John Stachel: Albert+Mileva -
collaboration failed - chronology
Reports
about Mileva Einstein 1996
(1a): John Stachel: Albert
Einstein and
Mileva Maric.
A
Collaboration
That Failed to
Develop - chronology
of the data
1815 appr.: Universities in
France allow women to study
as the first country in the world
(p.208) [9]
[9]
<See
Phyllis Stock,
"Better Than
Rubies: A
History of
Women's
Education"
(New York
1978, p.166;
cited
hereafter as
"Better Than
Rubies". There
also may have
been medical
reasons for
Maric's move,
since she had
been very ill
with a lung
disorder.>
Slav women often go to Paris if they
can speak French, e.g. like Marie
Sklodowska (p.208)
Canton of Zurich 1865 appr.:
Universities in the Canton of
Zurich allow women to study
as the second country in the world
(p.208) [9]
[9]
<See
Phyllis Stock,
"Better Than
Rubies: A
History of
Women's
Education"
(New York
1978, p.166;
cited
hereafter as
"Better Than
Rubies". There
also may have
been medical
reasons for
Maric's move,
since she had
been very ill
with a lung
disorder.>
Women with German language skills
come to Switzerland to study, e.g.
Rosa Luxemburg [11], as well as
Russian and southern Slavs from
Austria-Hungary [12] (p.208).
[11] For a discussion
of the first generation of Russian
women to study in Zurich, see
Christine Johanson, "Women's
Struggle for Higher Education in
Rusia, 1850-1900"
(Kingston/Montreal, 1987), p.51-58.
According to Johanson, while many
male students were hostile, "most
professors allowed no sexual
discrimination in the classroom"
(53).
[12] Indeed, pressure from Russian
women prompted Zurich to open its
doors (see "Better Than Rubies",
p.145). In the first decades after
the Swiss universities admitted
women, the large majority were
non-Swiss, mainly Slavs (see "Die
Frauenstudium").
Balkans 1875-1894:
Birth of Mileva Marić in the
location of Titel in Vojvodina, in
former Austria-Hungary
-- the mother is of Montenegrin
descent (p.207)
-- the father is Serbian, a middle
civil servant in the Hungarian part
of Austria-Hungary (p.207)
-- the father provides a high
education of Mileva, also 2 years at
the Royal High School in Zagreb
(p.207), where her father works
(p.208), she was sent as a private
student there (p.207)
-- in the physics class Mileva
receives highest marks in physics
and mathematics (p.208).
Zurich 1876: The Polytechnic
allows women to study
(p.208)
Polytechnic Zurich 1896: The
first woman completes her studies
in math and physics
in sector VI A (p.208)
[10]
See Schweizer
Verband der
Akademikerinnen,
"Die
Frauenstudium
an der
Schweizer
Hochschulen
(Zurich,
1928), cited
hereafter as
"Die
Frauenstidium"
[1880-1961:
Laws against
married women
in D + CH:
woman teacher
celibacy
1880-1951:
Female teacher
celibacy in
Germany:
Married women
are not
allowed to
teach in
Germany,
except from
1919-1923.
1903-1961:
Female teacher
celibacy in
the canton of
Zurich
So: Married
women who know
something
about sex were
demonized by
Sigmund Freud
as
"hysterical"
and considered
a danger.
see:
Mossad-Wikipedia:
woman teacher
celibacy
(German: Lehrerinnenzölibat)]
Zurich - Spring 1896: Mileva
graduates from a girls' school
(p.208)
Zurich - Spring to Summer 1896:
Mileva studies medicine for one
semester at the University of
Zurich
(S.208)
Zurich - Autumn 1896: Mileva
begins to study for math and
physics teachers at the
Polytechnic Zurich (Poly)
Sector VI A (p.208)
October 1896-1900: Einstein +
Mileva as a pair of physicists in
section VI A
John Stachel:
<Einstein
and Maric were the
only two physics
students to enter
Section VI A in
1896. Both took
basically the same
required courses,
but rather different
electives.>
(p.208) [13]
[13]
For his
"Matrikel"
(official
record), see
"Collected
Papers", vol.
1, doc. 28,
pp.45-50. Her
"Matrikel" is
in file no.
85,
"Rektoratsarchiv",
Eidgenössische
Technische
Hochschlule
(ETH).
1896-1900: Collaboration as
students learning together
1896-1900: student letters
-- Einstein and Mileva are
"enchanted" by the common love of
physics (p.212) [49]
[49]
See "Collected
Papers", vol.
1. For a more
detailed
discussion of
their
relationship
up to 1905,
see "Einstein
and Maric"
-- Einstein often reports
extensively on the books he reads
and often adds new ideas (p.212)
-- Mileva reports in the letters
soberly without new ideas in physics
(p.212) [50]
[50]
For her most
extensive
comment on
physics, see
"Collected
Papers", vol.
1, doc. 36,
last
paragraph,
p.59; for an
example of her
descriptive
powers, see
ibid., doc.
109,
pp.301-302
1896-1955: Einstein
kann KEINE hohe Mathematik
und will sie auch nie lernen (!!!)
1896-1955: Einstein is NOT
capable of high mathematics and
never wants to learn it (!!!)
Mr. Stachel says it himself:
<The
mathematics
involved [[from
Einstein!]] does
not go beyond
elementary
calculus, and it
seems ulikely that
Maric contributed
unique
mathematical
expertise to the
paper; one may
speculate that she
might have
suggested methods
of proving certain
results and/or
checked
calculations.>
(p.216)
Thesis by John
Stachel: Mileva is supposed to be
a "sounding board"
Stachel:
<In
discussing his
ideas,
Einstein
occasionally
called upon
her for help,
such as
finding data
to corroborate
them (see next
section); but
the letters
suggest that
the most
important role
she played in
their
intellectual
relationship
during these
years was
"that of a
sounding board
for Einstein's
ideas", as the
editors of the
Collected
Papers (myself
included) put
it. He had a
strong need to
clarify and
develop his
ideas in
dialogue with
others, a
"role also
played on
occasion by
his friends
Michele Besso
and Conrad
Habicht" after
his move to
Bern.>
[54]
1897: Mileva in Heidelberg for Math + Physics -
severe discrimination against women at the
University of Heidelberg?
John Stachel:
<During her second year,
she went to Heidelberg to attend
mathematics and physics lectures,
returning after one term.>
[14]
[14]
Trbuhovic-Gjuric
suggests, without any
evidence, that Maric left the
Poly in flight from her
intense romantic relationship
with Einstein (see "Im
Schatten Albert Eisnteins").
Their letters suggest that the
relationship was not yet very
intense (see "Collected
Papers", vol.1, esp. docs. 36
and 39). The brevity of
Maric's stay in Heidelberg may
be explained by Kaplan's
observation that "the first
women students at Heidelberg
... suffered from
extraordinary gener
discrimination" (Marion
Kaplan, "The Making of the
Jewish Middle Class: Women,
Families, and Identity in
Imperial Germany" [New York,
1991], p.149)
Polytechnic 1898: Mileva passes the intermediate
examination
She can use Einstein's lecture notes as preparation
[15]. John Stachel:
<As a result, she
passed the Poly's intermediate
examinations a year later than he
did, using his physics lecture
notes to help prepare."
[15]
[15] For
this information, see
"Collected Papers", vol. 1,
esp. docs. 50, 52, and 53
Zurich from 1898: Close relationship between
Einstein + Mileva - Jewish racist Einstein parents
are against it
John Stachel:
<After her return, the
two became very closely attached,
spending most of their time
together. [[But the racist Jewish
Einstein parents did not like this
connection]]: In spite of the firm
opposition of his parents to the
liaison [16] - an opposition that
led to dramatic clashes between
Einstein and his parents>
(S.208)
[16]
Hatred of the Jewish family Einstein
against Mileva
His parents' opposition
was based on Maric's age
(she was four years older
than Einstein), her
intellectuality, and
probably her Slavic
origins. His mother made
the first two objections
explicit: "By the time
you're 30 she'll be an old
witch." "Like you, she is
a book - but you ought to
have a wife" ("The Love
Letters", 20). Anti-Slav
prejudices are still
common in Germany, and
Einstein's parents had not
objected to his earlier
romance with a young
teacher of Swiss-German
background who was also
slightly older than he
(see "Collected Papers",
vol. 1, docs. 15, 18, and
32).
[The
Einstein
parents wanted
Einstein to
marry the
daughter from
the Jewish
Winteler
family, but
Einstein did
not want that
[web07]].
Summer
break 1899 (July 1899 approx.): Einstein
thinks that reading a book without Mileva
alone is "boring"
Quote:
"When I
read Helmholtz for the
firest time I could
not - and still cannot
- believe that I was
doing so without you
sitting next to me. I
enjoy working together
very much, and find it
soothing and less
boring." (p.212)
[51]
[51] "The
Love Letters", p.9
[It's clear that it's boring to read a book by
yourself in the summer ...]
Polytechnic - September 1899: Mileva takes
intermediate exams
-- Mileva takes the interim exams 1 year AFTER
Einstein using his physics notes (p.212)
-- Mileva CORRECTS Einstein's physics notes (!)
(p.212) [53]. Quote Stachel:
<Later that
year, Maric requested
his help in preparing
for her intermediate
examinations, which she
took a year after he did
(see the previous
section) [52].
Einstein's physics notes
contain a correction in
her hand, confirming
that she read them
carefully [53].>
(p.212)
[52] <"The Love Letters",
p.12-13>
[53] <See
"Collected Papers", vol.
1, doc. 37, p.139>
from 1900: Einstein + Mileva stay together -
study of other "classical works" private -
laboratory work
John Stachel:
<[...] the two
lovers resolved to live together
after graduation, marrying as soon
as economic circumstances permitted.
Their relationships included more
than romance; to supplement the
meager offerings of the Poly in
theoretical physics, they jointly
studied many classic works [17].
