affair.” She acted as if noth-
ing had happened, giving me your letters herself, and not noticing when I wrote you—in short, she has given up on open warfare and
will probably wait to let loose the big philistine guns when she is joined by Papa. He promised in his last letter to travel with me to Venice, which is close to one of our power plants.” I’d also like to learn a little bit about the administration of the business so I can take Papa’s place in an emergency. He doesn’t mention you any-
more either. I would have done better, darling, if we had kept everything to ourselves and delayed telling my parents. But no harm done, sweetheart; Mama and Papa are phlegmatic types and have less stubbornness in their entire bodies than I have in my little finger.

Though my old Zurich makes me feel very much at home again, I still miss you, my dear little “right hand.” I can go anywhere I want—but I belong nowhere, and I miss your two little arms and that glowing mouth full of tenderness and kisses. How sorry I felt

24

for those Catholic nuns in Melchtal!? I'll send you the measurements of my little feet another time;* I don’t want you to start knitting again. And in exchange for your henlike enthusiasm you’ll get a big kiss. —But now to the excuse. The night before last I received

a card from Ehrat, who wrote that he had proposed me for an assistant’s position with the insurance office in which he is presently
working. For an eight-hour day of mindless drudgery one gets eight

francs. But I turned it down, thinking I could make better use of my
vacation time. One must avoid such stultifying affairs. For the time

being, I'll remain here to see how the matter turns out, and to

straighten out my “business and political” affairs. Among Ehrat’s

competition is Matter, the selection of whom would leave the door

wide open for me to take up the position with Hurwitz. So have

courage, little witch! I can hardly wait to be able to hug you and

Squeeze you and live with you again. We’ll happily get down to

work right away, and money will be as plentiful as manure. And if

it’s nice next spring, we’ll pick flowers in Melchtal.

Tender kisses from your

.

Albert

18 Einstein to Marié
gr
Zurich, Tuesday [14? August 1900]! Dear little sweetheart,
Once again I’ve let a few lazy days slip by without accomplishing anything. You know, the kind of days when you sleep late because there’s nothing important to do, then go out until the room has been made up, and then study until fatigue sets in. Then you loaf around for a while and half-heartedly look forward to dinner, listlessly contemplating highly philosophical questions while whistling
XG)

a little .... How was I able to live alone before, my little everything? Without you I lack self-confidence, passion for work, and enjoyment of life—in short, without you, my life is no life.
I have even begun visiting people to keep myself busy. I went to see Frau Markwalder, who still shows the same languid kindness and sees everything in an amorphous fuddle; it’s a good thing I don’t live with her anymore. I also visited the innocent little girl, who is still one of the nicest and most spirited people we know here. She is now leaving for good, for a town in the canton of Thurgau. I also visited your landlady.” She said your suitcase had been removed quite a while ago. She asked if you wanted to keep the room, and would have made arrangements to keep it free. I turned the offer down for you (“What a tyrant!” you must be thinking).
I won’t allow you to be gone any longer than the first days of October; that’s just enough time. I’m leaving for Italy on Saturday to partake of the “holy sacraments” administered by my father,? but the valiant Swabian is not afraid.* I hope I don’t become stale like that when I get old, then it’s okay. Your parents are proof that people don’t have to wind up this way—they must be wonderful. But don’t tell them too much about me or they might get frightened. I would have been smarter to have kept my mouth shut. Why did I not take better to heart my slogan, omnes tractandi sunt? On the other hand, it will be all the nicer when we’re together again in Zurich, increasing our knowledge over fragrant coffee! I’m glad that your mother feeds you well and that your sister teases you all the time— and I’m especially proud that you’re longing for me!
Don’t study too hard when your books come; rest instead, so you can become my old street urchin again. There is only one thing I ask of you, and that is to take care of yourself—if not, then I’ll spank you. Ehrat still doesn’t have the position in Frauenfeld. He’s in competition with Matter. One of them will get it in any case. I’m provided for in any case. I could have taken a job in a life insurance company for three weeks at eight francs a day, but turned it down because I thought I could make better use of my vacation time by studying a few things of importance and by learning about my father’s business in Italy. It is quite possible, after all, that he could
26

suddenly take ill, or become otherwise indisposed, and he has no

one else to turn to. How pleasant it will be next year!

With best wishes and tender kisses, the last especially, from

your

Albert

19 Einstein to Marié oy

My dear little one, Four quartets:

Milan, Monday [20 August 1900]!

Oh my! That Johnnie boy! So crazy with desire, While thinking of his Dollie, His pillow catches fire.

When my sweetie mopes around the house I shrivel up so small, But she only shrugs her shoulders And doesn’t care at all.

To my folks all this Does seem a stupid thing, But they never say a single word For fear of Albert’s sting!

My little Dollie’s little beak, It sings so sweet and fine; And afterwards I cheerfully Close its song with mine.

2a.

Darling, ve been here with the old folks for two days now
and am very content with them. I’ve gotten none of the “treatment”
at all. I haven’t said much about you, but I drop your name every
now and again. As far as I can tell, they have nothing against our
relationship anymore—apparently because they no longer think
we’re ruining our future. They also realize that I won’t let myself be
influenced by anyone. If I don’t provoke them, everything will take
its merry course—we a happy young couple, and they satisfied and
content with the arrangement.
Oh how happy I'll be to hold you close to my heart once again! It will be in the first days of October! But in the meantime you should enjoy yourself, my only sweet little woman. I haven’t heard anything about the “position.” I’m taking it easy though. If I don’t get it then the “whole family” will just have to give private lessons. Thanks to the good domestic feedings and my parents’ good humor I have become much more optimistic. My father is a completely different man now that he has no more financial worries. You can tell that all the dark clouds have disappeared by the fact that he’s going to Venice with me after we’ve visited his power plants. I’m so.delighted I could kiss you, my dear little angel!
But you haven’t written me in a long time, you wild witch! Are you afraid it will “miss its mark,” or are you just mad at me, you little rascal? Or do you want me to wonder and hunger for you? Or are you afraid of sisterly teasing?

