The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 3: The Swiss Years: Writings, 1909-1911

by Albert Einstein, Martin J. Klein, A. J. Kox, Jürgen Renn, Robert Schulmann

Overview

This volume of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein presents Einstein's writings for the two-year period starting in October 1909. The initial date marks Einstein's departure from the Swiss Patent Office at Bern, which had been his professional home for seven years, and the beginning of his first academic appointment, at the University of Zurich. The volume concludes with the masterful report that Einstein, by then a full professor at the German-language university in Prague, gave to the original Solvay Congress, the first international meeting devoted to the problems of radiation and the quantum theory. Most of Einstein's efforts during these years went into his struggle with these ever more perplexing problems of quanta, on which he made discouragingly little progress.


Einstein's new academic career naturally required him to teach, and almost half of this volume consists of the previously unpublished notes he wrote in preparation for his lectures on mechanics, on electricity and magnetism, and on kinetic theory and statistical mechanics. The last of these is particularly interesting in reflecting some of his research interests.


Several papers here are concerned with aspects of the special theory of relativity, but it is Einstein's article of June 1911 that is a harbinger of things to come: it contains his calculation of the bending of light in a gravitational field on the basis of his equivalence principle.



Martin J. Klein is Bass Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Physics at Yale University and Senior Editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. A. J. Kox teaches history of science at the University of Amsterdam, Jürgen Renn is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Physics at Boston University, and Robert Schulmann is Assistant Professor of History at Boston University.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691087726
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/02/1994
Series:	Collected Papers of Albert Einstein , #3
Pages:	550
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)
Language:	German

About the Author

Martin J. Klein is Bass Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Physics at Yale University and Senior Editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. A. J. Kox teaches history of science at the University of Amsterdam, Jürgen Renn is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Physics at Boston University, and Robert Schulmann is Assistant Professor of History at Boston University.

