Einstein

by Philipp Frank

  7. Einstein Tower and the Rathenau Murder

  In June 1921, after visiting the United States and England, Einstein returned to Berlin. The honors that he had received abroad had their effect in Germany. Well-meaning persons who were not really interested in science tried in every possible way to learn about Einstein’s theories without having to exert themselves mentally. As a result some people profited from this boom by convincing others that they could teach the relativity theory. At this time, for instance, a so-called “Einstein film” was shown in movie theaters that was supposed to teach the theory painlessly. First it showed a student listening to a boring lecture by a dull professor and sighing: “How much longer will this lecture last? Still another quarter of an hour?” Then it showed the same student sitting on a bench in a garden with a pretty girl, complaining: “I can only stay fifteen minutes more.” This was supposed to teach the “relativity of time” to the public. As we have seen, this has nothing to do with Einstein’s theory. Such popularizations, which distorted and made the theory trivial, vexed Einstein more than the attacks on him.

  In Berlin people also amused themselves with anecdotes from England. For instance, an imaginary conversation between Einstein and Bernard Shaw was described in which the skeptical author asks: “Tell me, my dear Einstein, do you really understand what you wrote?” And Einstein, smiling at him, replies: “As much as you understand your things, dear Bernard.”

  At this time the desire for a short, easily comprehensible presentation of the theory of relativity led an American who was living in Paris and who had been impressed by the London reports on the solar eclipse expeditions to offer a prize of five thousand dollars for the best essay on Einstein’s theory in not more than three thousand words. Attracted by the remuneration of five dollars for three words, many entered the contest, and, indeed, it was rather difficult to find judges, since everyone acquainted with the subject preferred to enter the contest. Einstein remarked playfully: “I am the only one in my entire circle of friends who is not participating. I don’t believe I have the ability to accomplish the task.” On June 21, 1921, out of the three hundred essays submitted, the prize was awarded to a sixty-one-year-old Irishman, a native of Dublin, who like Einstein had been employed in a patent office for a long time (in London), and who was a dilettante in physics. It can hardly be said that his essay was better than those of his competitors, nor did it have any further influence in spreading an understanding of the relativity theory. The public remembered only the fact that someone had been able to earn five thousand dollars by means of it, and concluded that it must therefore be worth the effort of studying it.

  In the fall of 1921 an important step was taken to investigate another of the astronomical conclusions of Einstein’s theory. Dr. Bosch, the director of I. G. Farben, the greatest chemical concern in Germany, that was outstanding in the production of synthetic dyes, medicaments, and explosives, donated a large sum of money for the erection at Potsdam of an institute to be connected with the Astrophysical Observatory, where the color composition of solar rays could be investigated with great precision. It will be recalled that from his theory of gravitation Einstein had predicted that the color of light coming to us from the stars depends on the intensity of the gravitational field through which the rays pass. This prediction was to be verified by exact observations.

  The astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich was appointed director of this institute. The laboratory was built in the form of a tower and the architectural design was in the characteristic modern Berlin style of that period, so that the result was a cross between a New York skyscraper and an Egyptian pyramid. The tower became generally known as the Einstein Tower. Its appearance alone was enough to excite the ire of the nationalistic groups who preferred a style more reminiscent of German medieval models or at least of classical antiquity.

  Through a strange concatenation of circumstances, the Einstein Tower was under the control of Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, a brother of the famous general Ludendorff who for a long time collaborated with Adolf Hitler. At that time the astronomer Ludendorff still permitted the investigation of solar light on the basis of Einstein’s theory. He satisfied his nationalistic sentiments by endeavoring to prove that Copernicus was a German and not a Pole, even though his monument stood in Warsaw.

  On June 24, 1922 Walther Rathenau, then minister of foreign affairs, was murdered by several fanatical students. This murder revealed the preparations for the revolution from the Right, and even those who consciously or unconsciously ignored the background of this crime were compelled to take a more serious view of the matter. The effect on Einstein was more intense than on the general masses because through his insight and instinctive perception it had become clear to him that sincere allegiance to the German Republic was confined to a small group; beneath it yawned a hate-filled abyss.

  Einstein had been acquainted with Rathenau and had liked this man whose breadth of vision was so rare among German politicians. Rathenau, a descendant of a rich Jewish family in Berlin, had been the motive force behind the planned economy in Germany during the war. After the proclamation of the Republic, Rathenau had played an important part as an economic adviser to the government, and through his international reputation he had been able to perform various services in aid of its foreign policy. During the government of the Catholic Chancellor Wirth, Rathenau had accepted the position of Foreign Minister and by concluding the Treaty of Rapallo had entered into friendly relations with Soviet Russia. This treaty served to stamp him as a “Bolshevik,” and moreover, being a Jew, he had become extremely unpopular with the monarchists and the advocates of the “revolution from the Right.”

