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Albert Einstein Refers to "The Theory of Relativity" an Explanation of How the "constancy of the speed of light" and "rotation of the earth" - a Fantastic Letter!
Albert Einstein Refers to "The Theory of Relativity" an Explanation of How the "constancy of the speed of light" and "rotation of the earth" - a Fantastic Letter!
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Einstein Albert

 

Albert Einstein Refers to “The Theory of Relativity,” an Explanation of How the “constancy of the speed of light” and “rotation of the earth” – a Fantastic Letter!

 

ALBERT EINSTEIN, Autograph Draft Initialed, to George Aristotle Solounias, [ca. April 7, 1953, Princeton, New Jersey]. In German; in bottom margin of second page of Solounias to Einstein, March 29, 1953; with envelope postmarked April 8, 1953.  1 p., 8.5" x 11.25".


Partial Transcription Solounias’s Letter

            Therefore, from the results of the above described direct experiment, we may draw the sure conclusion that the velocity of light is independent, or not, of the velocity of the source.

Dear Professor,

            Since Michelson-Morley experiment accepts – as I have proved – a newtonian explanation and consequently, it may be considered as proving directly the addition of the velocity of light to that of the source, and since Your Special Theory of Relativity is based essentially on this experiment, contrarily explained by You, the necessity of performing of a direct experiment is imperative. For this aim, I hope that my present proposition will probably help the solution of the problem.

            Hopping [Hoping] to receive an answer from You on the matter,

            I remain,

                                                                        Sincerely Yours,

                                                                        G Salounias.

 

Complete Translation of Einstein’s Draft Response

            The experimental arrangement proposed here is not useful in that the light emitted from an extended light source in opposite directions cannot be brought to a state of interference due to the difference in light paths.

            Apart from that, the experiment agrees with that carried out by Sagnac, which allows the experimental result to be calculated correctly based on the assumption of the constancy of the speed of light (with reference to the inertial system) (see Laue’s bookx). Compare it also with the ingenious experiment of Michelson, which needs the rotation of the earth.

                                                                        E.

x M. v. Laue The Theory of Relativity, J. Friedr. Vieweg & son Brunswick 1952.

                                                               

Historical Background
Scientists long believed that just as waves in water move in the water and sound waves move in the air, light waves also needed a substance in which to move. In the eighteenth century, scientists named this substance “aether” and believed it filled the vacuum of space. In 1887, Albert A. Michelson and Edward Morley developed a device called an interferometer to attempt to prove the existence of aether by measuring the “aether wind” through which the earth moved. They proposed to measure the speed of light traveling in different directions to see what effect the aether wind had on different beams of light. Their results that there were no substantial differences puzzled scientists, who responded with new theories to explain the results of Michelson-Morley experiment.

 

In 1905, Albert Einstein developed his special theory of relativity, using the Lorentz factor (the factor by which time, length, and mass change for an object moving at speeds close to the speed of light), developed by Hendrik Lorentz (1853-1928). Einstein explained the results of the Michelson-Morley experiment by considering the measurement of the speed of light to be a constant by definition, or a law of nature. Considering the speed of light to be a constant led to revisions in the concepts of space and time.

 

In special relativity, an object’s mass (m), total energy (E), and momentum (p) are related by the speed of light constant (c) according to the equation:

            E2 = p2c2 + m2c4

If an object is at rest (p=0), the equation simplifies to the familiar:

            E0 = mc2

 

Albert Einstein fled Nazi Germany in 1932, and in 1933, he emigrated to the United States, where he joined the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

In the fall of 1952, George A. Solounias corresponded with Einstein regarding the nature of light and whether its speed varied. In his special theory of relativity, Einstein had posited that the speed of light was constant, and he continued to reject Solounias’s suggested experiments.

 

In March 1953, Solounias proposed another experiment to determine whether the speed of the source of the light altered the resulting speed of light, but again Einstein rejected the experiment as “not useful” in part because light emitted from a distant source traveled in different directions and could not “be brought to a state of interference” and also because it replicated experiments performed by French physicist Georges Sagnac (1869-1928), who lent his name to the “Sagnac effect” in 1913. This phenomenon manifests itself when a beam of light is split and the two beams follow the same path in opposite directions, displaying interference when recombined. Sagnac concluded from his experiments that light propagates at a speed independent of the speed of the source, which is consistent with Einstein’s theory of relativity. German physicist Max von Laue (1879-1960) had predicted the Sagnac effect theoretically in 1911. In this note, Einstein refers Solounias to the fifth revised edition of von Laue’s book Die Relativitatstheorie (The Theory of Relativity), published in 1952.

 

In response to a query in May 1953 from E. Noe about the Miller experiments relating to the Michelson and Morley experiment, Einstein employed one of his favorite aphorisms: “God is refined but he is not malicious.” Einstein made the remark when he first visited Princeton University in 1921 and was told that a new experiment had upset his theory of relativity. He believed that the universe was orderly with predictable laws and generally rejected the unpredictability of quantum theory.

 

Einstein apparently sent his draft response in German directly to Solounias, rather than having it translated into English and typed for his signature, as he normally did. Ironically, Solounias could neither read nor speak German, so he likely had to have someone translate Einstein’s response for him.

 

 

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was born in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg in the German Empire to non-observant Ashkenazi Jewish parents. In 1894, the Einstein family moved to Italy. Einstein went to Switzerland to finish his secondary schooling, and graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zürich in 1900. In 1903, he married Mileva Maric (1875-1948), with whom he had two sons. In 1919, they divorced and he married his cousin Elsa Löwenthal. In 1905, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Zürich. From 1908 to 1932, he taught at a series of universities in Switzerland, the Austrian Empire, and the German Empire. As a theoretical physicist, he published ground-breaking papers as early as 1905 and developed the theory of relativity including the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc2. In 1922, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the photoelectric effect. In January 1933, when Adolph Hitler came to power, Einstein was visiting the United States and remained here, becoming a citizen in 1940. A year earlier, he signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning that Germany could develop a nuclear bomb, and urging the U.S. to become involved in uranium research, thus beginning the “Manhattan project.” Though he focused on the need to defeat Hitler during the war, afterwards he became known for efforts to further world peace. At the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., from 1933 until his death in 1955, he worked unsuccessfully to develop a unified field theory and to refute the accepted interpretation of quantum physics. Considered the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects of history, Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers and over 150 non-scientific works.

 

George Aristotle Solounias (1901-1981) was born in Pythagoreio of Samos, Greece, and received a high school education. He worked as a writer and as a businessman for land developer and importer Gerassimos Panas in Athens; he retired in the mid-1960s. Solounias was largely self-educated and was an amateur astronomer. He submitted several papers to the Academy of Athens about gravity and the solar system, and he published Paul, or the Search of the Absolute Truth (A Philosophical Dialogue) (1938, Greek), The Error of Newton (1939, Greek), Is There Universal Gravity? (1941, Greek), and The Origin of the Solar System: A New Theory (English, 1973). In addition to Einstein, Solounias also corresponded with J. Robert Oppenheimer between 1949 and 1964. Solounias married elementary school teacher Ioanna Katsimatidou (1908-1964) in 1933, and they had three children: Sibyl, who was a housewife and worked in a bank; Aristotle, who became a well-known artist; and Nikos, who is a professor of anatomy and evolutionary biology at the New York Institute of Technology and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History.

 

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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