They also spent a great deal of time
working in the well-equipped
laboratories of Heinrich Friedrich
Weber, senior of the two professors
of physics.> (p.208)
[17]
<Einstein's letters to
Maric mention treatises by
Boltzmann, Drude, Helmholtz,
Kirchhoff, and Mach (see
"Collected Papers", vol. 1)>
1900+1901: Mileva fails the final exam twice -
Einstein 54 points - Mileva 44 points - Mileva is
said to have failed in math (???)
John Stachel:
<In 1900 both took the
final examinations. Her physics
grades were comparable to his, but she
got a decidedly lower grade in
mathematics; he passed
with an average of 4.91 out of a
possible 6, while she failed with an
average of 4.0 [18]. Still hopeful,
she reregistered the next year to
retake the final examinations.>
(p.208)
[Supplement:
Mileva's dispute with Dr.
Weber because of the
assistantship for Einstein
Mileva is in a big quarrel
with Dr. Weber, because Dr.
Weber rejects to give the
truant and rebel Einstein an
assistantship. It may be that
this behavior fighting for a
truant and rebel Einstein
provokes the bad marks for
Mileva, because Weber does not
want Mileva to be an assistant
either].
[18]
<See "Collected Papers",
vol. 1, doc. 67, p.247. The
three mathematics students in
[[the sector for math and
physic teacher]] VI A took
different exams.
Trbuhović-Gjurić ("Im Schatten
Albert Einsteins") does not
mention her failure to
graduate; Trömel-Plötz ("The
Woman Who Did Einstein's
Mathematics") ascribes it to
discrimination against women
at the Poly without mentioning
her grades; while Walker ("Ms.
Einstein") states, without
citing evidence, that "Marks
below 5.00 were probably
customarily below the passing
grade". Einstein with a total
of 54 points out of a possible
66, was one point short of
that average while Maric, with
a total of 44 points, was 11
points short.>
1900:
diploma thesis for heat conduction
Einstein and Mileva have to perform for Dr.
Weber new experimental techniques for heat
conduction, heat conduction if the research
focus of Dr. Weber. Mileva has a good feeling
[58]
<Prof.
Weber has accepted my proposal
for the diploma thesis, and
was even very satisfied with
it. I am very happy about the
investigations I'll have to do
for it. E[instein] has also
chosen a very interesting
topic.> [59]
And Einstein
writes Mileva about his version of the
investigation of heat conduction:
"For
the investigation of the
Thomson effect I have again
resorted to a different
technique, which is similar to
your method for determining
the dependende of K [the
coefficient of thermal
conductivity on T and
which also presupposes such an
investigation." [60]
[58]
This has
sometimes been
confused with
a doctoral
thesis. Maric
hoped to use
her diploma
thesis work as
the basis for
a doctorate,
but she was
never a
candidate for
that degree.
[59]
"Collected
Papers, vol.
1, doc. 63,
pp. 243-244;
translation
from the
supplementary
"English
Translation",
trans. Anna
Beck
(Princeton,
1987), p.138
[60] "The Love
Letters", p.30
Diplomarbeiten: für Mileva 4 -
für Einstein 4.5 - Aktenvernichtung im
Polytechnikum (ETH)
Diploma Theses: for Mileva 4 - for Einstein 4.5
- Document destruction in the Polytechnic (ETH)
-- Einstein gets for his diploma thesis a 4,5 (of
a maximum of 6), Mileva only a 4 (of a maximum of
6) (p.214) [61]
[61] <See
"Collected Papers, vol. 1,
doc.67>
[Conclusion:
Mileva is punished by Dr.
Weber for her
intervention. Weber did
not want to give to truant
and rebel Einstein an
assistant job. Mileva
wanted to enforce that Dr.
Weber gives Einstein an
assistant job - and then,
Dr. Weber also no longer
wanted to have Mileva as
an assistant].
-- The two diploma theses are not
published, but are destroyed. Stachel about
shredding files at ETH:
"Neither thesis
led to a publication and the
Poly routinely discarded
such student theses,
so an independent judgment
is impossible."
(S.214)
[Are the diploma
theses perhaps in the estate of Dr. med. Weber?]
<In retrospect,
Einstein characterized the topic
of their work harshly, as
"totally uninteresting to
me"> [62]
[62] See "Collected
Papers", note 33, p.244
1900-1901: Prof. Weber rejects Einstein as assistant -
other jobs outside of Zurich
-- Einstein and Mileva mean that Dr. Weber will be her
mentor "on the way to physics" (p.208)
-- Mileva continues to work for her diploma thesis in the
lab of Dr. med. Weber (p.208)
-- Mileva's diploma thesis should be the basis for a
doctoral degree (p.208)
<Both saw
Weber as their potential mentor in
the process of gaining entry to the
physics community. She continued to work
in Weber's laboratory on her diploma
thesis (see below), which she hoped to use
as the basis for an eventual
doctorate.>
[19] (p.208).
[19] In mid-1900, she
mentions "a large work ... that I
have chosen for myself as a Diploma
Thesis and probably also a Doctoral
Thesis" ("Collected Papers", vol. 1,
p.260, vol. II, p.5). In May 1901,
Einstein asks about her doctoral
thesis, advising her to use some of
Weber's work in it, "even if you
only seem to" (ibid., p.305).
-- Einstein says he will get an assistant job with Dr.
Weber and stay at the Polytechnic [[although he has
skipped a lot, has rebelled in the internships much, and
WITHOUT high math skills??!]], So: Einstein invents that
Dr. Weber had promised him an assistant position (p.208)
-- Einstein is working on his doctoral dissertation
(p.208)
[and all
maths solve Mileva for him, or it may even be that
Mileva is writing him the work]
-- but this Einstein has many "omissions" to show:
[[Einstein has skipped so much and in the internships he
has so much rebelled, and he still can not do high
mathematics]], so that Dr. Weber denied him an assistant
position (p.208)
-- when Dr. Weber is refusing [[the truant and rebel]]
Einstein a position as assistant, Mileva wants to change
Dr. Weber's mood fighting without end with Dr. Weber with
the goal that [[a truand and rebel without high maths]]
should yet receive an assistant position. Quote footnote
20 (from p.208):
[20] In May 1901,
Mileva Maric wrote [[to her friend
Helene]] Savic: "I have already
quarreled a couple of times with
Weber, but we're already used to
that" ("Collected Papers", vol. 1,
doc 109, p.303, my translation).
- [[the truant and rebel Einstein has earned such a bad
reputation]] that his applications for an assistant
position at all other universities are rejected
(p.208-209)
-- [[the truant and rebel]] Einstein and Mileva [[who
always does the math for Einstein, instead of teaching him
the high math (!!!), have acquired such a bad reputation
in Zurich]], so that they search in vain for a job in
Zurich and are rejected everywhere [21] (p.209)
[21] <See "Collected
Papers", vol 1, doc 87, p.275>
-- [[the truant and rebel without high mathematics]]
Einstein has to start small teacher jobs outside of Zurich
and has hardly any money (p.209).
[Factor: Einstein's parents:
Then there were the Einstein parents who did not want to
accept this Mileva: the Einstein parents blocked further
financial support if he would continue to stay with
Mileva [web07], and Dr. Weber denied the truant and
rebel Einstein the assistant position].
[Factor: Mileva's helper syndrome
Why this Mileva is not changing her partner, seems a big
question. With another, correctly working physicist
Mileva would probably have become much happier and would
have made a career. Accepting all disadvantages with
this Einstein it's proved: Mileva had a helper
syndrome].
The Einstein catastrophe is even more scalable (!):
1901: Einstein without money impregnates Mileva
This Einstein [[truant, rebel and without high
mathematics]] impregnates Mileva during the preparation
for the repetition of the diploma examination (p.209)
[One has to
imagine: Einstein impregnates the Mileva
WITHOUT money, WITHOUT house, WITHOUT a proper
job, and the Mileva does not even have a
diploma. And social insurance does not exist
yet. It is a crime what the Einstein does.
Einstein is CRAZY. Apparently Dr. Weber should
be blackmailed now: Mileva should receive a
diploma, or Weber will be blamed for the ruin
of the Einstein family. Balkan partisans think
so in these tactics ... When Dr. Weber knew
about her pregnancy, he for sure never will
permit to be blackmailed ...].
April 1901ca .: Mileva does not pass the diploma a
second time
-- Mileva vows, never to collaborate with Dr. Weber any
more (p.209).
[Theses: The reasons why Dr. Weber lets the
pregnant Mileva fail
Dr. Weber lets fail Mileva again - maybe: 1) Because he
has given the Mileva mean tasks, or: 2) Because Mileva
constantly falsified the performance of Einstein, or: 3)
Dr. Weber just did not want to have a wife as an
assistant, or: 4) When Weber was aware of her pregnancy,
then he does not permit to be blackmailed by a pregnant
woman for sure. What will be with the assistant position
when Mileva has a child? This Einstein and this Mileva
have now really confused the order in life. How were the
thoughts of Dr. Weber about Mileva, this should be
readable in minutes of the Polytechnic (from 1911 on
called ETH)].
-- Stachel says Mileva is now cut off from the "physics
community" and now becomes completely dependent on this
Einstein [[truant, rebel and math-non-proficient]]
(p.209).
[Well:
-- WITHOUT pregnancy, Mileva could have taken a
diploma at the University of Zurich or at any other
university in Switzerland
-- Mr. Stachel is concealing the main mistake of
Mileva: that Mileva did the math to the truant+rebel
Einstein instead of teaching him the high math (!!!)
- and it seems that Dr. Weber did not want to give a
diploma to such a faker woman and did not want to
have her as an assistant either - and when he knew
about her pregnancy he cut off all lines for not
having problems with her and a baby
-- and Mr. Stache conceals the criminality of
Einstein to get Mileva pregnant WITHOUT
diploma].