  The republican government ordered the day of Rathenau’s burial to be observed as a day of mourning and ordered all schools and theaters to remain closed. At the universities lectures were canceled, but Philipp Lenard, the Heidelburg physicist who has already been mentioned as an opponent of Einstein, refused to obey the order. While the Socialist workers marched through the city and organized protest meetings against the murderers and their reactionary supporters, Lenard demonstratively gave his regular lecture. A number of students who sympathized with the assassins listened to him with enthusiasm. A group of workers passing by the building saw the lecture going on and, regarding this as a demonstration in favor of the murderers, entered the building and dragged Lenard out with them. As they passed over the Neckar River some of them attempted to throw Lenard into the water, but the moderates prevented them and turned him over to the police, who immediately released him.

  In the eyes of all Germany these events linked the fight against Einstein’s theory with the struggle against the republican regime. Rumors began to spread that in the search for Rathenau’s murderers a list had been found containing the names of other persons who were to be the future victims of the same group, and the list was supposed to contain Einstein’s name. The police denied the rumors, but a feeling of uneasiness concerning Einstein’s person began to spread. Einstein himself, with his belief in the inevitable in the universe, had no inclination for superstitious presentiments and fears and was not affected. But the reaction on those about him was all the greater.

  Every year the annual meeting of German scientists and physicians took place in September. This year a special celebration was planned, as it was the centennial meeting. It was to be held in Leipzig. Because during the past few years he had contributed most to increase the prestige of German science throughout the world, Einstein was invited as keynote speaker to emphasize the special character of the occasion. He would have liked to accept the invitation, but in the troubled and uneasy atmosphere that prevailed after the Rathenau murder he did not wish to make any public appearances and declined to participate. Nevertheless, the executive committee of the society insisted on presenting lectures by other scientists on the significance of Einstein’s theory, one by the physicist Max von Laue, the other by the philosopher Moritz Schlick.

  Because of the spread
ing sentiment in favor of violence, and as a result of his own adventure as well, Lenard felt himself compelled and encouraged to protest against the meeting of the German scientists in Leipzig. In his opinion, by arranging for lectures on Einstein’s work, the society of German scientists was carrying on propaganda against the revolutionists of the Right and on behalf of the group to which the “justly” murdered Rathenau belonged. Lenard assembled a group of people who drew up a protest against the meeting of the German scientists, which was sent to all the newspapers and distributed in Leipzig at the doors of the lecture halls.

  Lenard did not succeed, however, in inducing any of the creative German physicists to sign his protest. Once again it was only the same three types of persons who had taken part in the meetings at the Berlin Philharmonie.

  8. France

  Einstein’s travels had contributed somewhat to improve the relations between the scientists of Germany and those of America and England. This was agreeable to the government of the German Republic and to the German scientists, but was very annoying to all those groups that endeavored to maintain the idea that in western Europe the Germans were looked down upon as an inferior nation and there was a desire to destroy their culture. The effect of this “atrocity propaganda” was disturbed by the reports of the friendly reception granted to Einstein. It had long been discussed whether Einstein would now be bold enough to visit Paris, the capital of Germany’s “mortal enemy.” It had been rumored that scientific groups in France were trying to induce Einstein to make such a visit, so as to be able to discuss the new theories with him personally. They had also been greatly admired in France, but many persons had found it very difficult to understand them. Thus the French mathematician Paul Painlevé, who as Minister of War during the World War, and later as Premier and President of the French Chamber of Deputies, played a leading role in French politics, was much interested in Einstein’s work, but misinterpreted it at many points and attacked it because of this misunderstanding. Later he withdrew all his objections. The great French physicist Paul Langevin, who immediately grasped the meaning of the Einsteinian theories, once remarked to me: “Painlevé studied Einstein’s work very closely, but unfortunately not until after he had written about it. Perhaps he is used to this sequence from politics.”

  Langevin was not only a sagacious scientist but also an active participant in every enterprise intended to advance international conciliation. At the Collège de France, the highest scientific school in France, he presented a resolution to invite Einstein to come to Paris. For this purpose he proposed to use the income of an endowment that had been employed to invite other outstanding foreign scientists to lecture at this institution. The resolution was warmly supported by Painlevé. There was some opposition, however. The nationalists did not want the reception of a German scientist to arouse an impression that any diminution of their hatred was possible. With all sorts of threats they tried to induce Langevin and his friends not to extend the invitation, just as the analogous groups in Germany attempted to force Einstein to reject it. At that time, however, neither of these two groups was yet strong enough to achieve its aim. Einstein accepted the invitation extended by the Collège de France, and toward the end of March 1922 he went to Paris.

  Langevin, the physicist, and the astronomer Charles Nordmann went ahead to Jeumont on the Belgian border to meet Einstein and traveled with him to Paris. During the trip they discussed the scientific and political questions connected with this visit. In the course of this conversation they asked Einstein for his opinion on the aims and influence of the Left in German political and cultural life. “Well,” replied Einstein, “what is superficially called the Left is actually a multidimensional structure.” Einstein already felt that the roads to the Right and to the Left might occasionally lead to the same end.

