EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955). Autograph manuscript signed ("A. Einstein" on last page), constituting Einstein's lecture "The Origin of the General Theory of Relativity" ("Einiges über die Entstehung der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie"), delivered as the first George A. Gibson Lecture at the University of Glasgow, 20 June 1933. A working draft with extensive deletions and interlinear additions. No place, undated, but ca. June 1933.
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955). Autograph manuscript signed ("A. Einstein" on last page), constituting Einstein's lecture "The Origin of the General Theory of Relativity" ("Einiges über die Entstehung der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie"), delivered as the first George A. Gibson Lecture at the University of Glasgow, 20 June 1933. A working draft with extensive deletions and interlinear additions. No place, undated, but ca. June 1933. 4to (8 7/8 x 6 7/8 in). 8 pages, ink on rectos only, paper watermarked Basildon Bond" with crest, paginated (1)-8 by Einstein, his penciled note at end "Vortrag in Glasgow, Juni 1933." Tiny rust mark at top of page 1 from paperclip, otherwise in very fine condition. In German with full English translation (copy supplied on request). "ORIGINS OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY": EINSTEIN'S ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFICULT PATH FROM THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY (1905) TO THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY (1916): HIS MOMENTOUS DISCOVERIES IN THE CRITICAL YEARS 1905-1916 A highly important, very revealing account by Einstein of his arduous efforts--beginning with his formulation of the Special Theory of Relativity (1905)--to generalize the General Theory of Relativity, postulating a new, post-Newtonian theory of gravitation and, as a further consequence, establishing the equivalence of mass and energy (E = mc 2 ). These momentous discoveries constitute perhaps the most far-reaching, fundamental scientific advances of the Twentieth Century. Dr. Robert Schulmann, former editor of the Einstein Papers, noted that the significance of this lecture "lies in its description of Einstein's journey from the Special Theory of Relativity of 1905 to the General Theory, published in 1916. In its importance as a review, it can only be compared to the Kyoto lecture held by Einstein in 1922, for which there are only the Japanese short-hand notes and a translation back into German." Further emphasizing this manuscript's importance, Schulmann points out that the Einstein Edition itself draws on this account "for a canonical reconstruction of the path to General Relativity." The Gibson lecture was delivered in Glasgow the same year Einstein left Germany in the wake of the Nazi seizure of power; later that year he took up residence in the United States. Clearly intended for an audience familiar with modern physics, Einstein acknowledges the essential work of his predecessors (Euclid, Galileo, Newton, Maxwell), his contemporaries (H.A. Lorentz, Ernst Mach, Minkowski, Rieman, Poincaré) and his collaborators (Marcel Grossman, Michele Besso). At the end of his account, Einstein recalls his sense of elation when the theory was confirmed: "Once the validity of this mode of thought has been recognized, the final results appear almost simple; any intelligent undergraduate can understand them." But, he adds, "the years of searching in the dark, for a truth that one feels, but cannot express; the intense desire and the alternations of confidence and misgiving, until one breaks through to clarity and understanding, are only known to him who has himself experienced them." Einstein opens his lecture with a modest expression of gratitude for the chance "to say something about the history of my own scientific work..."; and adds "it would be a mistake from a sense of false modesty to pass by an opportunity to put the story on record." His account commences in the annus mirabilis of 1905, which saw publication of five of Einstein's most revolutionary papers: "After the special theory of relativity had shown the equivalence for formulating the laws of nature of all so-called inertial systems (1905), the question whether a more general equivalence of co-ordinate systems existed was an obvious one. In other words, if one can only attach a relative meaning to the concept of velocity, should one nevertheless maintain the concept of acceleration as an absolute one? From the purely kinematic point of view the relativity of any and every sort of mo
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955). Autograph manuscript signed ("A. Einstein" on last page), constituting Einstein's lecture "The Origin of the General Theory of Relativity" ("Einiges über die Entstehung der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie"), delivered as the first George A. Gibson Lecture at the University of Glasgow, 20 June 1933. A working draft with extensive deletions and interlinear additions. No place, undated, but ca. June 1933.
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955). Autograph manuscript signed ("A. Einstein" on last page), constituting Einstein's lecture "The Origin of the General Theory of Relativity" ("Einiges über die Entstehung der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie"), delivered as the first George A. Gibson Lecture at the University of Glasgow, 20 June 1933. A working draft with extensive deletions and interlinear additions. No place, undated, but ca. June 1933. 4to (8 7/8 x 6 7/8 in). 8 pages, ink on rectos only, paper watermarked Basildon Bond" with crest, paginated (1)-8 by Einstein, his penciled note at end "Vortrag in Glasgow, Juni 1933." Tiny rust mark at top of page 1 from paperclip, otherwise in very fine condition. In German with full English translation (copy supplied on request). "ORIGINS OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY": EINSTEIN'S ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFICULT PATH FROM THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY (1905) TO THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY (1916): HIS MOMENTOUS DISCOVERIES IN THE CRITICAL YEARS 1905-1916 A highly important, very revealing account by Einstein of his arduous efforts--beginning with his formulation of the Special Theory of Relativity (1905)--to generalize the General Theory of Relativity, postulating a new, post-Newtonian theory of gravitation and, as a further consequence, establishing the equivalence of mass and energy (E = mc 2 ). These momentous discoveries constitute perhaps the most far-reaching, fundamental scientific advances of the Twentieth Century. Dr. Robert Schulmann, former editor of the Einstein Papers, noted that the significance of this lecture "lies in its description of Einstein's journey from the Special Theory of Relativity of 1905 to the General Theory, published in 1916. In its importance as a review, it can only be compared to the Kyoto lecture held by Einstein in 1922, for which there are only the Japanese short-hand notes and a translation back into German." Further emphasizing this manuscript's importance, Schulmann points out that the Einstein Edition itself draws on this account "for a canonical reconstruction of the path to General Relativity." The Gibson lecture was delivered in Glasgow the same year Einstein left Germany in the wake of the Nazi seizure of power; later that year he took up residence in the United States. Clearly intended for an audience familiar with modern physics, Einstein acknowledges the essential work of his predecessors (Euclid, Galileo, Newton, Maxwell), his contemporaries (H.A. Lorentz, Ernst Mach, Minkowski, Rieman, Poincaré) and his collaborators (Marcel Grossman, Michele Besso). At the end of his account, Einstein recalls his sense of elation when the theory was confirmed: "Once the validity of this mode of thought has been recognized, the final results appear almost simple; any intelligent undergraduate can understand them." But, he adds, "the years of searching in the dark, for a truth that one feels, but cannot express; the intense desire and the alternations of confidence and misgiving, until one breaks through to clarity and understanding, are only known to him who has himself experienced them." Einstein opens his lecture with a modest expression of gratitude for the chance "to say something about the history of my own scientific work..."; and adds "it would be a mistake from a sense of false modesty to pass by an opportunity to put the story on record." His account commences in the annus mirabilis of 1905, which saw publication of five of Einstein's most revolutionary papers: "After the special theory of relativity had shown the equivalence for formulating the laws of nature of all so-called inertial systems (1905), the question whether a more general equivalence of co-ordinate systems existed was an obvious one. In other words, if one can only attach a relative meaning to the concept of velocity, should one nevertheless maintain the concept of acceleration as an absolute one? From the purely kinematic point of view the relativity of any and every sort of mo
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