From him she now does hide away, What should he make of this? To him she is with all her soul Devoted with a kiss.

But because you are such a terrible little rascal I’ll stop, mad as the devil!

Greetings and kisses from your

Albert

28

20 Einstein to Marié
gv

My dear kitten,

Milan, via Bigli 21. Thursday night in bed [30 August or 6 September 1900]!

Today I received your registered letter, from which I could tell

you were afraid it might fall into someone else’s hands. No, darling,

I received all of your dear little letters on time, even the money you

sent me in Melchtal a while ago. Feel free to write what’s on your

mind, because it would be as unwise as it would be useless for my

parents to keep one of your letters from me. You shouldn’t worry

about such things because I don’t think my parents are capable of

behaving like that. I’ve already put Mama to the test. My parents are

very worried about my love for you. Mama often cries bitterly and

I don’t have a single moment of peace here. My parents weep for me

almost as if I had died. Again and again they complain that I have

brought misfortune upon myself by my devotion to you, they think

you aren’t healthy .... Oh Dollie, it’s enough to drive one mad!

You wouldn’t believe how I suffer when I see how much they both

love me, and yet they are so inconsolable you would think I had

committed the greatest crime, and had gone against what my heart

and conscience told me was indisputably true. If only they knew

you! But it’s as if they’re under a spell, thinking all the while that

I am. On Saturday I’m going on the business trip with Papa, and

then to Venice. I was so distraught that I didn’t want to go with him;

but this alarmed them so much that I became quite frightened.

I'll only be able to recover from this vacation gradually, by

being in your arms—there are worse things in life than exams. Now

I know. This is worse than any external problem.

My only diversion is studying, which I am pursuing with re-

doubled effort, and my only hope is you, my dear, faithful soul.

Without the thought of you I would no longer want to live among

this sorry herd of humans. But having you makes me proud, and

29

your love makes me happy. I will be doubly happy when I can press you close to my heart once again and see those loving eyes which shine for me alone, and kiss your sweet mouth which trembles bliss-
fully for me alone. Thank God that August has slipped away. Four more weeks
and we’ll be together again and can live to bring each other joy. But then I won’t let you go away again so soon!
I’ve been spending many evenings at Michele’s.” I like him a great deal because of his sharp mind and his simplicity. I also like Anna, and especially their little kid.? His house is simple and cozy, though some of the details lack taste.
Kissing you from the bottom of my heart, your Sweetheart

Friday. Tomorrow we’re going on our trip, but I'll be back in

a week, so don’t stop sending me your little letters. Luigi Ans-

bacher* might come to visit us.

On the investigation of the Thomson effect I have again re-

sorted to a different technique which is similar to your method for

determining the dependence of « on T and which also presupposes

such an investigation.° If only we could start tomorrow! We’ll need

to be on good terms with Weber at all costs, because he has the

best-equipped laboratory.®

With tender kisses, your

Albert

How’s your little throat?’ I’m investigating the following interesting question for Michele: how does the radiation of electric energy through space occur in the case of a sinusoidal alternating current? Concerning the amplitude of the waves produced as a function of the frequency of oscillation, etc.®. ...

30

1. Hermann Einstein, Albert’s father. (Courtesy the Albert Einstein Archives, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
2. Pauline Einstein, Albert’s mother. (Courtesy the Albert Einstein Archives, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

4. Albert Einstein while a student at the ETH. According to a note written on the verso of this photograph
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mileva received a copy of it in 1898.
(Courtesy L. Jacobi)

5. Mileva Marié, ca. 1896. (Courtesy the Schweizerische Landesbibliothek, Bern)

3. Maria (Maja) Einstein, Albert’s sister, ca. 1897.

Th
6. The main building of the ETH.
(Courtesy the ETH Bibliothek, Zurich)
7. Einstein and Marcel Grossmann in the garden of the Grossmann home in Thalwil, 28 May 1899.
(Courtesy E. Grossmann)

ote 4 aan

Bs xr

oa. -~ : ¢ oh ns

8. Pauline Einstein.

9. Burgfulachli in Schaffhausen, where Einstein roomed in late 1901.

10. Einstein with Hans Albert, ca. 1903. (Courtesy Evelyn Einstein)
11. Albert and Mileva with Hans Albert, ca. 1904. (Courtesy the Archiv der Einstein-Gesellschaft, Bern)

12. Mileva and Hans Albert, ca. 1907.

21 Einstein to Marié
ry

My dearest Dollie,

[Milan] Thursday [13? September 1900]!

Three-quarters of our stupid time apart is now over. Soon I'll be with my sweetheart again and can kiss her, hug her, make coffee with her, scold her, study with her, laugh with her, walk with her, chat with her ..... + ad infinitum! We'll have another wonderful year together, don’t you think? I’ve already announced that I’m staying with you for Christmas. I can’t wait until I have you again, my everything, my little so-and-so, my street urchin, my little rascal! When I think of you now, for a second I don’t want to anger or tease you ever again, only to be an angel all the time! What a nice
illusion! But you’ll still love me, won’t you, even if I’m the same old rogue I’ve always been, full of whims and mischief, and as
moody as ever!

I don’t know if I’ve been writing to you as regularly as usual. But don’t make angry faces about it—my aunt is visiting here (the famous one, from Genoa) with her little daughter, a sadly spoiled
little brat.” There’s no room at all for me to be alone to write you. And if I do it in front of my parents, they think I’m trying to spite

them. They’re being very nice to me, by the way, especially Papa;

they seem to have reconciled themselves to the inevitable. I think they’llboth come to like you very much once they get to know you. Now I’m happy that I told them everything. They should be happy

too, because now that I’ve seen other people, I know that nowhere

in the world would I be able to find someone better than you. But I

also treasure you and want to give you the love you deserve. Even

my work seems pointless and unnecessary if not for the thought that

you are happy with what I am and what I do. I’m finally sending you

the sketch of my gigantic little foot that I keep forgetting to send.