  Throughout the entire trip Langevin was rather worried. Before his departure from Paris it had been rumored that groups of the “Patriotic Youth” and other nationalistic groups would gather at the station and give Einstein an unfriendly reception. Both Langevin and the French officials did not want any disturbances of this kind to spoil Einstein’s visit. While on their way, Langevin asked for information about the situation in Paris. He received a telegram from the Paris police informing him that groups of excited young people were gathering at the Gare du Nord, where the trains from Belgium arrived. Since it was believed that they were the “patriots,” Langevin was advised to leave the train with Einstein on a sidetrack where no one expected him. They did so, and Einstein was quite happy to be able to slip away from the train through a side entrance of the station into the street without being bothered by reporters or cameramen, and to ride in the subway to his hotel unnoticed by anyone.

  At the Gare du Nord, however, a crowd of students who had gathered under the leadership of Langevin’s son to give Einstein an enthusiastic reception and to prevent possible hostile demonstrations by the “patriots,” waited in vain for his arrival. It was these admirers of Einstein whom the police had regarded as a hostile crowd, and it was from them that Einstein had fled.

  On March 31 Einstein gave his first lecture at the College de France. Only people with tickets were admitted, the tickets having been given only to persons who were known to have an actual interest in the subject and who would not attend simply to organize a hostile demonstration. Former Premier Painlevé stood at the door himself and watched to check that only people with invitations were admitted.

  Einstein spoke in the hall where great philosophers such as Ernst Renan and Henri Bergson had lectured before large audiences. Here it was easier than in England and America for him to come into contact with his audience, since he spoke French fluently and confidently, but with a slowness to which the French were unaccustomed and which together with his slight foreign accent gave his speech a certain charm and attractiveness — the charm of pensiveness combined with a trace of mystery. This slight trace of mystery contrasted with the evident effort to present everything as logically and clearly as possible, using as few technical expressions and as many metaphorical comparisons as possible. Many internationally known scholars and persons in public life attended the lecture, among them Madame Curie, the discoverer of radium, the great philosopher Henri Bergson, Prince Roland Bonaparte, and many others.

  Besides this public lecture there were sessions of the philosophical and mathematical society for scientists who wanted a detailed discussion where everyone could put questions to Einstein and raise all kinds of objections. Einstein answered every question thoroughly and many misunderstandings were cleared up.

  It was very strange that the Society of French Physicists did not take part officially in any of these arrangements even though many of its members naturally met Einstein. This attitude was determined chiefly by its nationalistic tendencies, which, it seems, are stronger among physicists and technicians, than among the more abstractly thinking mathematicians, astronomers, and scientific philosophers.

  As in Germany, a certain resistance among the “pure” experimental physicists may also have been involved. In France there were also “pure empiricists,” the kind of physicists about whom Einstein often remarked: “Everything that they learned up to the age of eighteen is believed to be experience. Whatever they hear about later is theory and speculation.”

  The famous Academy, which had been attacked and ridiculed for years in French literature as a center of all kinds of prejudices, likewise maintained its reputation on the occasion of Einstein’s visit. There were long discussions whether Einstein should or could be invited to give a lecture. Some members maintained that it was impossible because Germany was not a member of the League of Nations. Others, in turn, thought that such an invitation would give rise to a difficult question of etiquette. Since Einstein was not a member of the Academy, he could not sit among the members, but would have to sit in the audience. Such an unhonorable seat, however, could not be offered to so famous a man. Finally thirty members of the Academy stated very bluntly, wi
thout any subtle phraseology, that if Einstein entered the room, they would immediately leave. In order to spare his French friends any unpleasantness and annoyance, Einstein himself declined to participate in a session of the Academy.

  On this occasion a Paris newspaper inquired derisively: “If a German were to discover a remedy for cancer or tuberculosis, would these thirty academicians have to wait for the application of the remedy until Germany joined the League?”

  The reception in Paris had shown that the need for an understanding of the modes of thought and methods of work of different peoples and individuals existed among scientists in all countries, and could be satisfied if there were a few courageous men. It also became clear that everywhere the forces of ultra-nationalism waited only for a suitable occasion in order to appear on the surface. In order to be able to judge these events correctly one circumstance must not be forgotten. Exactly the same groups that protested violently against the reception of Einstein because he was a German became the most zealous proponents of a policy of “collaboration” with Germany after the Nazis had seized the power there. These French “patriots” prepared the French defeat of 1940 and the German domination of the Continent.

  In France just as in Germany it was evident that the attitudes of people to Einstein depended greatly on their political sympathies, since most of them made no serious effort to form an opinion about his theories. A famous historian at the Sorbonne put it as follows: “I don’t understand Einstein’s equations. All I know is that the Dreyfus adherents claim that he is a genius, while the Dreyfus opponents say he is an ass.” Dreyfus was a captain in the French army who in 1894 had been accused of treason by anti-Jewish propagandists. The affair developed into a struggle between the Republic and its enemies, and the entire country was divided into two camps, the defenders of Dreyfus and their opponents. “And the remarkable thing,” added this historian, “is that although the Dreyfus affair has long been forgotten, the same groups line up and face each other at the slightest provocation.”