-- Einstein finds another mentor, now at the University of
Zurich, Alfred Kleiner, professor of physics there, and
starts his doctoral thesis [23].
[So:
again Mileva did
probably the high
maths for him, or is
even writing the
work for him or at
least parts of
it...]
[22]
See Protocol of
Section VI A, July
26, 1901, ETH
Library (Zurich).
Her average was
again 4.
[23]
Einstein first mentions Kleiner in
October 1900 ("Collected Papers",
vol 1, p.267); a year later, he
discussed the complete dissertation
(ibid., p.321). He withdrew it in
February 1902 (see ibid., doc. 132,
p.331), probably because of
objections by Kleiner, but they
stayed in contact. Einstein's
successful 1905 doctoral
dissertation was approved by
Kleiner, who helped him obtain his
first full-time academic post in
1909 (see below).
April-December 1901: Einstein's Jewish parents are
opposed to any marriage between Albert and Mileva
-- The Einstein parents write Mileva a letter with all
sorts of insults, so that Mileva escapes even more to
Einstein (p.209)
[The
Factors on Einstein's Parent's Letter to Mileva
It was probably communicated in this letter that the
Einstein parents will not give consent to the
marriage. Where is the letter of the Einstein
parents against Mileva from the year 1901? It is
probably full of Jewish racism against Christians.
At the same time Einstein does not explain to his
parents that he would not have graduated without
Mileva's math. Einstein hides his parents that he
can not do high math and that Mileva works for him].
April-December 1901: Einstein is substitute teacher -
Mileva travels to the Balkans
-- Einstein is substitute teacher outside Zurich and only
meets with Mileva at weekends (p.209)
-- to hide the pregnancy, Mileva then travels to the
Balkans to bear the child, who is referred to in letters
as "Lieserl" (p.209)
-- Mileva is desperate, while the truant, rebel and
non-math-proficient is promising Mileva a "rosy future"
stating that all this would be just a "difficult phase" in
life (p.209).
End of 1901: Einstein wants to legitimize the child
"Lieserl" after a possible marriage
(p.209) [27]
[27] Late in 1901,
after he was assured of a Patent
Office job, he wrote Maric: "The
only problem that still needs to be
resolved is how to keep our Lieserl
with us; I wouldn't want to have to
give her up. Ask your Papa, he's an
experienced man and knows the world
better than yur overworked,
impractical Johnny" ("Collected
Papers, vol. 1, doc. 127, p. 324,
translation from "The Love Letters",
p.68)
28.12.1901: Einstein invokes Mileva to continue to work
as a wife on science
Stachel:
<On
December 28, 1901, twenty-one-year-old
Albert Einstein assured hi fiancée Mileva
Maric [1]:
"When you're my dear little
wife, we'll diligently work on science
together so we don't become old
philistines, right? My sister seemed so
crass to me. You'd better not get that
way - it would be terrible."> [2]
(p.207)
[1] <She
sometimes used Marity, the
Hungarian form of her last
name; she followed Swiss
custom after her marriage,
using Einstein-Maric or
Einstein-Marity.>
[2] <"Albert Einstein and
Mileva Maric, The Love
Letters", trans. Shawn
Smith, etd. Jürgen Renn and
Robert Schulmann (Princeton,
1992), p.72-73, cited
hereafter as "The Love
Letters". Einstein's
correspondence, including
letters to and from Maric,
will also be cited from "The
Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein", vol. 1, "The
Early Years, 1879-1902", ed.
John Stachel et al.
(Princeton, 1987), and vol.
5, "The Swiss Years:
Correspondence, 1902-1914",
ed. Martin Klein et al.
(Princeton, 1993); cited
hereafter as "Collected
Papers, vols. 1 and 5>
Mileva in letters
about Einstein's diploma thesis
-- Mileva writes to her friend Helene Savić that
Einstein wrote a document "on the theory of fluids"
(p.214)
-- a private copy had been sent to Mr. Ludwig
Boltzmann to find out his opinion (p.214) [64]
[So there should be a copy at
the Boltzmann family]
[Probably it's like
this: Albert+Mileva have written an
article].
-- the work will be
published "soon in the Annals of Physics" (p.214) [63]
Zitat:
<Albert has written
a paper on physics that will
probably soon be published in the
physical Annals [63]. You can
imagine how proud I am of my dear
treasure. It is really no ordinary
work, but very significant, on the
theory of fluids. We
have sent a private copy to [Ludwig]
Boltzmann, and would really like to
know what he thinks of it, hopefully
he will write to us.> (p.214)
[64]
[63] <I.e., the
"Annalen der Physik"; it became his
first publiation (see "Collected
Papers", vol. 2, doc 1)>
[64] <"Collected Papers", vol. 1,
doc. 85, p.273, my translation>
from 1901: other
couples who work together successfully in physics
-- Marie Sklodowska and Pierre Curie (S.217) [80]
-- Paul Ehrenfest and Tatiana Afanasieva (S.217) [81].
[80]
Einstein and Maric
met Marie Curie only
after Pierre's
death. For her life,
see Eve Curie:
"Madame Curie",
trans. Vincent
Sheean (New York,
1937); Rosalind
Pflaum: "Grand
Obsession: Madame
Curie and Her World"
(New York, 1989);
and Helena M.
Pycior: "Marie
Curie's
'Anti-natural Path':
Time Only for
Science and
Familiy"; in:
"Uneasy Careers and
INtimate Lives:
Women in Science,
1798-1979", ed.
Pnina G. Abir-Am and
Dorinda Outram (New
Brunswick, N.J.,
1989), p.191-214
[81]
Both Einstein and
Maric knew Ehernfest
and Afanasieva. For
his life and their
relationship, see
Martin Klein: "Paul
Ehrenfest", vol. 1,
"The Making of a
Theoretical
Physicist"
(Amsterdam, 1970).
Klein cites an
obituary in Dutch,
but there is no
biography of
Afanasieva
There are strange similarities. Stachel says:
<There
are interesting similarities between
them and the Einsteins. All three
wives were Slavs with a higher
education living in milieus not free
of prejudice against educated women
[82]. All three husbands came from
secular backgrounds; Einstein and
Ehrenfest were Jews, raised in
South-German urban environments
(Munich and Vienna respectively),
who had yet to establish their
careers when they married [83].>
(p.217) [83].
[82]
Speaking of the
German milieu,
Kaplan notes: "the
popular stereotype
of the Russian
female student, who
was portrayed as a
radical, both
politically and
personally" ("The
Making of the Jewish
Middle Class",
p.147); and she
writes that
"bourgeois parents
displayed
extraordinary
ambivalence
regarding their
daughters'
aspirations. ... the
fear lingered that
educated daughters
would educate
themselves right out
of the marriage
market" (p.142)
[83]
Pierre had a
well-established
career in physics
when he met Marie
There
is also a striking contrast. In the
case of the Curies and Ehrenfests,
there is abundant contemporary
evidence of the importance of the
woman's role in their joint work,
and each wife pursued a scientific
career after her husband's death:
Maric, of course, did not pursue a
scientific career before or after
her separation from Einstein, but we
see it cannot have been because of
the impossibility of such a career.
from 1901: Albert Einstein is blocking Mileva's career
- Pierre Curie and Paul Ehrenfest pay attention to the
career of their wives
Stachel is indicating:
-- A married woman had to subordinate to the man around
1900, and so did Mileva to Einstein (p.219) [87.88]
-- Einstein also blocked Mileva by his silence, thus
blocking her from the "world of physics" (p.219)
-- Einstein helps with household chores [89] and continues
to include her in his work, but never honors her (p.219)
-- Pierre Curie and Paul Ehrenfest, on the other hand,
endeavored to publicly acknowledge the common work with
their wives [90] in order to share the success, of what
the [[criminal]] Einstein constantly avoided until his
death (p.219)
[87] See, e.g., Lewis
Pyenson: "Einstein's Early
Scientific Collaboration"; in:
"Historial Studies in the Physical
Sciences 7 (1976), p.84-123
[88] I am indebted to Pnina
Abir-Am for this insight
[89] See, e.g., the accunt by his
son Hans Albert, cited in "Private
Lives", p.129
[90] For the Curies, See Helena M.
Pycior: "Reaping the Benefits of
Collaboration While Avoiding Its
Pitfalls: Marie Curie's Rise to
Scientific Prominence"; in: "Social
Studies of Science" 3 (1993):
p.301-323. There is no study of the
collaboration between the
Ehrenfests, but I can cite a few
indications of his efforts. Of the
two articles they wrote jointly in
1906, the first is signed Tatiana
and Paul Ehrenfest, the second is
signed Paul and Tatiana Ehrenfest
(see Paul Ehrenfest: "Collected
Scientific Papers", ed. Martin Klein
[Amsterdam / New York, 1959], p.107,
127). Their joint article on the
foundation of statistical mechanics
in the prestigious "Encyklopaedie
der Mathematischen Wissenschaften"
states: "The critical review and
systematization of the results of
all fundamental investigations was
carried out by the authors in common
work. P. Ehrenfest bears the
ultimate responsibility for the
final editing" (p.213).
[We see: the husband was
responsible for the wife's career
- and the criminal Einstein and
the Jewish-racist Einstein family
destroyed ALL of Mileva because
she was not Jewish and Einstein
concealed the role of Mileva with
high mathematics: Einstein did not
want to confess to his parents
that he was a 0 in high maths
(!)].
