Berlin, 21 December 1915

Name: The completion of the general theory of relativity
Brand: Berlin, 21 December 1915
Price: 120000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 150,000

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USD 18,000 - USD 25,000

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

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The completion of the general theory of relativity

Berlin, 21 December 1915

Price Realised USD 150,000

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

Price Realised USD 150,000

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Autograph correspondence card signed (‘Albert’) to Michele Besso (‘Lieber Michele’), [Berlin], 21 December [1915].

In German, 1½ pages, 141 x 90mm. A little pencil underlining.

Please note this is the property of a private consignor.

Published in Pierre Speziali (ed.) Albert Einstein. Michele Besso. Correspondance 1903-1955. Paris: Hermann, 1972. No. 12.2

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Lot Essay

'Read the articles! They provide final release from all the difficulties. The most delightful thing is the exact correspondence of the movement of the perihelion [of Mercury] and general covariance, but the most remarkable is the circumstance that Newton's field theory is already false for equations of the first order ... And now [Max] Planck is beginning to take the whole thing more seriously; though he is still resisting a bit.'. Einstein hints at difficult relations with his other colleagues in Berlin. The letter opens with regrets that he cannot make a planned journey to Zurich because of war-time restrictions: he longs to breathe Swiss air, and to shake off the limitations of wartime Germany which he compares to a 'muzzle'.

In four magisterial papers presented to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in November 1915, Einstein set out the parameters of the General Theory of Relativity: his letter refers in particular to the third of these, 'The Explanation of the Perihelion Motion of Mercury from the General Theory of Relativity'.