31

Johnnie’s foot! YY

Since you have such a great imagination and are accustomed to astronomical distances, I think the adjoining work

bl gh‘t f s FLeasnte
‘"
t

of art will suffice. I’m glad you’ve been doing a lot
of walking and have gotten a good sunburn—I can’t wait to hug my little
black girl! I’m also looking forward to working on our new papers. You must

continue with your investigations—

how proud I will be to have a little Ph.D. for a sweetheart, while I

remain a completely ordinary person!?

Didn’t I mention in my last letter that Matter got the position

in Frauenfeld?* This means that I’ll become Hurwitz’s servant, god-

willing (because I’m a man, of course). It doesn’t matter Dollie, at

least it’s your man! The Boltzmann is absolutely magnificent.° I’m almost finished

with it. He’s a masterful writer. I am firmly convinced of the cor-

rectness of the principles of his theory, i.e., 1am convinced that in

the case of gases, we are really dealing with discrete mass points

of definite finite size which move according to certain conditions.

Boltzmann quite correctly emphasizes that the hypothetical forces

between molecules are not an essential component of the theory, as

the whole energy is essentially kinetic in character.® This is a step

forward in the dynamic explanation of physical phenomena.

Do you also know that I’ve been shaving myself for quite

some time now, and with great success? You’ll see, Dollie! I can

always do it while you’re making coffee for lunch, so that I don’t

pound the books as usual while poor Dollie has to cook, and while

lazy Johnnie lolls about after hastily obeying the rapidly uttered

command: “grind this.”

Best wishes and kisses, my sweetheart, and my best wishes to

your family, from your

Albert

32

22 Einstein to Marié
iy

My dear Dollie!

Zurich [Milan], Wednesday evening in bed [19 September 1900]!

Thanks for your sweet letter and its nice dreams for the future, the noodles and the nagging, and also the plan to bring your fat little sister” along and introduce her to our “European culture.” To impress her with it even more and to give her a high opinion of us as
well, I’ve already bought two little coffee spoons for our household. What a joy it will be when I can hold you tight once again, my little
street urchin, my little veranda, my everything!

Just think, early tomorrow I’m off to the mountains again—to
climb a peak near the Lago Maggiore, and then to visit Isola Bella.3 How nice it would be if Madame Federico Maier could also be there

to marvel at the view, and then in the still of the night, sweetly to

dispel my dark thoughts—right, sweet kitten! I can’t wait to bite

you and hug you when you’re with me again—but now we must

wait for more than three weeks because of that damned goiter. Is it

any better? I plan on going to Zurich on October Ist to talk with

Hurwitz personally about the position. It’s certainly better than writ-

ing. Shall I look around for possible jobs for you? I think I’ll try to

find some private lessons that I could later turn over to you. Or do

you have something else in mind? Write me about it!

No matter what happens, we’ll have the most wonderful life in

the world. Pleasant work and being together—and what’s more, we

now answer to no one, can stand on our own two feet, and enjoy our

youth to the utmost. Who could have it any better? When we have

scraped together enough money, we can buy bicycles and take a

bike tour every couple of weeks. Your dear sister, whom I already

know from her cheerful letters, will certainly enjoy being with us—I

don’t need to tell you that she’s welcome—such a carefree, ornery

33

little thing! While in a low mood yesterday I wrote to one of my

favorite old teachers in Munich;* I wonder if he’Il answer me.

I have already read the entire Boltzmann, and part of the spher-

ical harmonics, which actually interest me a great deal now.? I sup-

pose beggars can’t be choosers ....

Luigi Ansbacher, about whom we always tease Maja, is com-

ing in a few days—I’m looking forward to playing some music with

him.

It had also already occurred to me that my sweetheart will be

homeless when she gets to Zurich. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hagi® no

longer has room in her new apartment, but Pll look around for

something. Maybe I can find a room for both of you. If only I

weren’t afraid of the responsibility—I know what a spoiled brat you

are.

Poor Helene has fallen in love, thanks to her beau’s admirable

persistence—her delicate spirit will now suffocate in his fat—a sad

physiological prophecy.’ It’s really too bad about her. Moreover, I

think that in a short time he’II be the same scoundrel he was before.

Such a person doesn’t readily change.

The “bridegroom” then, has become a veritable “husband”?

You see, even in this age of skepticism, miracles do happen.

Best wishes to your family! But you I will kiss all over, wher-

ever you'll let me, your

Johnnie

34

23 Einstein to Marié oy

Dear Dollie,

Milan, Wednesday [3 October 1900]!

I’m on the verge of having a terribly bad conscience about not having written you more lately, although I can’t remember right offhand when it was exactly that I wrote you last. Really, I shouldn’t pester you anymore with the curtains now that we’re about to see each other again soon, but your Johnnie is so dumb.
I'm glad that your sister is going to come after all. We’ll knock some sense into her and drive away her homesickness, though I won't be able to do it in Serbian. So all that nagging has made things turn out all right after all! There’s nothing like a female (but
as a little scientist, you are naturally exempted from such character-
izations).

I’ve extended my stay until early Sunday because I now enjoy

it here so much. My parents have retreated, grudgingly and with hesitation, from the battle of Dollie—now that they have seen that they’ll lose it. They enjoy themselves now in the beautiful weather

and spare me further debate. Hurwitz still hasn’t written me more,

but I have hardly any doubt at all that I'll get the position.