Albert + Mileva
work together in 1901-1905: the "we" mode and the
"our" mode in the letters
The work in question is a
theory of molecular forces. Discussing
this work, Einstein wrote Maric:
"The
results on capillarity I recently
obtained in Zurich seem to be
entirely new despite their
simplicity. When we're
back in Zurich we'll try to get some
empirical data on this subject from
[Professor] Kleiner [of the
University of Zurich]. If this
yields a law of nature, we'll
send the results to Wiedemann's
Annalen [der Physik]." [65] [p.214]
Maric's
second letter discusses the doctoral
thesis based on the same theory that
Einstein submitted to the University
of Zurich in 1902 and then withdrew
[[because Mileva has
written too much in
it?]] [66]:
"Albert
has written a splendid work that he
has submitted as a dissertation. In
a couple of months he will probably
receive the doctorate. I have read
it with great pleasure and true
admiration for my dear little
treasure, who has such a clever
head. When it is printed, I will
send you a copy. It deals with the
investigation of molecular forces in
gases on the basis of various known
phenomena. He is really a splendid
fellow." [67]
In both
letters, Maric states that the works
were written by Einstein, claiming no
role in the formulation of the theory;
he also speaks of his results [68].
Nevertheless, in discussing this work
both slip easily into the "we"
mode, which should be kept
in mind when evaluating similar uses
of the first-person pluarl in his
letters.
[65]
Ibid., doc. 79, p.267, my
translation
[66] See "Collected Papers", vol. 1,
doc. 132, p.331
[67] Ibid., doc. 125, p.320, my
translation [p.333]
[68] It has been suggested that she
attributed her work to him. But it
is hard to see why she would do so
in private letters to a close
personal friend. If the expressions
of admiration in these letters were
meant to characterize her own work,
they would give a most unpleasant
impression of her character. If we
accept her word that she picked her
final diploma thesis topic, I see no
reason to doubt it when she says he
wrote the articles in question.
[So, why did Einstein destroy his
manuscripts?]
The most notabe of these is
a reference to "our work"
on a problem of much greater
significance than his theory of
molecular forces (see below), one of the
complex of problems that led to the
special theory of relativity, and the
passage has been cited to support claims
that Maric was coauthor of that theory
[69]. Leaving aside the fact that his
letter was written in 1901, whereas the
theory was not finished until 1905, it
is important to put the passage into
context.
Physics aroused emotions in Einstein
that, during the early state of their
courtship, he felt impelled to share
with Maric, come what may. For example,
soon after she told him she was pregnant
- surely a difficult time for both - he
opened a letter as follows:
"I have
just read a wonderful paper by Lenard.
... Under the influence of this
beautiful piece I am filled with such
happiness and such joy that I
absolutely must share some o it with
you. Be happy and don't fret,
edarling. I won't leave you and
will bring everything to a happy
conclusion." [70]
It is striking how many f
his few references to joint work were
penned at difficult moments in their
relationship, amid reassureances of his
love and devotion. For example, Einstein
referred to "our work on relative
motion" after he left Zurich to stay
with his parents, whom she knew to be
violently opposed to their engagement.
Here is the context:
"You are
and will remain a shrine for me to
which no one has access; I also know
that of all people, you love me the
most, and understand me the best. I
assure you that no one here would
dare, or even want, to say anything
bad about you. I'll be so happy and
proud when we are
together and can bring our work on
relative motion to a successful
conclusion! When I see other preople I
can really appreciate how special you
are." [71]
His words here are moving
in their emotional intensity, but
provide no clue about her
contribution to "our work".
Elsewhere in his letters, he [p.215]
does mention specific ideas about
"relative motion" and many other topics
in physics, but he always refers to his
own work. Here is an example:
"I'm
busily at work on an electrodynamics
of moving bodies, which promises to be
quite a capital piece of work. I wrote
to you that I doubted the correctness
of the ideas about relative motion.
But my reservations were based on a
simple calculational error. Now I
believe in them more than ever." [72]
[69] See
the articles by Walker
and Trömel-Plötz cited
in note 5
[70] "The Love
Letters", p. 54
[71] Ibid., p.39
[72] Ibid., p.69
The Copyright crimes 1901-1919: Einstein NEVER
mentioned Mileva or NEVER wrote about her
-- cr. Einstein refuses recognition of Mileva's
collaboration in all works from 1901-1919 for nearly two
decades (p.207)
-- cr. Einstein does not write an own book about Mileva in
recognition (p.207) [4]
Stachel:
<
Yet, in almost two decades
together [3], during which h became a
leading theoretical physicist and
published dozens of papers [4], he never
acknowledged her help in any of them, nor
did she publish anything of her own. What
went wrong?>
(S.207)
[3] <They met in
1896, married in 1903, separated
in 1914, and divorced in 1919
>
[4] <For his publications
during this period, see "The
Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein", vol. 2, "The Swiss
Years: Writings, 1900-1909", ed.
John Stachel et al. (Princeton,
1989); vol. 3, "The Swiss Years:
Writings, 1909-1911", ed. Martin
Klein et al. (Princeton 1993);
and vol. 4, "The Swiss Years:
Writings, 1912-1914", ed. Martin
Klein et al. (Princeton, 1995);
cited hereafter as "Collected
Papers", vols. 2,3, and 4>
Early 1902: daughter "Lieserl" born - 1903: marriage -
"Lieserl" never comes to Switzerland
-- the daughter "Lieserl" is born at the beginning of
1902, all birth documents are missing [24]
[24] <Presumably,
Lieserl was born at Maric's home.
However, recent efforts to find
civil or church records of the birth
in her hometown or nearby
failed.>
1902: The resistance of the Einstein parents against
the marriage
-- the Jewish-racist Einstein parents made great
opposition to the connection between Einstein and Mileva
(p.218)
-- Einstein told to Mileva every time what the Einstein
parents were saying about her (p.218) [86]
-- Mileva NEVER met the Einstein parents, and the comments
hit her deeply (p.218)
[86] <It seems
plausible that he used Maric to
help him break free of his
family, especially his
mother>
[and then after 1912
this liberation did not work any
more. There should be investigation
how Einstein was beaten as a child
by his father and his mother for
"forming" his mentality].
May 1902 appr.: Einstein moves to Bern to the Patent
Office
-- [[the truant, rebel and non-math-proficiant]] stays at
the Swiss Patent Office for 7 years (p.209)
August 1902 appr.: Mileva moves to Bern to the truant,
rebel and non-math-proficiant Einstein
- the child Lieserl stays in the Balkans (p.209)
Italy October 1902: Father Hermann Einstein gives on
the deathbed to the truant, rebel and
non-math-proficiant Einstein the approval for the
marriage
this is indicated in the book of Abraham Pais with the
title "Subtle is the Lord ...: The Science and the Life of
Albert Einstein" (p.209, footnote 25)
Zurich 1902-1903: Einstein + Mileva hide the child
"Lieserl" and the friends notice that something has
"changed"
-- Mileva and Einstein keep silent about the "Lieserl"
until death, Mileva always says, this would be "very
personal" (p.209)
-- the friends of Einstein+Mileva have no chance to learn
anything about it (p.209). Quote from the Einstein
biography of Michelmore:
Stachel quote:
<The episode undoubtedly placed a great
strain on their relationship, as their
elder son, Hans Albert, seems to have
later surmised. A biographer [[Peter
Michelmore]] with unique access to
information from him [28] reports:
"Friends had noticed a change in Mileva's
attitude and thought the romance might be doomed.
Something had happened between the two, but Mileva
would only say that it was "intensely personal".
Whatever it was, she brooded about it and Albert
seemed to be in some way responsible. Friends
encouraged Mileva to talk about her problem and get
it out in the open. She insisted that it was too
personal and kept it a secret all her life....
Mileva married Albert despite the incident.... She
did not think of the shadow her "experience" would
cast over their life together."> [29]
[28]
<Peter Michelmore: "Einstein:
Profile of the Man" (New York,
1962), states: "Hans Albert
Einstein ... had never discussed
his father before with any
writer, at least not in depth.
But he answered all my
questions, and waited while I
wrote down all the answers"
(vii). Hans Albert inherited his
mother's papers, and his first
wife, Frieda Einstein-Knecht,
transcribed excerpts from
Einstein's letters discussing
Lieserl. So, if not told earlier
by either parent, Hans Albert
knew about his sister by the
time he spoke to Michelmore>
[29] <Michelmore: "Einstein",
p.42>
1902-1909: Patent
Office - and new works
-- Einstein and Mileva produce the main part of
Einstein's "works" in Bern, which are mainly published
in 1905 (p.210)
-- Einstein gets the "reputation of one of the most
promising young theoretical physicists" (p.210)
[-- and the
collaboration of Mileva is consistently
concealed]
1903: Marriage between the truant, rebel and
non-math-proficiant Einstein with the top mathematician
Mileva
(p.209) [25]
[25] The delay was
connected with the opposition of his
family (see "Collected Papers", vol.
1, doc. 138, p.336). On his
deathbed, Einstein's father gave his
consent in October 1902, according
to Abraham Pais: "Subtle is the Lord
...: The Science and the Life of
Albert Einstein" (Oxford, 1982),
p.47
-- It was not uncommon to "legitimize" a child from before
marriage after marriage (p.209) [26]
[26] <See "Private Lives," p. 90>
Bern 1903-1905:
There are only a few letters after the
marriage
-- because Albert and Mileva are almost always
together (p.216)
-- therefore there are practically no letters
from the period 1903-1905 mentioning the Theory
of Relativity (p.216)
Einstein and Mileva seem to be happy first - Letter
excerpts:
Stachel:
<Einstein wrote to his friend
Michele Besso:
"Well, now I'm an
honorably married man, and lead a
very nice, comfortable life with my
wife. She takes care of everything
exceptionally well, cooks well, and
is always cheerful." (p.210) [31]
Shortly
after, Maric wrote to her friend
Helene Savic in a similar vein:
"I am, if possible,
even more attached to my dear
treasure than I already was in the
Zurich days. He is my only companion
and society and I am happiest when
he is beside me." (p.210)
--
Mileva also inquired about the
possibility of teaching jobs for her
and Einstein in Belgrade
-- this is her last known reference to
the possibility of a career for
herself [32].
