Einstein (42 page)

The news that Einstein was working on a unified field theory became particularly widespread in 1929, the year of Einstein’s fiftieth birthday. To the public at large it seemed to be an especially attractive idea that on the very day on which he attained fifty years, a man should also find the magic formula by which all the puzzles of nature would finally be solved. Einstein received telegrams from newspapers and publishers in all parts of the world requesting that he acquaint them in a few words with the contents of his new theory. Hundreds of reporters beseiged his house. When some reporters were finally able to get hold of him, Einstein said with astonishment: “I really don’t need any publicity.” But everyone expected some new sensation that would surpass the wonder produced by his previous theories. They learned that a communication dealing with the new theory would be published in the transactions of the Prussian Academy of Science, and efforts were made by newspapers to secure galley proofs from the printer, but without success. There was nothing to do but to await the publication of the article, and in order not to be too late, an American newspaper arranged to have it sent immediately by phototelegraphy.

The article was only a few pages long, but it consisted for the most part of mathematical formulæ that were completely unintelligible to the public. The emotion with which it was received by the layman may be compared to that experienced at the sight of an Assyrian cuneiform inscription. For an understanding of the paper a considerable capacity for abstract geometrical thinking was required. To those who possessed this quality it revealed that general laws for a unified field could be derived from a certain hypothesis regarding the structure of four-dimensional space. It could also be shown that these laws included the known laws of the electromagnetic field as well as Einstein’s law of gravitation as special cases. Nevertheless, as yet no result capable of experimental verification could be derived from them. Thus for the public at large the new theory was even more incomprehensible than the previous theories. For the expert it was an accomplishment of great logical and æsthetic perfection.

As the month of March in 1929 approached, Einstein and his family began to fear that the sensationalism of the newspapers would be so great on the date of his fiftieth birthday that it would only be disagreeable for Einstein. Many newspapers had undertaken to secure Einstein’s own remarks on more or less personal matters and to publish them. Moreover, the visits and congratulations of his true admirers and friends threatened to assume such proportions that Einstein decided to avoid everything and to leave his apartment for several days. Immediately all sorts of rumors appeared: Einstein has gone to France, to Holland, to England, or even to America. But it was all greatly exaggerated. He spent the day peacefully near Berlin at the country estate of a shoe-polish manufacturer, who sometimes put at Einstein’s disposal a pavilion in his garden, situated very close to a beautiful lake. Here he was able to play the organ or to sail on the lake.

From their apartment in Berlin Mrs. Einstein had brought along the dinner that had been prepared. Einstein’s immediate family — that is, his wife, her two daughters, and their husbands were present. Einstein was very comfortable and unceremonious, dressed in the garb he usually wore in the country, or even in the city when no strangers were present. This consisted of a pair of old trousers and a sweater, but no jacket, and very often also without shoes or stockings. From their city apartment Mrs. Einstein also brought along some of the congratulatory letters and presents that had arrived in large numbers.

Einstein was connected with many different activities, so that he received letters and gifts from all sorts of people; naturally, from physicists and philosophers, but also from pacifists and Zionists. There were even some from very simple people who were admirers of great discoveries and wanted to express this admiration. Among these was a gift from an unemployed man, consisting of a small package of pipe tobacco. It had become
generally known that Einstein was rarely to be found without a pipe. Alluding to the relativity theory and the field theory, the man wrote: “There is relatively little tobacco, but it is from a good field.”

Several of his friends had combined to present him with a new and very modern sailboat. Einstein loved to sail the beautiful lakes and rivers around Berlin, and to daydream while the boat flew before the wind. The handling of the sails was a pleasant activity. It was a very simple application of the rules of mechanics, and it gave him a great deal of pleasure to apply the physical laws that are closest to direct experience instead of those that are most abstract. He also wrote a popular article in which he explained to the lay public the physical laws that enable one to travel in a certain direction by placing the sails in a certain position and to reach a particular goal by means of a zigzag motion — that is, by successive tacks.

A group of Zionists in America bought a plot of land in Palestine and planted it with trees on his birthday. They made provision that for all time to come the woods that grew there were to be known as the Einstein Grove.

The most beautiful and interesting present, however, was to come from the municipal administration of the city of Berlin, where Einstein had lived since 1913, and which, to mention only a very trivial matter, he had helped to make a center of attraction for all foreigners. Since it was generally known that Einstein was fond of sailing on the Havel River and on the many lakes into which this remarkable stream expands, the municipal council of Berlin decided to present Einstein with a small country house situated on the bank of the Havel close to the point where it enters the Wannsee. The house was located on a plot belonging to the city of Berlin. This resolution on the part of the municipal council was well received by the entire population — a sentiment arising from a combination of love of science, respect for an illustrious fellow citizen, and a fondness for aquatic sports and sailing. In all the illustrated magazines appeared pictures of the idyllic “Einstein house.”

When Mrs. Einstein wanted to see the house, she noticed to her amazement that people were living in it. The latter, in turn, were astonished to find someone wanting to take possession of their home, even though it was the famous Einstein. It turned out that when the city of Berlin had acquired this property, it had guaranteed to the inhabitants of the house the right to keep on living there. The municipal council seemed
to have forgotten this when it gave its birthday present to Einstein. How can one explain such an occurrence in Berlin, the capital of Prussia, famous for its orderliness?