Michele has already noticed that I like you, because even

though I hardly ever mention you, when I told him I had to go to

Zurich again, he said: “It looks like he wants to visit his little col-

league; why else would he want to go to Zurich!” To that I said:

“But unfortunately she’s not there yet.” I’ve been urging him to be-

come a teacher, but I don’t think he’II do it. Quite simply, he doesn’t
want himself and his family to be supported by his father,” but that’s

natural. It’s too bad, because he is exceptionally intelligent.

I’m rather well versed in physical chemistry now.’ I’m very

enthusiastic about the accomplishments in this field over the last

thirty years.* You’ll enjoy it too when we go over it together. The

methods of physical investigation used are also very interesting.

35

The most wonderful of all is the ion theory, which has proved itself

magnificently in the most diverse areas.°

The results on capillarity Irecently obtained in Zurich seem to

be entirely new despite their simplicity. When we’re back in Zurich

we’ll try to get some empirical data on this subject from Kleiner.® If

this yields a law of nature, we’ll send the results to Wiedemann’s

Annalen.’

The ex-bridegroom Fritz Winteler is visiting Anna now; he’s

a disgusting person who is unable to discuss anything outside his
own field, and will be an Assistent again in Darmstadt.®

You don’t like the philistine life anymore either, do you? He

who has tasted freedom can no longer wear chains. I’m so lucky to

have found you, a creature who is my equal, and who is as strong

and independent as I am! I feel alone with everyone except you.

With tender kisses from your

Albert

Best wishes to your parents!
Dolderstr. 17?

24 Einstein to Marié a

My dear Dollie,

Milan, Saturday [23 March 1901]!

I’m surprised to see signs of life from you on the first day al-

ready. The situation with Riecke is pretty bad. I’ve more or less

given up on the position.” I can’t believe that Weber would let such

a nice opportunity pass without meddling in things.’ I’ve taken your

advice, darling, and written Weber to let him know that he can’t get

away with doing such things behind my back. I also told him that I

36

know my appointment depends entirely upon his recommendation.
I’m really curious about what Ostwald will write.*
I came up with an interesting idea while returning to Italy. It seems to me that it is not out of the question that the latent kinetic energy of heat in solids and fluids can be thought of as the energy of electrical resonators.° If this is the case, then the specific heat and the absorption spectrum of solids would have to be related. The Dulong-Petit law would be valid for substances whose smallest parts show a certain total resonance in the electro-optical sense. Actually, all substances that satisfy the Dulong-Petit law are almost completely opaque and seem to exhibit nearly the same spectrum when heated.© On the other hand, organic substances which, as we have seen, have relatively low specific heats are all transparent and show continuous absorption spectra,’ while, for example, mercury agrees quite nicely with the Dulong-Petit law and is completely opaque.® I’m almost convinced that the law is valid: Dulong’s law is only satisfied in the case of opaque substances. Transparent substances always have a lower kinetic energy. Unfortunately, gases probably can’t be used to solve this puzzle because of the ephemeral nature of gas-related phenomena. Compounds with high “internal” energy, however, do show bandlike absorption spectra.” What about the specific heat of glass with regard to its composition? It would have to have a lower molecular heat in comparison to the number of its mol-
ecules.!° See if you can find some literature on this!
So what are you up to, my little devil? Make yourself some good coffee as often as you can and indulge yourself. I think about you a lot (without provocation) and still have pleasant memories of how happy you were on the last day we spent together. So let me take the opportunity to kiss your little mouth so as not to let the happiness pass!
Can you imagine all the things I left in Zurich! My nightshirt and wash things and toothbrush and comb and hairbrush. Send everything to my sister (Girls’ School in Aarau) so she can bring
them home with her."
ef

It’s a good thing we didn’t travel on the Axenstrasse.'* It

would have been a real mess. You couldn’t even see the opposite

shore.

I made the journey with a couple of young fellows. One of

them actually studied mathematics and physics at Gottingen for four

semesters! You can imagine how I interrogated him about what

things are like there. We also discussed epistemology at length. He

said that Riecke is a very friendly, jovial man, and as Assistent to

him I would have very little to do . . . if, if .. . you know that little

song we used to sing together so often.

I’ve hardly left the house at all since I’ve been back. I’m trying

to lead a quiet life so as to calm my nerves a little. My parents are

helping as much as possible; the poor things have been constantly

aggravated and worried about the damned money. My dear uncle
Rudolf (“The Rich”) has been nagging them terribly.!*

Get lots of work done, my love, and find yourself a friendly

little room to enjoy yourself in. A little Ph.D. or professor kisses
perfectly well too. Did you send a reprint to Wenger'* too?

Best wishes and kisses from

Johnnie

25 Einstein to Marié
ry
Milan, Wednesday [27 March 1901]! My dear kitten,
Many thanks for your letters, and for all the true love contained therein. I kiss you and hug you with all my heart for it, just as you would want, and just as you deserve, darling. Riecke’s rejection did not surprise me” and I’m absolutely convinced that Weber is to blame. The excuse is too improbable, and he doesn’t mention the second position at all.3
38

I’m convinced that under these circumstances it doesn’t make any sense to write to any more professors, because they’Il surely turn to Weber for information about me at a certain point, and he’ll just give me another bad recommendation. I’ll turn to my former teachers in Aarau and Munich,’ but above all Ill try to get a position as Assistent in Italy. To begin with, one of the main obstacles in getting a position doesn’t exist here, namely anti-Semitism, which in German-speaking countries is as unpleasant as it is a hindrance.° And in the second place, I have very good connections here. Herr Ansbacher,° for example, is a close friend of the professor of chemistry at the local polytechnic,’ and Michele’s uncle is professor of mathematics.® It’s true, Michele is an awful schlemiel, but Pll grab him by the collar and drag him to his uncle, where I’ll do the talking myself. Michele is at his parents’ house in Trieste right now with his wife and child and won’t be back for about ten days. You don’t have to worry about me saying anything to him or anyone else about you. You are and will remain a shrine for me to which no one has access; I also know that of all people, you love me
the most, and understand me the best. I assure you that no one here
would dare, or even want, to say anything bad about you.(P'll be so happy and proud when we are together and can bring our work on
relative motion to a successful conclusion! When I see other people
__I can really appreciate how special you are!
The evening before last, Michele’s director,? with whom we
are well acquainted, came over to play some music. He told us how
completely useless and almost unbalanced Michele is, despite his
extraordinarily vast knowledge. Most captivating is the following
little tale, the truth of which can be vouched for by the fact that the
person who imparted it to me knows I am friends with Michele and
has to take into account that it might get back to him. ... Once
again, Michele had nothing to do. His manager sends him to the Casale power station’? to inspect and test the newly installed lines.
Our hero decides to leave in the evening, to save valuable time of
course, but he unfortunately misses the train. The next day he re-
members his assignment too late. On the third day he gets to the
train station on nine,en to We horror realizes that eehas roe