[31]
<"Collected Papers", vol.5,
doc.5, letter of January 22,
1903, p.10 (my translation)>
[32] <Maric to Savic, March
20, 1903, copy in Einstein
Papers Project Archives, Boston
University>
1903-1909: The
"Academy Olympia"
-- Einstein biographer Philipp Frank says that
Einstein has always enjoyed discussing new ideas with
colleagues, or finding new thoughts in groups (p.213)
[56]
[56] <Philipp Frank:
"Einstein: His Life and Times" (New
York, 1953), p.21>
-- in order to
stimulate these discussions with new theses and
thoughts, Einstein founded a discussion group
"Akademie Olympia" ("Olympia Academy") with two
friends, usually with sessions in his house in Bern
-- Mileva just listened attentively, so remembers the
Olympics member Maurice Solovine (p.213):
"Mileva,
instelligent and reserved,
listened attentively to us, but
never intervened in our
discussions." [57]
[Perhaps Mileva
had other problems with
pregnancy, children, or felt
bad because she had no
diploma?]
[57] Albert Einstein:
"Lettres à Maurice Solovine", ed.
Maurice Solovine (Paris, 1956),
introduction, xii
September 1903: daughter Lieserl with scarlet fever -
no news about her fate
-- Mileva spent weeks in the Balkans again in September
1903 with her parents (p.210). Einstein complains with
humor:
<"Now come back to me
soon. 3 1/2 weeks have already passed
and a good little wife shouldn't leave
her husband alone any longer. Things
don't look nearly as bad at home as you
think. You'll be able to clean up in
short order.">
(p.210) [33]
[33] "Collected
Papers", vol. 5, doc. 13, p.22,
translation modified from "The Love
Letters", p.53
-- Einstein also asks for Lieserl:
"As what is the child
registered? We must take precautions
that problems don't arise for her later"
(S.210)
-- Einstein complains scarlet fever with Lieserl:
"I'm very sorry about what
has befallen Lieserl. It's so easy to
suffer lasting effects from scarlet
fever. If only this will pass."
(S.210)
Maybe Lieserl died of scarlet fever, or survived with a
mental or physical damage, or if she survived without
harm, she might have been adopted. There are no limits
with speculations about "Lieserl". (p.210) [34]
[34] For further
speculation, see "Private Lives",
p.88-91
-- Einstein also comments the new pregnancy with son Hans
Albert Einstein:
"I'm not the least bit angry
that poor Dollie [his nickname for
Maric] is hatching a new chick. In fact,
I'm happy about it and had already given
some thought to whether I shouldn't see
to it that you get a new Lieserl."
(S.210) [35]
[35] "Collected
Papers", vol. 5, doc. 13, p.22,
translation from "The Love Letters",
p.53
1904: Birth of the first son Hans Albert Einstein
(p.210)
from 1904: Mileva
is engaged in raising children with her son Hans
Albert
(p.218), and at that time women with children hardly
ever made a career because the world could not imagine
that this would work (p.218-219).
[since 1904: Einstein blocks Mileva:
Einstein does not want Mileva to do a physics math
career - and she does not rebel (!)
Einstein totally blocked Mileva by hiding her
accomplishments by not defending her in the annals
of physics, by impregnating her before a diploma
exam, and by damaging her reputation by rebeling in
the ETH, being a truant being absent of many
lectures, and during the internships he was throwing
whole instructions into the wastebin, even causing
an explosion and injuring his hand, and in the end
he followed his Jewish racist parents and divorced
despite all the scientific help he had to thank
Mileva. So, this Einstein was just a doll of the
parents and a physics monoculture, which is proven
by the fact that he had to hire mathematicians from
1919 to continue to "work", if one defines chaotic
physics lessons and women's affairs as "work", with
a "free time table". Einstein exploited Mileva by
order of the Einstein parents and then dropped her
in a cold way. Einstein has thus committed a
gigantic scientific fraud, along with those in
charge of the journal Annals of Physics (Annalen der
Physik), who cut the double-name Einstein-Marić in
Einstein, who have "canceled" Mileva, and thus the
matter is about gang-related crime for years by
Einstein and the "Annals of Physics". At the same
time Mileva had a helper syndrome, and counseling
centers and psychological counseling in the sense of
emancipation did not exist yet. All came came only
with C.G. Jung in the 1960s and with the autonomous
youth movement AJZ in the 1980s. That's how it looks
like].
1905: Publication of the Theory of Relativity -
Einstein thanks Michele Besso - but Einstein hides
Mileva
-- at the end of his work with the Theory of
Relativity, this cr. Einstein has attached a statement
of gratitude - for his friend Michele Besso (p.216)
-- [[Mileva has signed on the manuscript with her
hungarized name Einstein-Marity]]
Stachel says it this way:
<Einstein
indeed does thank someone "who stood
faithfully at my side and to whom I
owe many valuable suggestions" at the
end of his paper [74], but it is his
"friend and colleague M[ichele] Besso"
[75]. Taken together with his silence
about Maric, this is interesting - if
negative - evidence of his attitude
toward her role in his work.>
(p.216)
[74]
<See "Collected Papers",
vol. 2, doc. 23, pp. 276-306>
[75] <Ibid., p.306. Besso's
role is explained more
precisely in later
reminiscences by Einstein,
notably his 1922 Kyoto lecture
(see ibid., p.264), and
Michelmore also mentions it
("Einstein", p.45).>
[Conclusion:
theory of relativity = group
work
So we see: also Michele Besso is
missing as co-author. The
development of the "theory of
relativity" of Einstein was in
fact a group work of at least 5 to
6 people: the "Academy Olympia" in
Bern, Mileva, and Michele Besso].
1905: Mileva has grossly overestimated Einstein's
theory of molecular forces
Stachel means that Mileva should have given Einstein a
more critical opinion, then Einstein would have rejected
the theory earlier (p.218) [84].
[84] <A few years
later he referred to his first two
papers as "worthless beginner's
works" (see: "Collected Papers",
vol. 5, doc. 66, p.79)>
Bern 1906-1909: Jealousy at Mileva on Known by Einstein
Mileva also experiences bitter and difficult days in Bern
(p.210)
-- because of the "Lieserl", which never comes back
(p.210)
-- because of an Einstein friend Ms. Anna Meyer-Schmid
[37], where Mileva suspects Anna, to make hopes for
Einstein, and she reports this to the husband of Anna in
writing - that is communicated to Einstein, who writes to
Mr. Schmid that the jealousy of Mileva is unfounded [38]
[37] The flirtatious
nature of their earlier relationship
is apparent from a poem Albert wrote
for her ("Collected Papers", vol. 1,
doc. 49, p.220)
[38] See "Collected Papers", vol. 5,
p.181, p.198-199; Einstein-Maric to
Georg Meyer, May 23, 1909, copy in
the Archive of the
Einstein-Gesellschaft, Swiss
National Library (Bern). For a
fuller account, see "Private Lives",
p.124-126. Einstein's anger flared
up again over forty years later,
when he blamed Maric's pathological
jealousy on "uncommon ugliness"
(Einstein to Erika Schaerer-Mayer
[Meyer-Schmid's daughter], cited in
"Collected Papers", vol. 5, p.199,
no.4
Sep.3, 1909:
Einstein + Mileva plan to leave Bern - Einstein
becomes assistant professor at the University of
Zurich
(p.210)
Mileva announces to her friend Helene Savić the
move from Bern to Zurich:
"In
mid-Octobre on the 14th we leave
Bern, where I have now spent 7
years, so many beautiful and, I must
say, also bitter and difficult
days." (p.210) [36]
[36] Maric to
Savic, September 3, 1909,
copy in Einstein Papers
Project Archives, Boston
University
In the same letter, Mileva raves that Einstein becomes
famous, but complains that this could destroy
Einstein's personality:
"He
is now counted among the leading
German-speaking physicists and
is being frightfully courted. I
a mvery happy about his success,
which he has really earned; I
only hope and wish that fame
does not exert a detrimental
influence on his human side." (p.210)
[39]
[39] Maric to
Savic, September 3, 1909,
copy in Einstein Papers
Project Archives, Boston
University
Mid-October 1909: Einstein + Mileva leave Bern for
Zurich
(p.210)
Zurich October 1909 appr.: Einstein is now
assistant professor at the University of Zurich -
Mileva remains alone a lot
Mileva describes to her friend Helene Savić how she
stays more and more alone:
"You
see, with such fame, not much time remains for
his wife. I read a certain maliciousness between
the lines when you wrote that I must be jealous
of science, but what can one do, the pearls are
given to one, to the other the case. ... I often
ask myself ... whether I am not rather a person
who feels a great deal and passionately, fights
a great deal and also suffers because of that;
and out of pride or perhaps shyness puts on a
haughty and superior air until he himself
believes it to be geniuine. And I must ask you,
even if the latter were the case, and my
innermost soul stood less proudly, even then
could you love me? You see I am very starved for
love and would be so overjoyed to hear a yes,
that I almost believe wicked science is guilty,
and I gladly accept the laughter over it." [40]
[40]
Maric to Savic, n.d. [c. October
1909], copy in Einstein Papers
Project Archives, Boston
University
Zurich - from October 1909 appr.: Mileva participates
in Einstein's public lectures
Mileva reports on Einstein's lectures in letters to Helene
Savić (p.216)
[One can
assume that Mileva mathematically checked everything
in advance, what Einstein says at the lecture].
Zurich 1909 + 1910: Einstein's notebook with many pages
in Mileva's handwriting
-- Mileva may sometimes play the secretary for Einstein
(p.216)
-- Einstein's notebook on his course on mechanics in the
winter semester of 1909-1910 at the University of Zurich
contains
"seven pages of notes in
Mileva Einstein-Maric's handwirting,
containig material very closely
corresponding to the introductory sections
of the first notebook, followed by an
eighth page with a drawing of three
intersecting circles, also in
Einstein-Maric's hand." (p.216) [76]
[76] <"Collected
Papers", vol. 3, doc. 1, p.125,
descriptive note>
Zurich 1909 + 1910: Einstein's document "Answer to
Planck's manuscript" is written in Mileva's handwriting
original German: Antwort auf Plancks Manuskript (p.216)
[77]
[77]
"Collected
Papers", vol.