At first it seemed to indicate a considerable confusion in the registry of landed property. When the leaders of the municipal council heard about this mistake, they wanted to correct it as soon as possible. The park in which the frustrated “Einstein house” stood was large and filled with beautiful trees, and there was enough room in it for several houses. The council therefore chose another part of the park, very close to the water, and offered it to Einstein as a birthday present. The house, however, was to be built at his own expense. Einstein and his wife were very happy about it and agreed to this arrangement. But on closer investigation it was found that this was also impossible. When the owner of the “Einstein house” received the right to live in it, he had also been assured that no other house would be built in the park that might in any way disturb his enjoyment of nature and his view over the lake.

Finally the entire matter began to become unpleasant for both Einstein and the municipal council. A gift that came into being in this way could no longer give pleasure to anyone. Thus it became more and more of a mystery what was actually occurring in the famous model city of Berlin.

But the matter was not yet at an end. After considerable reflection the municipal council hit upon a third piece of land near the water. It was not nearly so well situated nor was it actually near the water. The neighbors, however, permitted at least a passage from the piece of land in question to the water. The gift became poorer and poorer. When it was finally discovered that the city had no right to dispose of this third plot of land, all Berlin burst out laughing. The laughter aimed at the municipal administration was justified, but Einstein was involved in the matter through no fault of his own.

Now the council finally became aware that there was no land whatever at its disposal along the water. But since the magnificent gesture of presenting a gift to the Berlin scientist had already become public knowledge, the members of the council felt ashamed to let the entire matter turn into a fiasco. A delegate came to Einstein and said: “In order to be sure that the land we will present to you really belongs to us, please pick out a plot of land that suits you and is for sale. We will buy it.” Einstein agreed. But since he did not like to occupy himself with choosing a piece of land, he let his wife go out to look. Finally she
found a beautiful place in the village of Caputh, near Potsdam. The council agreed to the selection, and at the next session of the council a motion for the purchase of the land was presented. Thereupon the entire matter began to develop into a political dispute. A representative of the nationalist parties began to discuss whether Einstein actually deserved such a gift. The subject was postponed to the next session.

Then Einstein finally lost patience. The gift from his adopted city presented in the name of all the citizens had become an object of political strife, and under the most favorable circumstances it would result from a political bargain. Einstein wrote a letter to the Mayor of Berlin, who later occupied a prominent place in the public eye when it became known that he had accepted a gift of a fur coat for his wife from persons to whom he had given municipal contracts. Einstein wrote approximately as follows: “My dear Mr. Mayor: Human life is very short, while the authorities work very slowly. I feel therefore that my life is too short for me to adapt myself to your methods. I thank you for your friendly intentions. Now, however, my birthday is already past and I decline the gift.”

The result of the entire matter was that Einstein not only built the house at his own expense, but also had to buy the land with his own money. Some time after these events I was in Berlin and Mrs. Einstein said to me: “In this way, without wanting it, we have acquired a beautiful home of our own situated in the woods near the water. But we have also spent most of our savings. Now we have no money, but we have our land and property. This gives one a much greater sense of security.”

This feeling was to be proved wrong, because hardly three years later Einstein and his wife had to leave the land and their beautiful villa with its new furnishings. This, however, is more a private matter. Much more interesting is the question of how this entire comedy of errors was possible in the orderly city of Berlin. The answer to this question is the answer to the whole problem of the German Republic. The city of Berlin was apparently headed by men who represented culture and who wished to express this position by honoring Einstein. The decisive power, however, lay in the hands of persons who sabotaged the work of the apparent rulers. The officials of the city of Berlin carried out the orders of the municipal council in such a way as to result in failure and to make the republican administration look ridiculous.

The situation was similar throughout the German Republic.
The Chancellor and the government showed their admiration for art and science; but even at that time the real power already lay in the hands of the underworld.

In the following year, 1930, Einstein received an invitation to spend the winter in Pasadena, California, as visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology. Consequently in December he sailed for America. At this time his entire political interest was concentrated on pacifism, and he felt that this was also the great mission of the United States. While still on shipboard he broadcasted a message to America in which he said :

“Greetings to America. This morning, after an absence of ten years, when I am once more about to set foot on the soil of the United States, the thought uppermost in my mind is this: This country has through hard labor achieved the position of undisputed pre-eminence among the nations of the world.… It is in your country, my friends, that those latent forces which eventually will kill any serious monster of professional militarism will be able to make themselves felt more clearly and definitely. Your political and economic condition today is such that you will be able to destroy entirely the dreadful tradition of military violence.… It is along these lines of endeavor that your mission lies at the present moment.…”

Einstein was not of the opinion, however, that the United States could accomplish this mission by a policy of isolation. On March 29, 1931 he wrote: “In this country the conviction must grow that her citizens bear a great responsibility in the field of international politics. The role of passive spectator is not worthy of this country.” Moreover, he always regarded America’s intervention in world politics as an intervention in favor of peace. He quoted Benjamin Franklin, who had said: “There never was a bad peace or a good war.”

This time Einstein did not have to make such troublesome and disturbing trips throughout the entire country. Instead he was invited to take part in the scientific research that was being carried on at the California Institute of Technology and the Mount Wilson Observatory. Both institutions are situated near Pasadena, a quiet suburb of Los Angeles. Through the efforts of R. A. Millikan, the California Institute of Technology had become
a center of physical research. Millikan, a recipient of the Nobel prize, was originally a student of Michelson, and was consequently acquainted with the entire trend of Einstein’s research from its experimental aspect. He has been a man possessing not only scientific, but also administrative ability, and he has always been a realist. Einstein’s enthusiasm for pacifism always appeared to him as something not suited to our world, and this opinion was to be proved correct only too soon Millikan was in accord with Einstein on one point, however: neither of them denied the important role of religious communities in the advancement of human co-operation. But neither Millikan nor Einstein recognized any control over science by religious dogmas.