a9 7 * Hilt @cK 71 |

pe

what he is supposed to do. He immediately writes a card to the of-

fice saying that instructions should be wired!! I don’t think this fel-

low is normal.

On the question of specific heat, which at the same time con-

cerns the relationship between temperature and radiation process,

I’ve now come up with some very simple conclusions which could

perhaps be checked using the experiments that have already been

performed. Let the amplitude of a wave train progressing with a cer-

tain wavelength in the direction of +x be [e°*, where / is a constant.

Further, let N be the number of radiation resonators (atoms) present

in a unit volume. Then o/N shall be independent of the nature of the

substance and linearly dependent on the temperature. a/N would

then be a function independent of the nature of the metal and of the

form L, (A) - T+L, (A)."

One would first have to find out whether « can be determined

by experiments on reflected light, and to what extent the experi-

ments already performed can be used for resolving the question. I’m

burning with desire to work my way into this, because I’m hoping

it will be possible to make a prodigious step forward in exploring

the nature of latent heat. Don’t forget to check on the extent to

which glass conforms to the Dulong-Petit law.

Hold on to my umbrella for the time being. We’ll figure out

something to do with it later. If only I could get a position so we can

go on our little trip in the summer. Let’s hope for the best.

Warmest wishes and kisses, my dear little dumpling, from

your

Albert

How’s it going with your new apartment in spe?'?

40

26 Einstein to Marié
ry

Dear Dollie,

Zurich [Milan], Thursday [4 April 1901]!

It’s been such a long time since I received your dear, sweet
little letter, and yet I still haven’t been able to answer it; I’ve been
so occupied lately, mostly with stupid things. I secretly look forward to leaving home again because it’s so difficult to work undisturbed here.

I’ve begun to have reservations of a fundamental nature about
Max Planck’s studies on radiation, so much so that I’m reading his paper with mixed feelings.” On the other side of the coin, I’ve gotten

a hold of a study on electron theory by Paul Drude with which I am in heartfelt agreement, although it’s very sloppy about some things.

There’s no doubt that Drude is a brilliant man. He also assumes that

it is primarily negative electric nuclei without ponderable mass that

determine thermal and electrical phenomena in metals.* The same
idea occurred to me just before I left Zurich.

Michele arrived from Trieste with his wife and child yester-

day. He’s a terrible weakling, and hasn’t a spark of healthy common

sense. He’s unable to pull himself together enough to do anything in

his life or in his studies, but he has an extraordinarily keen mind, the

disorderly workings of which I observe with great enjoyment. Last

night we talked shop eagerly for almost four hours. We discussed

the fundamental separation of luminiferous ether and matter, the

definition of absolute rest, molecular forces, surface phenomena,

dissociation. He’s interested in our research, though he often misses

the big picture by worrying about petty things. This pettiness is a

natural part of his character, and constantly torments him with all

sorts of nervous ideas. The day before yesterday he went on my

behalf to see his uncle, Prof. Jung—one of the most influential pro-

fessors in Italy—to give him our paper.°Imet the man once before,

and must admit that he struck me as being a very inconsequential

41

person. He promised to write to the most important Italian physics

professors, Righi and Battelli,’ on my behalf, i.e., to ask if they need

Assistenten. This is already a very big step, as he seems to be on

quite friendly terms with them. In addition to that, I applied at the

Stuttgart Polytechnic, where a position is open,® and I wrote to Ost-

wald again.’ I will have soon graced all the physicists from the

North Sea to the southern tip of Italy with my offer!

You’re completely right to have gone to the Engelbrechts

again, darling.!° Judging from past experience, it’s still the best

place to be. If I’ve made any money by the time summer rolls

around, we’ll definitely take our little trip to Venice or someplace.

It would make me so happy! I’m really quite a stranger here, and

now I see clearly that there’s no comparison between the love of

one’s sweetheart and the love of one’s parents. They are as different

as night and day. I kiss you then with all my heart and want you to

know that your devotion makes me so happy that without it my life

would be dismal beyond words. You’re right to go to concerts, espe-

cially when it’s the splendid mass by Bach. Let me know how you

liked it.

I have to go to the library now or it will be too late. Hugs and

kisses from your

Johnnie

27 Einstein to Marié
bo

Dear kitten,

Milan, Wednesday [10 April 1901]!