3,
doc. 3, pp.
177-178
1910: Birth of the second son Eduard Einstein
(p.210)
Zurich 1910-1911:
Mileva controls Einstein's lecture booklet and adds
small, flattering notes
Stachel quote:
<Another
Einstein lecture notebook from
1910-1911 testifies not only to her
familiarity with the notes but to her
continued affection. She inserted the
words:
"Here
give a dear little kiss to his [word
not deciphered]."> (p.216) [78]
[78] "Collected Papers", Vol. 3, doc. 11,
p.321
1911: Einstein among "high" people in Germany - now
Mileva feels isolated
There is e.g. the annual meeting of the "Society of
German (p.216) Scientists and Physicians" in
Karlsruhe, where Einstein participated (p.217):
"It
must surely have been very
interesting in Karlsruhe; I would
have all too gladly also listened a
little, and seen all these grand
people [diese feinen Leute]."
(p.217) [79]
[79]
Mileva Maric to Albert Einstein,
October 4, 1911, in Einstein,
"Collected Papers", vol. 5, doc.
290, p.331
[Conclusion: helper syndrome with Mileva
The main mistake of Mileva: She did not recognize
herself as great, but Mileva has lived out her
helper syndrome. It is strange that neither Stachel
nor Walker nor Plötz mentioned the helper syndrome,
which has been known worldwide since 1977]
1911-1914:
Einstein in Prague, Zurich, Berlin - house concerts
- and Mileva has to organize the house - "dark
moods" at Mileva fearing that she could lose her
husband
Stachel:
<Einstein's
academic star rose with dramatic
speed: In 1911 he accepted a full
professorship at the German University
in Prague, and the next year was
called back to a similar post at his
alma mater in Zurich [41]. In 1914 he
was named a member of the Prusian
Academy of Sciences and head of the
prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
for Physics, moving to Berlin to take
this full-time research job. A letter
to Savic in 1911 gives further insight
into Maric's feelings during this
period:
"I ... believe we women cling much
longer to the memory of that remarkable period
called youth, and involuntarily would like
things always to remain that way. Don't you find
that to be so; men always accommodate themselves
better to the present moment. Things are going
well for mine; he works very hard, gives courses
that are very well liked and attended, as well
as many lectures, which I never fail to attend.
Since there are rather many musical occasions in
our house, we really have very little time that
we can pass together in privacy and
tranquility." (p.211) [42]
[41]
By this point, the Poly had been
renamed the Eidgenössische
Technische Hochschule, or ETH
for short [[in 1911]]
[42] Maric to Savic, n.d. [c.
January 1911], copy in Einstein
Papers Project Archives, Boston
University
These
touching and remarkably frank letters
depict a woman who feels she is losing
her husband, not least because of his
successful career in science. They
convey a growing sense of exclusion
from that career, but no sense of
deprivation of credit for his
scientific work. Her own earlier
ambitions seem completely subsumed by
ambitions for him, ambitions that go
hand in hand with forebodings of what
his success augurs for their
relationship (p.211).
The toll on Maric became apparent to
those around her. Referring to the
period around 1912, Peter Michelmore
gives us an insight into how things
appeared to their son, Hans Albert:
"Close friends ... worried because
[Maric's] dark moods were
becoming more frequent. She was far too
introverted. She never talked about hersel. Even
alone with the family, she had little to say and
her long periods of silence irritated Albert. If
they ever discussed the root of the trouble,
that mysterious pre-marital incident, nobody
knew about it. -- Hans Albert, then an
eight-year old with a distinct mind of his own,
sensed the tension between his parents. But his
father's personality assured him all would be
well." (p.212) [43]
[The
son Hans Albert and Mileva cling to
each other because they feel that
Einstein is leaving]
In retrospect, Hans Albert evidently
thought that the loss of Lieserl was
at the root of the estrangement of his
parents. At the time, he served as his
mother's surrogate for the waning love
of his father. In 1909 she wrote
Savic:
"[Hans
Albert] should start school early
next year, but unfortunately he
entered the world a week too late
and probably will not be accepted.
Then he will stay with his mama for
another year; we are actually
inseparable and cling terribly to
each other." (p.212)[44]
[43].
Michelmore:
"Einstein", p.57
[44] Maric to
Savic, n.d. [c.
October 1909],
copy in Einstein
Papers Project
Archives, Boston
University
[1912:
Visit in Berlin: Einstein favoring
Elsa writing letters defaming Mileva
- 1914: Albert Einstein moving to
Berlin - split with Mileva]
By 1912, whether she knew it then or
not, Maric was competing with more
than science for Einstein's
affections. During a visit to Berlin,
he had started a romantic liaison with
his cousin Elsa Löwenthal, a divorcée
with two young daughters and literary
aspirations, then living there with
her parents [45]. His letters to her
refer to Maric, often alluded to as
"my cross", in increasingly bitter
terms (p.212):
"Miza
[nickname for Maric] is the sourest
sourpuss that has ever been. ... I
cannot be at ease at home ... she
herself is the most tormented one,
and cannot understand that she
herself creates the graveyard
atmosphere. Miza is by nature
unlovable and mistrustful. When one
responds accordingly, she feels
persecuted." (p.212) [46]
By the
end of 1913 Maric was aware to some
extent of the situation, as he
informed Löwenthal:
"She
[Maric] doesn't ask about you, but I
believe she does not therefore
underrate the significance that you
have for me." (p.212) [47]
Shortly
after their move to Berlin in April
1914, Maric realized that one of its
chief attractions for Einstein was
cousin Elsa, and returned to Zurich
with the two boys, never again to live
with Einstein as husband and wife.>
(p.212) [48]
[45]
As children, they were well
acquainted, and her father
(nicknamed "Rudolf the rich" by
Einstein) was the chief creditor
of his father's debts (see
"Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc.
93, p.281); for their
relationship, see his letters to
her in "Collected Papers", vol.
5; for her poetry reading, see
Pais: "Einstein Lived Here",
p.145
[46] "Collected Papers", vol. 5,
p.585, 587
[47] Ibid., p.558
[48] After their divorce he
regularly stayed at Maric's
house when visiting Zurich
[Thesis: since 1912: Einstein
acts against Mileva to fulfill
the wish of the Jewish racist
Einstein parents to marry a
Jewish woman
The tolerant Jew Albert Einstein
did not believe much in
religion, but he was a
monoculture of physics. Mileva
did the math for him. He wanted
the revolution in physics, but
in sociology he did not want a
revolution. The Jewish-racist
parents Hermann + Pauline
Einstein knew nothing of
Mileva's mathematics, and they
did not know that her son
Einstein could no high
mathematics. The Jewish parents
just wanted the Einstein to drop
the Christian Orthodox Mileva
and marry a Jewish woman. And
that's why Einstein dropped
Mileva completely from 1912, and
then he had to ask for
mathematical help with students
or friends - until his own death
(!)
In short words: Since 1912,
Einstein followed the dictates
of his Jewish-racist family, he
accepted the Jewish cousin Elsa
as a partner and "repelled" the
Christian Orthodox, highly
intelligent Mileva].
[Supplement: August 1914: Mileva wanted to
save the relationship and cooperation until recently -
Chaot Einstein had to hire mathematicians, at the
expense of the German taxpayer ...
In 1914 Mileva was in Berlin: she was experiencing
chronic depression, crying, and there was Jewish racist
defamation propaganda against Mileva, Jewish racism, and
verbal violence without end. Mileva wanted to save the
relationship with Einstein up to the end until the end
of August 1914 (see: Wasmayr: tragedy (German: Tragödie)
- 2004); Wolff: prize money (German: Preisgeld) - 2019),
but she was outrun by "famous women" in Berlin who were
"having festivals" with this "famous Einstein" (see:
Ripota: Insights (German: Einsichten - 2018, p.236).
This separation from Einstein's work was enforced by the
racist Jewish Einstein family, and this Einstein
collaborated in this game, and since 1915 this Einstein
did not write much ground-breaking any more except
signing a letter with the propaganda to produce a
nuclear bomb. Einstein had to employ mathematicians who
helped him in his work and lectures, paid by German
taxpayers' money (!) - with a "free time table". And the
students often could not get along in the confusion of
Einstein ...].
[Supplement: WWI - Nobel Prize - WWII - death of
Mileva in 1948
from: Wolff: What happened with the prize money? (Was
geschah mit dem Preisgeld? - 2019)
-- Einstein's salary in Berlin has not much value any
more and Mileva with the two sons in Zurich is starving
even with hunger at the end and she has to take a secret
private credit
-- the sons want her daddy back in safety but he says
that the war has no consequences to his "work"
("festivities" and fucking famous women around and
encounters with women of "blue blood")
-- Einstein is given a Nobel Prize in 1921 and in 1923
the prize money is given to Mileva so she is purchasing
3 appartment buildings in the upper class zones, at the
same time Einstein is travelling between Berlin and
League of Nations in Geneva always stopping in Zurich
-- the investment with 3 appartment buildings was
another monoculture, and neither Einstein nor Mileva did
require the assistance of a fortune administrator, so
the risk was not distributed - e.g. one house, some
gold, some commercial papers, some land etc. - let's
say, with 3 appartment buildings the Einsteins just
played a little Monopoly, and the political factors were
others then:
-- with world wide economic crisis since 1929 also
Switzerland was in difficulties since 1931, tenants lost
jobs and left the flats and 1 of the 3 houses became not
profitable any more and had to be sold under price
-- during the election of Hitler in Germany in January
1933, Einstein was in the "USA" in Princeton for 3
months as it was traditional for him since 1930,
Einstein became furious against Hitler and this public
statement against Hitler had the consequence that the NS
regime confiscated all his fortune in Germany - again
Einstein had not known that much fortune has to be
distributed because of the risk (!)
