When Albert became Einstein

Christian Bracco

Description

This book proposes an in-depth investigation carried out in Italy in young Albert Einstein's footsteps, since his attempt to enter the ETH Zurich in 1895 until his first doctoral work in 1901. We follow his family, who transferred his electrical engineering company from Munich to Milan, in the rich social, economic, political and industrial context of post-unified Italy; a milieu also familiar to Michele Besso, Albert's closest friend and collaborator, whom he met again daily in Milan on semester-breaks, after their first meeting in 1895. In Pavia, the parish register will lead us to Carlo Marangoni, the uncle of Ernestina (Albert's friend) and a specialist in capillarity phenomena. In Milan, we will discover the library of the Lombardo Institute, Academy of sciences and letters, where Albert worked for his bibliography.Old registers at the university and at the Polytechnic will draw our attention to his connection with Giuseppe Jung, one of Michele's uncles, an academician.

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This young Albert environment sheds a new light on his scientific remarks to his fiancée Mileva Marié: his first article on capillarity and molecular forces; his interest in wireless telegraphy; his search to evidence the motion of the Earth through the ether; his thesis extended to weakly compressed gases and even his early questionings on the nature of light. All of this we will discover in a trip round Lombardy in the beginning of the 19th century.

Table of Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1905, a “miraculous” year for Albert Einstein? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Two important witnesses: Mileva Marić and Michele Besso . . . . . . . . . . 3

Letters to Mileva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Correspondence with Michele Besso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Michele’s unsuccessful plea for a history of the genesis of Albert’s ideas . 7

Editorial plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 10

1. The Italian political and industrial context of the 19th Century 15

The Einsteins in Milan and Pavia: settlements and relationships . . . . . . 16

The short adventure of Einstein, Garrone & Cie (1894-1896) . . . . 16

Famous homes and political connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Historical context: Napoleonic and Risorgimento influences . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Cisalpine Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19

The insurrection of 1848 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21

The Risorgimento and the birth of a modern state . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The creation and role of the Lombard Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The newindustrial and economic framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Unificationand railways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The electrical industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 26

Insurance and the fate of workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The academic world and its links to the industrial sector . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Some examples of the creation of polytechnics (Turin, Milan, Rome) . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Italian Electrotechnical Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Hoepli and the development of Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2. The company of Jakob and Hermann Einstein in the international electrotechnical context – exhibitions and reviews.  . . . . . .. 35

Paris 1881,the first International Electricity Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The birth of a major exhibition devoted to electricity and its applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Electric lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39

Electric dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Rail transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 42

Medical and educational applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The first international congress of electricians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Munich 1882 and the Einsteins’ involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Vienna 1883 and electric meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Turin 1884 and the development of alternating current . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Frankfurt 1891, three-phase current and the Einsteins’ participation . . . 50

Electrotechnical magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3. Michele Besso and his family’s role in Italian industrialisation . 55

Michele Besso (1873-1955), Albert’s long-standing friend . . . . . . . . . . . 56

A brilliant young man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Constant links with Albert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

An endearing personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58

Albert and Michele meet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

The paternal branch of the Besso family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63

Giuseppe Besso (1839-1901), Michele’s father, humanist . . . . . . . . 63

Beniamino Besso (1840-1907), railway engineer and scientific author . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Marco Besso (1843-1920), the influential Chairman of General Insurance .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Davide Besso (1845-1906), mathematician and teacher . . . . . . . . . 68

The maternal branch of the Cantoni family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Vittorio Cantoni (1857-1930), civil Polytechnic engineer . . . . . . . 71

Giuseppe Jung (1845-1926), professor of graphic statics at the Milan Polytechnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

4. Albert’s environment in Pavia and preparations for ETH . . . . 75

Albert’s attempt to be admitted to ETH in October 1895, at the age of sixteen without a school-leaving certificate . .  76

The plan tobe admitted to ETH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

The letter to Galileo Ferraris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Intervention with Herzog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

The scientific memoir of 1895 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 79

The circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 79

The subject: the state of the ether in a magnetic field . . . . . . . . . . 80

What are the sources for the dissertation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

The Einsteins’ links with the University of Pavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Their partner Lorenzo Garrone and the mathematician Giulio Vivanti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Their partner Angelo Cerri, the oretical geodesy assistant . . . . . . . 84