If you really knew what kind of hold you have on me, you

little witch, you wouldn’t be so afraid all the time that I’m keeping

things from you, because that really isn’t my intention. I also want

to tell you right now, darling, that my courage and good mood re-

42

main unbroken, especially since I see from your letter that you are cheerful all the time. So today I’m going to give you a detailed report of what I’m up to, because I see that you enjoy it.
During the past week I studied electrochemistry and chemical
reactions from Michele’s “Ostwald,”? and I read about the electron
theory of metals in the library. I can easily explain why I’m unhappy about Planck’s ideas on the nature of radiation. Planck assumes that a very specific kind of resonator (fixed period and damping) causes the conversion of the radiation energy, an assumption that I have difficulty accepting.* Perhaps his most recent theory is more general.‘ I intend to have a go at it now. Drude’s electron theory is a kinetic theory of electrical and thermal phenomena in metals, completely in keeping with the kinetic theory of gases. If only we could do without that stupid magnetism which we don’t know
what to do with!> I still think that Drude is on the right track, and his
idea really does receive quite remarkable confirmation through experiment. I'll tell you more about it another time. I’ve retreated again somewhat from my idea on the nature of latent heat in solids because my views on the nature of radiation have again sunk into the sea of obscurity. Maybe the future will bring something more sound!
Ostwald hasn’t written me (at all), and neither has the profes-
sor in Stuttgart to whom I’d turned, and my prospects in Italy are
just as bad. But I’m not discouraged in the least, and have already
set aside my anger, which was rooted in injured pride for the most
part. Battelli is in Pisa and Righi in Bologna. Prof. Jung, Michele’s
uncle, promised to recommend me there. Since then, I haven’t heard
anything. But as I said before, I’m not upset about this, otherwise I
would have certainly poured out my heart to you, as I’ve so long
been accustomed to doing, my dear, good soul.
Now I’1l tell you why I have so much to do. I’ve been playing
the role of tour guide the whole time. Professor Winteler is here for
Easter vacation, and I must naturally devote a good deal of my time
to him. He’s an old village schoolmaster regardless of what he says,
but intelligent all the same, and above all, unprejudiced. He ignores
the casus belli, saying instead, “Girl matters ... private matters,”
43

and prefers to discuss other things with me. I’ve also been showing

around a couple of ladies who are visiting Frau Ansbacher.° “Albert

has time . . . and he’s also a good fellow,” they quite rightly say.

Maja is back home as well and has been very nasty toward

me.’ It’s hard to imagine that girlish unselfishness is so foreign to

her! In contrast, you are so good, my dear, faithful girl! So we'll

make our little summer trip for sure, even if we have to steal the

money to pay for it. Just hold on to that money I gave you—you are

the best guardian of it, and no one even needs to know that you have

received it from me.

I’m glad that you enjoy living with Frau Engelbrecht again.

She is one of the few people who deserve to be called human, and

is a very capable person.

Now it’s your turn again, darling! I send you my hugs, kisses,

and love to reward your faithfulness, which I think of constantly

during the day: “Now the dear kitten is hard at work again,” but in

the evenings I think, “Now she’s thinking about me lovingly, and in

bed kisses her pillow.” You see, I too know how to do it.

Warmest wishes from your

Albert

28 Einstein to Marié
gr
Milan, Monday [15 April 1901]! My dear Dollie,
Don’t be angry with me for not heeding your call to come to Lugano. I was feeling depressed toward the end of last week because once again my job hunting wasn’t making any progress. But just wait, love, in a few weeks we’ll see each other anyway—surprised, eh? Yesterday I got a letter from Prof. Rebstein at the Technical High School in Winterthur asking me if I would like to substi-
44

tute for him from May 15th to July 15th, because he has to do his military service.* You can imagine how happily I would! Granted, I have to teach about thirty hours per week, and this even includes descriptive geometry, but the valiant Swabian is not afraid. And there’s more. The evening before last I got a letter from Marcel in which he informed me that I’ll probably be getting a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern!? Isn’t this too much to ask for all at once? Just think what a wonderful job this would be for me! I'd be overjoyed if something came of it. Just think how nice it is of the Grossmanns once again to have taken the trouble of helping me.* This Rebstein is probably Herzog’s former Assistent, whom we knew.>
As for science, I came up with a wonderful idea that allows one to apply our theory of molecular forces to gases as well.© You will remember, of course, that the force appears explicitly in the integrals that have to be calculated for determining diffusion, thermal conductivity and viscosity.’ With gas molecules then, our constants c,® alone are necessary for the calculation of these coefficients for ideal gases, and one need not venture into the theoretically uncertain area of deviations from the ideal gas state.’ I can hardly
wait to see the outcome of this test. If it leads to something, we will know nearly as much about molecular forces as about gravitational
forces, and only the law of the radius will still remain unknown.!°
Unfortunately, I must also admit that the idea for investigating salt
solutions rested on such a weak basis that I think one should first
restrict oneself to investigating infinitely dilute solutions in which an interaction between the molecules of the dissolved substance
does not yet occur.'! In such a way one can determine a large quan-
tity of c,, which could be used for an approximate verification of the
hypothesis of the kinship with gravitation. It’s perhaps more likely
that information about the force law itself may be provided by the
quantit-ies _s’ yaia _ and those integrals from the theory of
volume energy
gases. You couldn’t send me Kirchhoff’s book on heat, could you?"?
I’d be happy to send the Popular Books on Natural Science to
45

your sister, but I’ll send them directly from here if that’s all nght

with you. To which address should they be sent?

And how are you, dear little girl? You shouldn’t spend the sav-

ings on charity, we may need all of it this summer on the Simplon.*

I’m so happy! Now there’s no doubt that we’ll be able to go. You

have to hand it to that Chinese fellow. I too admire him greatly. So

you’re my little frog now! We’ll see what happens with that. Pro-

fessor Winteler is leaving today, the Bessos are moving to Trieste

tomorrow—I didn’t misjudge his erudition, but I completely over-

estimated his other qualities. He’s a frail creature without bone and

marrow.

Tender kisses from your

Albert

Best wishes to Fraulein Engelbrecht!

