Volume 12
The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January - December 1921
Editors: Diana Kormos Buchwald, Ze'ev Rosenkranz, Tilman Sauer, József Illy, Virginia Iris Holmes
Associate Editors: Jeroen van Dongen, Daniel Kennefick, A. J. Kox, Osik Moses
Editorial Assistants: Rudy Hirschmann, Jennifer Nollar, Carol Chaplin
In this latest volume, Einstein's visible public persona is amply documented in his correspondence, honors and prizes, lectures and travels, articles, and the many solicitations asking him to join public initiatives. Einstein joins a Zionist fundraising mission led by Ch. Weizmann, and he visits the United States for the first time. He to New York, Boston, and Chicago, and he delivers his famous Princeton Lectures.
Scientific correspondence with N. Bohr, W. Bothe, P. Ehrenfest, H. Geiger, H. A. Lorentz, L. Meitner, A. Sommerfeld, and H. Weyl records Einstein's interest in and contributions to a unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism, and the emerging modern quantum theory. He addresses conceptual problems, such as the fundamental nature of light and its emission mechanism, in a proposed experiment with canal rays. Einstein remains involved in theoretical and experimental research, expert opinions, and patent applications.
Throughout the year, Einstein navigates complex territory in his professional and personal life. He travels with his older son to Bologna, yet turns down repeated invitations to Munich. He mends his friendship with M. Born, but receives stinging criticism from F. Haber for traveling to the United States. He supports the nomination of Masaryk for a Nobel Peace Prize, travels to Amsterdam in order to intervene on behalf of Germany at the Paris reparations conference, and assists Russian physicists in their efforts to rebuild and develop Russian science. Einstein's letters reveal his Social Democratic political positions.