Jakob Einstein, Otto Neustätter and the medical academics in Munich and Pavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Links with physicists at the University? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Social relations in Pavia: Ernestina Marangoni and her uncle Carlo, a physicist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Ernestina Marangoni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Carlo Marangoni, a renowned physicist and teacher . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Carlo Marangoni: a direct influence on the young Albert? . . . . . . . 92

5. Albert’s scientific environment in Milan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

The library of the Lombard Institute (1899-1901). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Michele’s work on wireless telegraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

The discovery of electromagnetic waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Giuseppe Jung’s library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

A thesis by Michele in 1900-1901? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

An example of following up on scientific questions: thermo electricity . . . 103

Albert’s professional worries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 106

Links with his father’s new company business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Looking fora position as a university assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Scientific protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 109

Albert’s lasting link with Giuseppe Jung through his personal library . ..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

The professor of chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute . . . . . . . . . 110

The Ansbacher family and the musical environment in Milan . . . . 111

6. Three Albert’s scientific questionings (1898-1901) in connection with his later 1905 work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

There current problem of the relative motion of matter and ether (1898-1901) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Reading Ernst Mach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 113

An attemptto demonstrate the relative motion of matter with respect to the ether . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Kyoto 1922 memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

The abandoned thes is on molecular forces (October 1900-December 1901) 118

Capillary phenomena and molecular forces in liquids . . . . . . . . . . 118

Extending the subject of the thesis to molecular forces in gases . . . 121

Max Reinganum’s article in the Lorentz Jubilee volume . . . . . . . . 122

Abandoning the thesis in February 1902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Questions about the nature of light and light quanta from 1901? . . . . . . 125

A final word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Index of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Selected bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Sujets

• Escuela Politécnica Federal de Zúrich
• ETH Zurich
• Lombardy
• Italy
• My Last Duchess
• École polytechnique fédérale de Zurich
• Milan
• Science
• Albert Einstein

Informations

• Publié par: EDP Sciences
• Date de parution: 18 avril 2024
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782759834815
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Preface by Tilman SAUER CHRISTIAN BRACCO When Albert became Einstein 1895-1901

When Albert became Einstein 1895-1901

CHRISTIAN BRACCO

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Christian BraccoAssociate Professor at the is Université Côte d’Azur and a research scientist in the Astronomical sciences team at the Paris Observatory. Trained as a physicist, he is a recognised specialist in the history of physics of the nineteen and early twentieth centuries in optics, electromagnetism and relativity. He lectures on the history of physics to undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, to future physics teachers and in physics-intensive doctoral schools.

ISBN : 978-2-7598-3480-8

www.edpsciences.org

Christian Bracco

When Albert became Einstein

1895-1901

Cover illustrations : at the top, from left to right, photograph of Mileva Marić, the logo of Istituto Lombardo (© Istituto Lombardo, Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, Palazzo Landriani, Via Borgonuovo, 25 - 20121 Milano), photo- graph of Michele Besso (© Pierre-Luc Besso); in the center, photograph of Albert Einstein (ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Portr_03142).

Quand Albert devient Einsteinoriginally published in French in 2017. was This translation is published by arrangement with CNRS Éditions. © CNRS Éditions, 2017

© For the English translation, EDP Sciences, 2024

Printed in Europe

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broad-casting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data bank. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is only permitted under the provisions of the French Copyright law of March 11, 1957. Violations fall under the prosecu- tion act of the French Copyright law.