29 Einstein to Maric
iy
Zurich [Milan], Tuesday [30 April 1901]!
My dearest little child, I just don’t let up! You absolutely must come to see me in
Como,” you sweet little witch. It will cost very little of your time and will be a heavenly joy for me. We’ll be back in three days and can still arrange to include Sunday as well. You'll see for yourself how bright and cheerful I’ve become and how all my frowning has been forgotten. And I love you so much again! It was only out of nervousness that I was so mean to you. You’ll hardly recognize me now that I’ve become so bright and cheerful and am longing so much to see you again, dearest Dollie. Don’t fret about the position in Zagreb in case there is interference with your plans.* You are a thousand times more important to me than you could ever be to all
46

the people of Zagreb! Who is blocking things there? Tell me a little about it! If you don’t get that position, and I get the job in Bern, I hereby appoint you my dear little scientist. There’s no need for you to go to a provincial backwater, dear girl—I can appreciate the value of my “pair of old boots,” as you’ve always said, better than you think. And you needn’t be jealous of your girlfriends either, because as long as I have strength and desire, I will happily be yours, and you will be a little shrine to me. And my good fortune will be your good fortune. If you knew what you mean to me, you wouldn’t envy any of your girlfriends at all; because with all modesty, I think you have more than all of them combined. In any case, come to me in Como and bring my blue nightshirt so we can wrap ourselves up in it, and don’t forget to bring your opera glasses. And in addition to that, bring a happy, light heart, and a clear head. I promise you an outing the likes of which you’ve never seen, even if it rains cats and dogs. As soon as I get the official word from Winterthur,* I’ll write you immediately so you can decide the day and the hour I can await you.
I’m presently studying Boltzmann’s gas theory again.° It is all very good, but not enough emphasis is placed on a comparison with reality. But I think that there is enough empirical material for our investigation in the O. E. Meyer.° You can check it the next time you’re in the library. But this can wait until I get back to Switzerland. In general, I think this book deserves to be studied more carefully.
I was recently struck with the idea that when light is generated, a direct transformation of the energy of motion into light might occur because of the parallel: the kinetic energy of the molecules— absolute temperature—spectrum (spatial radiation energy in the state of equilibrium).’ Who knows when a tunnel will be dug through these hard mountains! I’m very curious to see whether our conservative molecular forces will hold true for gases as well. If only the mathematically unclear concept of molecular size does not again reveal itself in the formation of the trajectories of molecules closely approaching each other, and if only the molecule could be
47

treated as a center of force.® In any case we will get a quite rigorous

test of our view.

Tender kisses from your

Johnnie

30 Maric to Einstein
gr

[Zurich, 2 May 1901]!

My dear Johnnie,

I sent my acceptance of your travel offer yesterday and was

really looking forward to it, but don’t be mad at me if I decide to

cancel it today. I received a letter from home today that has made

me lose all desire, not only for having fun, but for life itself. Don’t

let it bother you though, go ahead and take the trip since you’ve

been looking forward to it for so long. Maybe we can do something

together later on. ’m going to lock myself up and work hard, be-

cause it seems I can have nothing without being punished; on the

other hand, I don’t need anything, and will become as accustomed

to this fact as the gypsy to his horse. It doesn’t matter sweetheart.

Farewell, be cheerful, and if you find any pretty flowers, bring me

a few. —Wishes and kisses from your

Dollie

48

31 Maric to Einstein
iy

My dear Johnnie,

[Zurich, 3 May 1901]!

I received your dear little letter? today and was surprised to see

that you hadn’t received my letter of acceptance yet. Was it really

lost, or did something else happen to it? But I hope you’ve received

it in the meantime. I also wrote you a little card’ yesterday while in

the worst of moods because of a letter I received. But when I read

your letter today I became a bit more cheerful, since I see how much

you love me, so I think we’ll take that little trip after all. I’ll arrive

in Como then on Sunday moming at 5:00, because I can’t afford to

waste an entire day traveling a route I already know (aren’t you sur-

prised at what a good little sweetheart you have?). And either you

will be at the train station already, which seems unlikely, or I’Il ex-

pect you to be on the first train from Milan. Then we’ll walk around

part of the lake on foot, practicing our botany, chatting, and enjoy-

ing each other’s company. —But darling, I need to know if I’ll be

taking the same route home so I can buy a round-trip ticket, because

it’s a shame to waste the money. Why didn’t you write to Winter-

thur once more to ask about the teaching job? Maybe they think it

is understood; you’ve been asked and have agreed, after all; or did

they intend to write you once more?

And you have so much love for your Dollie, and you long for

her so! She’s always so happy with your little letters full of passion-

ate love, showing her that you are once again her dear sweetheart,

and my God! what sweet little kisses she’s saved for you!

I can’t wait until Sunday! There are only two days left now,

so don’t oversleep. Awaiting you with a thousand pleasures, your

tormented

Dollie

49

32 Einstein to Marié
boy
Winterthur, Thursday evening [9 May 1901]! Dear kitten,
My first greetings from here shall belong to you, darling. First, let me tell you what has happened since our parting. I first went to the Hotel Limmathof, where they decided that there was no room for me after inspecting me from head to toe in my dubious outfit. Then I went to the Hotel Central, where I managed by the skin of my teeth to get shelter for an advance payment of 2.50 francs.” This morning Frau Hagi received me very amiably, helped me pack my suitcase, and did everything she could to get me to eat something. She’s turned out to be better than we’d thought. Old man Stern was very happy about my call to Winterthur, and Mayer’s son,? who studied mining engineering, is in a place in eastern Siberia where the ground remains frozen all year long up to a certain depth, and in the winter the temperatures sometimes get as low as 50° below zero. Then I ate lunch at the Orsini with one of the boys from the Bahnhofstrasse, and at 3:00 made for Winterthur. In front of the train station I ran into Rebstein, who scheduled a meeting for me for 10:00 tomorrow morning at the technical school so I can have a chance to see how I'll have to teach. I’m looking forward to my job very much. Rebstein told me that he’d thought of me himself and that Amberg‘ and Ehrat had recommended me to him; it seems there are well-meaning people after all. Then I went to see young Wohlwend at his office;> he was enormously happy to see me. I’ve now rented a room at his landlady’s®° house (Aussere Schaffhauserstr. 38) and will eat in his boarding house. You wouldn’t believe how charming and clean my room is! It’s a large room with double windows, a porch with a glass door and a lovely view, parquet floor, an unbelievably comfortable sofa, beautiful carpets, a couple of charming pictures—in short, a truly ideal room. In addition to that, everything is sparkling clean. If only you could see it. The house itself is
50

_ a pretty villa just outside of town, which at this most beautiful time

of year looks like a flower garden.

