Albert Einstein (1879–1955), one of the foremost scientists and public figures of the 20th century, revolutionized our views of time and space, matter and light, gravitation and the universe.
The Einstein Papers Project is engaged in one of the most ambitious scholarly publishing ventures undertaken in the history of science. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein provides the first complete picture of Einstein’s massive written legacy.
Albert Einstein with his assistant Walther Mayer in Pasadena, early 1931.
The density of the Milky Way, Pasadena, January 1931.
Einstein speaking at the dedication of the Pasadena Junior College (now PCC) astronomy building, February 1931.
One of few existing color photos of Einstein; on the porch of his house in Princeton, February 1954.
Albert and Elsa Einstein with Robert and Greta Millikan on a boat off Long Beach, 1931.
In front of the Athenaeum Faculy Club, Caltech, 1932.
With young people, at dedication of the Pasadena Junior College (now PCC) astronomy building, February 1931.
With Charles St. John and Walther Mayer on top of the solar tower telescope, Mt. Wilson Observatory, 1931.
Three Nobel Prize winners, front row: A. A. Michelson, Albert Einstein, Robert A. Millikan. Back row: Walter S. Adams, Walther Mayer, Max Ferrrand. In front of the Athenaeum, Caltech, 1931.
Albert and Elsa Einstein receiving California Governor James Rolph, Jr. and reporters in front of their rented house in Pasadena, early 1931.
Albert Einstein with Charles St. John at Mount Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, 1931.
Looking iinto the eyepiece of the 100-inch Hooker telescope at Mt. Wilson Observatory, with Edwin Hubble and Walter Adams, January 1931.
A unique resource: You can access our database of 80,000 records of all known Einstein manuscripts and correspondence and also search the full text of 2,000 digitized items.
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein series now covers Einstein's life and work up to his 44th birthday. It presents, as annotated full text, 319 writings by Einstein and 3,000 letters written by and to him. An additional 2,063 documents appear in abstract.
Genootschaps Medal
Established in 1790, the Amsterdam Genootschap ter Bevordering van Natuur- Genees- en Heelkunde organizes meetings, bestows awards and supports activities in the fields of Science and Medicine. Most prestigious of their awards is the gold Genootschaps Medal for exceptional accomplishments in one of the fields in which the Genootschap is active. Einstein received the gold medal in 1923.
In preparation for another Spotlight entry “Serendipitous Connection” (EPP news 3-20-2013) we contacted colleagues, at the University of Amsterdam who are board members of the Genootschap, about the use of one of their images on our website. To our surprise and delight, Dr. Ron van Noorden and Dr. Marieke Kranenburg, of the University of Amsterdam, contacted the Dutch company that has manufactured the Genootschaps Medal since its inception.
Thanks to our colleagues in the Netherlands we now have the image featured in today's Spotlight entry. It is a copy of the medal that Einstein received in 1923. We are very grateful to our colleagues in the Netherlands! 04-10-13
Editor's Guest Blog
Senior Editor, Tilman Sauer, guest authored an entry on George Musser’s Critical Opalescence blog at Scientific American online. Musser explains in his introduction “The latest volume of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, which contains Einstein’s publications, draft papers, letters, and scribblings from January 1922 through March 1923, shows that his deep concerns with the quantum predated his well-known duels with Niels Bohr and played a major role in shaping the emerging theory.” Sauer describes Einstein’s untiring application to theoretical and experimental explorations in the early years of quantum theory including his scientific dialogues with Paul Ehrenfest.
Further reading related to those very dialogues may be found in an Annalen der Physik article co-authored by Sauer and another EPP Editor, Issachar Unna. The article, Einstein, Ehrenfest and the quantum measurement problem, demonstrates how a paper that Einstein and Ehrenfest themselves co-authored was a prescient description of “what would later be recognized as a central conceptual difficulty of quantum mechanics”. 03-20-13