-- in April 1934, Einstein gave back his German passport
at German embassy of Belgium, he emigrated with Elsa to
Princeton, and had an income of dollars there (1
dollar=4,20 Swiss Francs in those times), and all the
houses in Zurich were managed with letters between
Einstein and Mileva
-- in 1937, the elder son Hans Albert emigrated from
Switzerland to the "USA" following an advice of
Einstein, and Mileva was left alone with Eduard Einstein
who had destructive attacks because of the bad childhood
without daddy etc. - while Einstein had great
festivities with famous women who were visiting him, he
was presenting himself to the women in a bath robe, and
occasionally it was open sometimes and he let the woman
decide what to "do", so he was absent for weeks from any
"work" and had even more children with other women,
Evelyne Einstein is sure, but maybe there are many
more...
-- Einstein's signature of 1939 for the propaganda to
build an atomic bomb against Germany was given in
cooporation with two other Jewish Hungarian physicicists
- but Hitler's Germany was far away from a development
of any atomic bomb
-- after 1945, Einstein was retired and free of work,
but he NEVER came back to Zurich for a visit for Mileva
and Eduard
-- until 1948, the last house was sold in Zurich and
then was resold (maybe this was a trick against
Einstein) so Mileva was also kicked out from her flat
(change flat in January in winter was not so
comfortable), and after another aggression's attack of
Eduard Mileva remained half paralized in hospital with
more than 80,000 Swiss Francs of illegally sold mortgage
bond money, Mileva died without having seen Einstein or
her elder son Hans Albert again, she died on August 4,
1948 in a Zurich hospital, son Eduard visited her daily
there
-- for the estate of Mileva this kinky Einstein DOES NOT
COME (WHEREAS HE IS RETIRED!) and Hans Albert who is
working at this time at Berkeley University near San
Francisco is not coming either, but the wife of Hans
Albert is coming with a power certificate of Hans Albert
- it can be admitted that most of Mileva's estate was
thrown away because there was no space to take the books
and things by airplane to Berkeley near San Francisco,
and Eduard had to stay ALONE in Zurich in psychiatry or
with Swiss families, he got a Swiss legal guardian Mr.
Meili who arranged everything for him, being payed from
Einstein's money, but Einstein himself NEVER wanted to
see his suffering son, because Einstein remained simply
a monoculture of physics not respecting any psychology
or being a revolutionary in analytics - Einstein was
just a stupid pipe...]
1948: Mileva's estate goes to Hans Albert Einstein -
and Frieda Einstein copies the letters with "Lieserl"
-- Hans Albert inherits the documents from Mileva (p.209,
footnote 28)
-- Hans Albert's wife - Frieda Einstein-Knecht - writes
excerpts from the Einstein letters about the hidden
daughter "Lieserl" (p.209, footnote 28)
-- since then Hans Albert knows about a missing sister
"Lieserl" (p.209, footnote 28)
[Next secrecy:
-- The "Lieserl" is still kept secret, although on could
have searched her
-- or was there still a grave that does not exist
today?]
[1955: Einstein dies by suicide - he is rejecting an
operation (!)]
1962: Einstein Biography by Peter Michelmore:
"Einstein: Profile of the Man" (New York, 1962)
-- Hans Albert Einstein knows about his missing sister
"Lieserl" (p.209, footnote 28)
-- According to Einstein's son Hans-Albert Einstein, Peter
Michelmore believes that the daughter "Lieserl", which was
kept secret from Zurich, was a heavy burden for the
relationship between Einstein + Mileva (p.209) [28]
[28]
Peter Michelmore: "Einstein: Profile
of the Man" (New York, 1962),
states: "Hans Albert Einstein ...
had never discussed his father
before with any writer, at least not
in depth. But he answered all my
questions, and waited while I wrote
down all the answers" (vii).
1962: Stachel is rating Mileva down
raving for the cr. Einstein
-- Einstein biographer Michelmore says that Mileva always
controlled Einstein only for math (p.216). Quote
Michelmore:
"Mileva
helped him solve
certain mathematical
problems"
(S.216)
[but Einstein could not do any high
math and never wanted to learn it!]
--
Einstein biographer Michelmore claims
that Einstein invented the theory of
relativity solely through his
"creative work" and with the "flow of
fresh ideas," and no one had helped
him (!) (p.216). Quote Michelmore:
"Nobody
could assist with the
creative work, the flow
of fresh ideas."
(S.216) [73]
[73] Michelmore: "Einstein", p. 45-46
[The reality was: theory of
relativity = group work
In the development of the theory of
relativity were participating: Einstein,
the Olympia Group, Mileva, and Michele
Besso].
Balkans 1980s: Investigations on
Lieserl bring no result
(p.209)
from 1987 / from the publication of the letters
-- Research suggests that Mileva made important
contributions to Einstein's publications, in some cases
even "most of the work" (p.207)
-- the cr. Einstein NEVER acknowledged Mileva's work
publicly [5] (p.207)
[5] See Desanka
Trbuhović-Gjurić, "Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins/Das tragische Leben der Mileva
Einstein-Maric (Bern/Stuttgart, 1983),
cited hereafter as "Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins"; Senta Trömel-Plötz, "Mileva
Einstein-Maric: The Woman Who Did
Einstein's Mathematics", in: Women's
Studies International Forum 13 (1990),
p.415-432; Evan Harris Walker, "Did
Einstein Espouse His Spouse's Ideas?",
in: Physics Today 42, no.2 (February
1989), p.9-11 (for my comments, see
ibid., p.11-13); idem, "Ms. Einstein"
(paper presented at the AAAS meeting,
New Orleans, Fabruary 1990); and idem,
"Mileva Maric's Relativistic Role"
(presented at the AAAS Meeting,
Washington, D.C., February 1991)
1996: John
Stachel says Mileva did not make a career because:
1) no physicist 2) no self-esteem 3) self limitation
1) Because Mileva was not a physicist but a
mathematician: "Her
talents in physics were modest"
(p.217)
2) Because Mileva lost her self-confidence and her
drive to fight against the structural obstacles that
were set against women (p.218)
3) Because Mileva was not persuaded to start a career
independently (p.218).
[Conclusion:
Stachel does not recognize Mileva's helper
syndrome].
1996: Stachel claims that Mileva has acknowledged
Einstein's superiority with her silence (?? !!)
Mileva had accepted the role of the "defeated" without
objection, but discrimination was not accepted without
resistance (p.218).
[Conclusion: Mr. Stachel does not recognize
Jewish racism against the Orthodox Christian woman in
the Einstein family. The Moses Fantasy Jewish racism
against other fantasy religions (Jesus fantasy religion,
Muhammad fantasy religion etc.) can provoke a constant
silenced. These three great religions were invented only
to set the masses against each other. Einstein and
Mileva did not recognize that and therefore could not
find Mother Earth - examples from Mother Earth: www.med-etc.com
(!)].
1996: Stachel is rating Mileva down:
anecdotes are said to be "less reliable"
Stachel claims that the anecdotes of
Mileva's relatives about Mileva's
contribution to Einstein's work described in
the Mileva biography of Desanka are "less
reliable" (p.216).
[73] [Stachel
claims that reports
from Maric's parents
are just "anecdotes"]
Michelmore:
"Einstein", p.45-46.
Such comments, and
similar (but less
reliable) anecdotal
accounts by Maric's
relatives in the
Vojvodina (see "Im
Schatten Albert
Einsteins), led to
Senta Trömel-Plötz's
appellation: "Mileva
Maric: The Woman Who
Did Einstein's
Mathematics"
1996: Stachel is rating Mileva down
-- Stachel thinks that Mileva played only a
"modest role" in the works of Einstein (p.216)
1996: John Stachel is lying, Mileva's contribution to
Einstein's works was "not much"
John Stachel says the "available evidence" clearly shows
that Mileva did not contribute much to Einstein's work.
Quote Stachel:
<It has been suggested
that Maric actually made major
contributions, perhaps even doing the
preponderance of the work in some cases,
to important papers published in
Einstein's name, constributions that he
simply failed to acknowledge. [5]
The available evidence does not support
such claims, as I have argued elsewhere
[6] and will argue here. A sketch of
Maric's life up to her separation from
Einstein [7], with emphasis on a
discussion of her work in physics and
its relation to his [8], leads to the
conclusion that she played a small but
significant supporting role in his early
work, a role that later diminished to
the point that she felt excluded from
his career.> (p.207)
[[Mr.
Stachel is a liar:
-- Einstein could no
high mathematics, he
was just joking
around that Mileva
did all maths for
him
-- without Mileva
this Einstein had
been just a NOTHING
-- from 1919 on in
Berlin this Einstein
depended on
mathematic help of
students and friends
-- from 1919 on
without Mileva
"great works" are
not edited any
more]].