Have you given your dear little feet a good rest, and are you

fresh in body and spirit again? If only I could give you some of my

happiness so you could never be sad and pensive again. I don’t

know yet if I'll come on Sunday or not, as it’s the only day I can

catch Grossmann at home. Maybe I can come early in the morning,

have lunch with you, and then go to Thalwil in the afternoon.’ I’ll

have to think about it some more.

I have to go pick up Wohlwend now. Best wishes and kisses

from your

Albert

33 Einstein to Marié gr

Dear Dollie,

(Winterthur, second half of May? 1901]!

You must be wondering about this strange piece of paper on

which I’m writing to you.” But I don’t think my Dollie will mind,

since I don’t have anything else to write on. Don’t be mad at me for

not writing for so long, but I haven’t had much to say that you don’t

already know. In that case I resort to those things that remain pretty

and pleasant. I love you, my dear girl, and look forward to seeing

you again on Sunday. We can spend another delightful and pleasant

day together. The thought of you is the only thing that truly gives

my life meaning here. If only thoughts could have a little life and

flesh and blood! How beautiful it was the last time you let me press

your dear little person against me in that most natural way—let me

kiss you passionately for it, my dear, sweet spirit!

So how is your work going, sweetheart? Everything going

well in your life? Is old Weber behaving decently, or does he again

iyi

have “critical comments.”? The local Prof. Weber is very nice to me and is interested in my work.‘ I gave him our paper. If only we were fortunate enough to pursue this beautiful path together soon, but fate seems to have something against us. This will make things all the better later on when the obstacles and worries have been overcome.
It looks like my parents are broke again, because they asked me to send Maja 50 francs. Their silver wedding anniversary is on August 8th. Pll be so sad during this little celebration! Papa again reminded Michele that he should write me, but so far in vain!
But these things don’t matter. I have you and your love after all!
A thousand kisses and an extra sweet one from your Albert
34 Maric to Einstein
gr
[Zurich, second half of May? 1901]!
Dearest sweetheart, I just received your second letter and am very happy, immea-
surably happy. You’re so sweet—oh, how I will kiss you—I can’t wait until you come at the end of the week. I think I’ll pray to St. Peter to whisper a happy thought to Herr Besso. If you come on Saturday you might be able to sleep here, because one of the boarders is leaving on Friday. I’ll ask Fraulein Engelbrecht and I’m sure she will do this for me, if she can. Until then I’ll work very hard so that I’m free to enjoy our time together—my God, how beautiful the world will look when I’m your little wife, you’ll see. There will be
52

no happier woman in the whole world—in which case the man must also be happy.

Farewell, my sweet little treasure, and at the end of the week

come in high spirits to your

Little Woman

35 Einstein to Marié
oy

Winterthur, Thursday [second half of May? 1901]!

My dear Dollie,

I don’t want to go to bed without answering your dear little

letter, which I saw lying on the table when I came home from

school—a most sweet little letter. Once again, I’m looking forward

to seeing my dear Dollie on Sunday. Cheer up and don’t worry—

you are my best and dearest sweetheart, come what may.

My theory of thermoelectricity doesn’t completely satisfy me.

I’m not going to publish it for the time being. Perhaps I'll write to

Drude privately to point out his mistakes to him.” Tonight I sat at

the window for two hours thinking about how to determine the law

of molecular forces. I hit upon a very good idea. I'll tell you about

it on Sunday.

I still haven’t received any kind of response from my sister.

She is now at that awkward adolescent age. I hope she comes out of

it all right. Michele still hasn’t written me either. I think I’ll turn to

his father and ask him if he can find me a position in an insurance

firm. This business of starving is annoying. Other than that, your

sweetheart is a capital fellow, if also a bit unlucky.

Writing is stupid. On Sunday I'll kiss you in person. Hugs and

greetings from your

Albert

Until our happy reunion! Love!

53

36 Einstein to Marié
Winterthur, Tuesday [28? May 1901]!
My dear kitten, I just read a wonderful paper by Lenard on the generation of
cathode rays by ultraviolet light.” Under the influence of this beautiful piece I am filled with such happiness and joy that I absolutely must share some of it with you. Be happy and don’t fret, darling. I won’t leave you and will bring everything to a happy conclusion. You just have to be patient! You’ll see that my arms aren’t so bad to rest in, even if things are beginning a little awkwardly. How are you, darling? How’s the boy?? Can you imagine how pleasant it will be when we’re able to work again, completely undisturbed, and with no one around to tell us what to do! You will be well compensated for your present worries with much joy, and the days will pass peacefully and without disturbance or interference.
Yesterday I was alone for the entire day because Wohlwend was in Lenzburg.* After taking a very pleasant walk in the woods in the morning I studied Wiedemann’s Annalen. There I found a numerical confirmation for the fundamental principles of the electron theory which a Dutchman had come up with.> I was extremely delighted with this and became fully convinced of the validity of the electron theory.
Wohlwend was also at the Wintelers’, but naturally said nothing about me, only a little something to my sister, whom I’m going to write soon. Distance seems to have softened her anger toward me. ll invite her to spend a Sunday here.
How is our little son? And your dissertation? If I’m not mistaken, Weber once did theoretical work on the motion of heat in metal cylinders.® On this basis, see if you can’t utilize the tables somehow, if only for appearance’s sake. I think he’s cited in Heine.”
Unfortunately, no one here at the school is up to date on modern physics, and I’ve already tapped everyone in vain. Would I also
54