'Feeling our way': a densely scientific letter, including an equation - photo 1
'Feeling our way': a densely scientific letter, including an equation - photo 2

'Feeling our way': a densely scientific letter, including an equation

Lot 24
16.07.2020 06:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 15 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 370013
Lot 24 | 'Feeling our way': a densely scientific letter, including an equation
Estimate value
£ 15 000 – 20 000
Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

Autograph letter signed ('A.E.') to 'Herr Strauss' [sic: i.e. Ernst Gabor Straus], n.p., 'Sonntag', n.d. [summer 1945].

In German. One page, 280 x 216mm.

'Feeling our way': a densely scientific letter to his assistant discussing their work on gravitational fields, including an equation. Einstein opens by noting an equation which he had always assumed was true only for a specific choice of coordinates: 'It is thus clear that the special approach I have suggested leads to nothing. If this equation holds true generally, it is natural to try the choice of coordinates g = -1, as it leads to the simple equation d + 2rf = 0'. He cites a second formula which he had always felt was of little use as an introduction if one does not seek to define Λ specifically at the outset: 'But this may not be correct. I am therefore delighted that you are trying the approach of leaving Λ unconstrained'. Meanwhile, the proofs of 'our cosmological paper' ('A Generalization of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation', Annals of Mathematics, second series, vol.46, no. 4, pp. 578-584) are ready, and Einstein has suggested they be sent to Straus, 'as any printed matter which is addressed to me hangs around in Princeton'. Returning to their scientific work, Einstein has now discovered 'a quite natural possibility of constructing equations which are covariant in relation to any complex transformations and represent a transfer of the equations Rik = 0 to complex space with a hermetic metric. But I am still far from having sussed it out enough to feel whether this possibility really needs to be taken seriously'. He looks forward to being able to resume regular meetings with Straus: 'Letter-writing is too cumbersome a thing in this situation of feeling our way'. He will be returning home (from his summer holiday in Saranac Lake, upstate New York) around 15 September.

The German-American mathematician Ernst Gabor Straus (1922-1983) was Einstein's assistant at Princeton for four years between 1944 and 1948, during which period they produced three joint papers. The scientific discussion in the present paper may relate to the early development of ideas for the second of these, 'The Influence of the Expansion of Space on the Gravitation Fields surrounding the Individual Stars' (Reviews of Modern Physics, 17 (April-July 1945), pp.120-124). Einstein never quite seems to have grasped the correct spelling of Straus's second name.


Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
24.06.2020 – 16.07.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.