Table of Contents

List of Texts xi
INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL
Introduction to Volume 3 xv
Supplement to the Editorial Method in Previous Volumes xxxi
Acknowledgments xxxiii
Note on the Translation xxxiv
Location Symbols and Descriptive Symbols xxxv
TEXTS 1
Editorial Note: Einstein's Lecture Notes 3
1.Lecture Notes for Introductory Course on Mechanics, University of Zurich, Winter Semester 1909-1910 (18 October 1909-5 March 1910) 11
2."The Principle of Relativity and Its Consequences in Modern Physics," 15 January and 15 February 1910 130
"Le principe de relativité et ses conséquences dans la physique moderne" Archives des sciences physiques et naturelles 29 (1910)
3.Response to Manuscript of Planck 1910a, before 18 January 1910 177
"Antwort auf Planks Manuskript"
4.Lecture Notes for Course on the Kinetic Theory of Heat, University of Zurich, Summer Semester 1910 (19 April-5 August 1910) 179
5."On the Theory of Light Quanta and the Question of the Localization of Electromagnetic Energy," 7 May 1910 248
"Sur la théorie des quantités lumineuses et la question de la localisation de l'énergie électromagnétique" Archives des sciences physiques et naturelles 29 (1910)
6."On the Ponderomotive Forces Acting on Ferromagnetic Conductors Carrying a Current in a Magnetic Field," 15 July 1910 254
"Sur les forces pondéromotrices qui agissent sur des conducteurs ferromagnétiques disposés dans un champ magnétique et parcourus par un courant" Archives des sciences physiques et naturelles 30 (1910)
7."On a Theorem of the Probability Calculus and Its Application in the Theory of Radiation" (with Ludwig Hopf), 29 August 1910 258
"Über einen Satz der Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung und seine Anwendung in der Strahlungstheorie" Annalen der Physik 33 (1910)
8."Statistical Investigation of a Resonator's Motion in a Radiation Field" (with Ludwig Hopf), August 1910 269
"Statistische Untersuchung der Bewegung eines Resonators in einem Strahlungsfeld" Annalen der Physik 33 (1910)
Editorial Note: Einstein on Critical Opalescence 283
9."The Theory of the Opalescence of Homogeneous Fluids and Liquid Mixtures near the Critical State," October 1910 286
"Theorie der Opaleszenz von homogenen Flüssigkeiten und Flüssigkeitsgemischen in der Nähe des kritischen Zustandes" Annalen der Physik 33 (1910)
10."Comments on P. Hertz's Papers: 'On the Mechanical Foundations of Thermodynamics'," October 1910 313
"Bemerkungen zu den P. Hertzschen Arbeiten: 'Über die mechanischen Grundlagen der Thermodynamik'" Annalen der Physik 34 (1911)
11.Lecture Notes for Course on Electricity and Magnetism, University of Zurich, Winter Semester 1910-1911 (17 October 1910-4 March 1911) 316
12."Comment on Eötvös's Law," 30 November 1910 401
"Bemerkung zu dem Gesetz von Eötvös" Annalen der Physik 34 (1911)
13."A Relationship between Elastic Behavior and Specific Heat in Solids with a Monatomic Molecule," 30 November 1910 408
"Eine Beziehung zwischen dem elastischen Verhalten und der spezifischen Wärme bei festen Körpern mit einatomigem Molekül"
Annalen der Physik 34 (1911)
14."Correction to My Paper: 'A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions'," January 1911 415
"Berichtigung zu meiner Arbeit: 'Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen'" Annalen der Physik 34 (1911)
15."Comment on My Paper: 'A Relationship between Elastic Behavior ...'" (Doc. 13), January 1911 419
"Bemerkung zu meiner Arbeit: 'Eine Beziehung zwischen dem elastischen Verhalten ...'" Annalen der Physik 34 (1911)
16."Comment on a Fundamental Difficulty in Theoretical Physics," 2 January 1911 422
"Bemerkung über eine fundamentale Schwierigkeit in der theoretischen Physik"
17."The Theory of Relativity," 16 January 1911 424
"Die Relativitäts-Theorie" Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Zürich. Vierteljahrsschrift 56 (1911)
18."Discussion" following lecture version of "The Theory of Relativity" (Doc. 17), 16 January 1911 440
Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Zürich. Sitzungsberichte (1911)
19.Notes for a Lecture on Fluctuations, 10 February 1911 450
20.Statement on the Light Quantum Hypothesis, 21 February 1911 456
Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Zürich. Sitzungsberichte (1911)
21."Elementary Observations on Thermal Molecular Motion in Solids," May 1911, and "Note Added in Proof" 459
"Elementare Betrachtungen über die thermische Molekularbewegung in festen Körpern" and "Nachtrag zur Korrektur" Annalen der Physik 35 (1911)
Editorial Note: Einstein on Length Contraction in the Theory of Relativity 478
22."On the Ehrenfest Paradox. Comment on V. Varičak's Paper," May 1911 481
"Zum Ehrenfestschen Paradoxon. Bemerkung zu V. Varičaks Aufsatz" Physikalische Zeitschrift 12 (1911)
23."On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light," June 1911 485
"Über den Einfluß der Schwerkraft auf die Ausbreitung des Lichtes" Annalen der Physik 35 (1911)
24.Excerpts of discussions following lectures delivered at 83d meeting of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte, 25 and 27 September 1911 498
Physikalische Zeitschrift 12 (1911)
25.Discussion remarks following lectures delivered at first Solvay Congress, 30 October-3 November 1911 505
26."On the Present State of the Problem of Specific Heats," 3 November 1911 520
"Zum gegenwärtigen Stande des Problems der spezifischen Wärme" Arnold Eucken, ed., Die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten. Verhandlungen auf einer von E. Solvay einberufenen Zusammenkunft (30. Oktober bis 3. November 1911), mit einem Anhange über die Entwicklung der Quantentheorie vom Herbst 1911 bis Sommer 1913. Halle a.S.: Knapp, 1914. (Abhandlungen der Deutschen Bunsen Gesellschaft für angewandte physikalische Chemie, vol. 3, no. 7.)
27."Discussion" following lecture, "On the Present State of the Problem of Specific Heats" (Doc. 26), 3 November 1911 549
Arnold Eucken, ed., Die Theorie der Strahlung und der Quanten. Verhandlungen auf einer von E. Solvay einberufenen Zusammenkunft (30. Oktober bis 3. November 1911), mit einem Anhange über die Entwicklung der Quantentheorie vom Herbst 1911 bis Sommer 1913. Halle a.S.: Knapp, 1914. (Abhandlungen der Deutschen Bunsen Gesellschaft für angewandte physikalische Chemie, vol. 3, no. 7.)
APPENDIXES 563
A. Scratch Notebook, 1909-1914? 563
B. Einstein's Academic Courses 598
Literature Cited 601
Indexes 621