ISBN (print): 978-2-7598-3480-8 – ISBN (ebook): 978-2-7598-3481-5

Preface

One of the outstanding challenges in the history of science is to account for the sudden burst of creativity in 1905 of the young Albert Einstein, then a virtually unknown expert on electrotechnology and technical clerk at the Swiss Federal Office for Intellectual Property in Berne. Within the period of a few months, Einstein submitted to theAnnalen der Physik, the leading physics journal of the time, five papers that have been said to have “changed the face of physics”. The first of these papers reintroduced the notion of discrete light quanta into physical theory, the second established methods to determine the size of molecules and of Avogadro’s number and served as a doctoral thesis for the young Einstein, the third explained Brownian motion by a novel statistical reasoning, the fourth established the special theory of relativity and the fifth introduced the equivalence of energy and inertial 2 mass, later epitomized in the ubiquitous formulaEmc. By all accounts, this was a trueannus mirabilisin the history of physics like the short period in 1665–67, when the young Isaac Newton, during the Plague years, went back to his little hometown of Woolsthorpe and invented differential calculus, explained the spectral composition of light, and con- ceived of a general law of gravitation. How can we give a historical account of such extraordinary feats of cre- ativity if not by throwing up our hands, admitting defeat and reverting to invoking a notion of divine genius? If it is possible at all, any adequate historical response to this challenge depends on a careful analysis of the pertinent context. Unfortunately, in Einstein’s case precious little contempo- rary documentation is extant as far as direct sources, correspondence, notes, manuscripts are concerned. For a long time, it seemed like the meticulous and thorough edition of the first volume of theCollected Papers of Albert Einstein, published in 1989, had exhausted our possible sources relevant to account for the coming of age of the young Einstein. In particular, thelove lettersbetween Einstein and his fiancée and first wife, Mileva Einstein-Marić turned out to be a treasure trove of information about the intellectual development of Einstein during his undergraduate studies at the Zurich Polytechnic. But it is in the nature of editorial projects that they focus on the pro- claimed author whose writings they wish to make available to an interested reader. Any relevant context provided in an editorial project is necessarily

IV

When Albert became Einstein

focussed and filtered. A number of historical accounts of the young Einstein’s intellectual development have been published based on the publication of that first volume of theCollected Papers. Those accounts also introduced new pertinent context, depending on their respective point of view. The present study by Christian Bracco presents a whole new dimension of relevant historical context for an intellectual biography of Einstein. The result of many years of research, this book illuminates the wider context of Einstein’s upbringing in a world of technical entrepreneurship, economical investments, intellectual stimulation, especially in late nineteenth century Italy. Going back to Einstein’s family and their social connections and embed- dedness in a broader intellectual and historical context, Bracco offers a wealth of circumstantial evidence for possible influences that shaped his mind. While Einstein’s Swiss years, his studies at the Polytechnic in Zurich, where he met Mileva and his subsequent work in Berne are comparatively well researched, not much has in fact been known about the early Italian con- text of his youth and adolescence. But as the present study shows, there are many interesting facets of Einstein’s and his family’s connections with Pavia and Milano, where his father and uncle engaged in the booming electrotech- nical industry of the time. Following up on his family’s social, economical and industrial links to the Italian environment, Bracco presents many pos- sible influences that would have been absorbed by a budding curious mind. A key role is assigned here to Einstein’s friendship to the somewhat older Michele Besso and to his family, both on his father’s and his mother’s side. Among Besso’s relatives we find entrepreneurs, engineers, mathematicians, artists, authors, and university professors who would have known, inspired, and supported Einstein. Although a direct influence can rarely be docu- mented, it is more than likely that education and intellectual stimulation was provided privately in a milieu of technical industry, factory production and social relations to an upper class of late nineteenth century Italian society. Einstein’s own later involvement with technical patents and patents-based industry as well as the training of his own son Hans Albert in the gyro- compass factory of Hermann Anschütz testifies to this early influence and technic-industrial culture. If we want to understand how Albert became Einstein, we are invited here to take a step back and look at the broader context of what the world may have looked like to Albert when he was not yet Einstein.

Professor Tilman Sauer Institut für Mathematik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany

Table of Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905, a “miraculous” year for Albert Einstein? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Two important witnesses: Mileva Marić and Michele Besso . . . . . . . . . . Letters to Mileva. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Correspondence with Michele Besso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michele’s unsuccessful plea for a history of the genesis of Albert’s ideas . Editorial plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . th 1. The Italian political and industrial context of the 19 Century The Einsteins in Milan and Pavia: settlements and relationships . . . . . . The short adventure of Einstein, Garrone & Cie (1894-1896). . . . Famous homes and political connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Historical context: Napoleonic andRisorgimentoinfluences . . . . . . . . . . The Cisalpine Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The insurrection of 1848. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Risorgimento and the birth of a modern state. . . . . . . . . . . . The creation and role of the Lombard Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The new industrial and economic framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unification and railways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The electrical industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Insurance and the fate of workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The academic world and its links to the industrial sector . . . . . . . . . . . Some examples of the creation of polytechnics (Turin, Milan, Rome). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Italian Electrotechnical Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoepli and the development of Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. The company of Jakob and Hermann Einstein in the international electrotechnical context – exhibitions and reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paris 1881, the first International Electricity Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . The birth of a major exhibition devoted to electricity and its applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric dynamos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rail transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical and educational applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The first international congress of electricians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 3 3 5 7 10 15 16 16 17 19 19 21 22 23 25 25 26 27 28

29 31 32

35 37

37 39 41 42 43 43

VI

When Albert became Einstein

Munich 1882 and the Einsteins’ involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vienna 1883 and electric meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turin 1884 and the development of alternating current . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frankfurt 1891, three-phase current and the Einsteins’ participation . . . Electrotechnical magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Michele Besso and his family’s role in Italian industrialisation . Michele Besso (1873-1955), Albert’s long-standing friend . . . . . . . . . . . A brilliant young man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constant links with Albert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An endearing personality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert and Michele meet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The paternal branch of the Besso family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuseppe Besso (1839-1901), Michele’s father, humanist. . . . . . . . Beniamino Besso (1840-1907), railway engineer and scientific author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marco Besso (1843-1920), the influential Chairman of General Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Davide Besso (1845-1906), mathematician and teacher. . . . . . . . . The maternal branch of the Cantoni family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vittorio Cantoni (1857-1930), civil Polytechnic engineer. . . . . . . Giuseppe Jung (1845-1926), professor of graphic statics at the Milan Polytechnic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Albert’s environment in Pavia and preparations for ETH . . . . Albert’s attempt to be admitted to ETH in October 1895, at the age of sixteen without a school-leaving certificate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The plan to be admitted to ETH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The letter to Galileo Ferraris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intervention with Herzog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The scientific memoir of 1895. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The circumstances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . The subject: the state of the ether in a magnetic field. . . . . . . . . . What are the sources for the dissertation?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Einsteins’ links with the University of Pavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Their partner Lorenzo Garrone and the mathematician Giulio Vivanti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Their partner Angelo Cerri, theoretical geodesy assistant. . . . . . . Jakob Einstein, Otto Neustätter and the medical academics in Munich and Pavia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Links with physicists at the University?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social relations in Pavia: Ernestina Marangoni and her uncle Carlo, a physicist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernestina Marangoni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlo Marangoni, a renowned physicist and teacher. . . . . . . . . . . Carlo Marangoni: a direct influence on the young Albert?. . . . . . . 5. Albert’s scientific environment in Milan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The library of the Lombard Institute (1899-1901). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michele’s work on wireless telegraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The discovery of electromagnetic waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44 46 47 50 52 55 56 56 57 58 60 63 63

64

66 68 70 71

73 75

76 76 77 78 79 79 80 81 83

83 84

86 87

89 89 90 92 95 96 99 99

Table of Contents

Giuseppe Jung’s library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A thesis by Michele in 1900-1901?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of following up on scientific questions: thermoelectricity . . . Albert’s professional worries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Links with his father’s new company business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Looking for a position as a university assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scientific protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert’s lasting link with Giuseppe Jung through his personal library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The professor of chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute. . . . . . . . . The Ansbacher family and the musical environment in Milan. . . . 6. Three Albert’s scientific questionings (1898-1901)in connection with his later 1905 work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The recurrent problem of the relative motion of matter and ether (1898-1901) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading Ernst Mach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An attempt to demonstrate the relative motion of matter with respect to the ether. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kyoto 1922 memories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The abandoned thesis on molecular forces (October 1900-December 1901) Capillary phenomena and molecular forces in liquids. . . . . . . . . . Extending the subject of the thesis to molecular forces in gases. . . Max Reinganum’s article in the Lorentz Jubilee volume. . . . . . . . Abandoning the thesis in February 1902. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Questions about the nature of light and light quanta from 1901? . . . . . .

A final word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selected bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VII

101 102 103 106 106 107 109

109 110 111

113

113 113

115 116 118 118 121 122 124 125

131 133 135 141