[5] See Desanka
Trbuhović-Gjurić, "Im Schatten
Albert Einsteins/Das tragische Leben
der Mileva Einstein-Maric
(Bern/Stuttgart, 1983), cited
hereafter as "Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins"; Senta Trömel-Plötz,
"Mileva Einstein-Maric: The Woman
Who Did Einstein's Mathematics", in:
Women's Studies International Forum
13 (1990), p.415-432; Evan Harris
Walker, "Did Einstein Espouse His
Spouse's Ideas?", in: Physics Today
42, no.2 (February 1989), p.9-11
(for my comments, see ibid.,
p.11-13); idem, "Ms. Einstein"
(paper presented at the AAAS
meeting, New Orleans, Fabruary
1990); and idem, "Mileva Maric's
Relativistic Role" (presented at the
AAAS Meeting, Washington, D.C.,
February 1991)
[6] "Einstein and Maric: The Early
Years", in: "Einstein's Early Years:
1879-1905", ed. Don Howard and John
Stachel (Boston/Basel/Berlin,
forthcoming), cited hereafter as
"Einstein and Maric". See also Roger
Highfield and Paul Carter, "The
Private Lives of Albert Einstein"
(London/Boston, 1993), cited
hereafter as "Private Lives", and:
Abraham Pais, "Einstein Lived here"
(Oxford/New York, 1994)
[7] Sources for information on her
life include "Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins; Dorde [George] Krstic,
"Mileva Einstein-Maric", Appendix A
in Elizabeth Roboz Einstein, "Hans
Albert Einstein: Reminiscences of
His Life and Our Life Together"
(Iowa City, 1992); her
correspondence with Einstein in
"Collected Papers", vols. 1 and 5;
and her letters to her friend and
confidante, Helene Savic, née
Kaufler. Some excerpts from the
Savic letters are cited from
"Collected Papers", vol 1, and
unpublished excerpts from the Savic
letters are cited from "Collected
Papers", vol. 1, and unpublished
excerpts are cited (in my
translations) from photocopies of
originals presented by Savic's
grandson, Professor Milan Popovic
(Belgrade), to the editors of "The
Collected Papers". These copies will
be cited as in the Einstein Papers
Project Archives, Boston University.
A useful synthesis of this material
is found in "Private Lives".
[8] Einstein is
discussed here only insofar as is
relevant to their intellectual
relationship. For a fuller
discussion of their relationship up
to 1905, see "Einstein and Maric".
For a differing account of their
relationship, more skeptical of
Einstein's early devotion to Maric,
see "Private Lives"
Notes
[1] She sometimes used Marity, the
Hungarian form of her last name; she
followed Swiss custom after her marriage,
using Einstein-Maric or Einstein-Marity.
[2] "Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric, The
Love Letters", trans. Shawn Smith, etd.
Jürgen Renn and Robert Schulmann
(Princeton, 1992), p.72-73, cited
hereafter as "The Love Letters".
Einstein's correspondence, including
letters to and from Maric, will also be
cited from "The Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein", vol. 1, "The Early Years,
1879-1902", ed. John Stachel et al.
(Princeton, 1987), and vol. 5, "The Swiss
Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914", ed.
Martin Klein et al. (Princeton, 1993);
cited hereafter as "Collected Papers,
vols. 1 and 5
[3] They met in 1896, married in 1903,
separated in 1914, and divorced in 1919
[4] For his publications during this
period, see "The Collected Papers of
Albert Einstein", vol. 2, "The Swiss
Years: Writings, 1900-1909", ed. John
Stachel et al. (Princeton, 1989); vol. 3,
"The Swiss Years: Writings, 1909-1911",
ed. Martin Klein et al. (Princeton 1993);
and vol. 4, "The Swiss Years: Writings,
1912-1914", ed. Martin Klein et al.
(Princeton, 1995); cited hereafter as
"Collected Papers", vols. 2,3, and 4
[5] See Desanka Trbuhović-Gjurić, "Im
Schatten Albert Einsteins/Das tragische
Leben der Mileva Einstein-Maric
(Bern/Stuttgart, 1983), cited hereafter as
"Im Schatten Albert Einsteins"; Senta
Trömel-Plötz, "Mileva Einstein-Maric: The
Woman Who Did Einstein's Mathematics", in:
Women's Studies International Forum 13
(1990), p.415-432; Evan Harris Walker,
"Did Einstein Espouse His Spouse's
Ideas?", in: Physics Today 42, no.2
(February 1989), p.9-11 (for my comments,
see ibid., p.11-13); idem, "Ms. Einstein"
(paper presented at the AAAS meeting, New
Orleans, Fabruary 1990); and idem, "Mileva
Maric's Relativistic Role" (presented at
the AAAS Meeting, Washington, D.C.,
February 1991)
[6] "Einstein and Maric: The Early Years",
in: "Einstein's Early Years: 1879-1905",
ed. Don Howard and John Stachel
(Boston/Basel/Berlin, forthcoming), cited
hereafter [p.330] as "Einstein and
Maric". See also Roger Highfield and Paul
Carter, "The Private Lives of Albert
Einstein" (London/Boston, 1993), cited
hereafter as "Private Lives", and: Abraham
Pais, "Einstein Lived here" (Oxford/New
York, 1994)
[7] Sources for information on her life
include "Im Schatten Albert Einsteins;
Dorde [George] Krstic, "Mileva
Einstein-Maric", Appendix A in Elizabeth
Roboz Einstein, "Hans Albert Einstein:
Reminiscences of His Life and Our Life
Together (Iowa City, 1992); her
correspondence with Einstein in "Collected
Papers", vols. 1 and 5; and her letters to
her friend and confidante, Helene Savic,
née Kaufler. Some excerpts from the Savic
letters are cited from "Collected Papers",
vol 1, and unpublished excerpts from the
Savic letters are cited from "Collected
Papers", vol. 1, and unpublished excerpts
are cited (in my translations) from
photocopies of originals presented by
Savic's grandson, Professor Milan Popovic
(Belgrade), to the editors of "The
Collected Papers". These copies will be
cited as in the Einstein Papers Project
Archives, Boston University. A useful
synthesis of this material is found in
"Private Lives".
[8] Einstein is discussed here only
insofar as is relevant to their
intellectual relationship. For a fuller
discussion of their relationship up to
1905, see "Einstein and Maric". For a
differing account of their relationship,
more skeptical of Einstein's early
devotion to Maric, see "Private Lives"
[9] See Phyllis Stock, "Better Than
Rubies: A History of Women's Education"
(New York 1978, p.166; cited hereafter as
"Better Than Rubies". There also may have
been medical reasons for Maric's move,
since she had been very ill with a lung
disorder.
[10] See Schweizer Verband der
Akademikerinnen, "Die Frauenstudium an der
Schweizer Hochschulen (Zurich, 1928),
cited hereafter as "Die Frauenstidium"
[11] For a discussion of the first
generation of Russian women to study in
Zurich, see Christine Johanson, "Women's
Struggle for Higher Education in Rusia,
1850-1900" (Kingston/Montreal, 1987),
p.51-58. According to Johanson, while many
male students were hostile, "most
professors allowed no sexual
discrimination in the classroom" (53).
[12] Indeed, pressure from Russian women
prompted Zurich to open its doors (see
"Better Than Rubies", p.145). In the first
decades after the Swiss universities
admitted women, the large majority were
non-Swiss, mainly Slavs (see "Die
Frauenstudium").
[13] For his "Matrikel" (official record),
see "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc. 28,
pp.45-50. Her "Matrikel" is in file no.
85, "Rektoratsarchiv", Eidgenössische
Technische Hochschlule (ETH).
[14] Trbuhović-Gjurić suggests, without
any evidence, that Maric left the Poly in
flight from her intense romantic
relationship with Einstein (see "Im
Schatten Albert Eisnteins"). Their letters
suggest that the relationship was not yet
very intense (see "Collected Papers",
vol.1, esp. docs. 36 and 39). The brevity
of Maric's stay in Heidelberg may be
explained by Kaplan's observation that
"the first women students at Heidelberg
... suffered from extraordinary gener
discrimination" (Marion Kaplan, "The
Making of the Jewish Middle Class: Women,
Families, and Identity in Imperial
Germany" [New York, 1991], p.149)
[15] For this information, see "Collected
Papers", vol. 1, esp. docs. 50, 52, and 53
[16] His parents' opposition was based on
Maric's age (she was four years older than
Einstein), her intellectuality, and
probably her Slavic origins. His mother
made the first two objections explicit:
"By the time you're 30 she'll be an old
witch." "Like you, she is a book - but you
ought to have a wife" ("The Love Letters",
20). Anti-Slav prejudices are still common
in Germany, and Einstein's parents had not
objected to his earlier romance with a
young teacher of Swiss-German background
who was also slightly older than he (see
"Collected Papers", vol. 1, docs. 15, 18,
and 32).
[The
Einstein parents wanted Einstein to marry
the daughter from the Jewish Winteler
family, but Einstein did not want that
[web07]].
[17]
Einstein's letters to Maric mention
treatises by Boltzmann, Drude, Helmholtz,
Kirchhoff, and Mach (see "Collected
Papers", vol. 1)
[18] See "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc.
67, p.247. The three mathematics students
in [[the sector for math and physic
teacher]] VI A took different exams.
Trbuhović-Gjurić ("Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins") does not mention her failure
to graduate; Trömel-Plötz ("The Woman Who
Did Einstein's [p.331]
Mathematics") ascribes it to
discrimination against women at the Poly
without mentioning her grades; while
Walker ("Ms. Einstein") states, without
citing evidence, that "Marks below 5.00
were probably customarily below the
passing grade". Einstein with a total of
54 points out of a possible 66, was one
point short of that average while Maric,
with a total of 44 points, was 11 points
short.
[19] In mid-1900, she mentions "a large
work ... that I have chosen for myself as
a Diploma Thesis and probably also a
Doctoral Thesis" ("Collected Papers", vol.
1, p.260, vol. II, p.5). In May 1901,
Einstein asks about her doctoral thesis,
advising her to use some of Weber's work
in it, "even if you only seem to" (ibid.,
p.305).
[20] In
May 1901, Mileva Maric
wrote [[to her friend
Helene]] Savic: "I
have already quarreled
a couple of times with
Weber, but we're
already used to that"
("Collected Papers",
vol. 1, doc 109,
p.303, my
translation).
[21] See "Collected Papers", vol 1, doc
87, p.275
[22] See Protocol of Section VI A, July
26, 1901, ETH Library (Zurich). Her
average was again 4.
[23] Einstein first mentions Kleiner in
October 1900 ("Collected Papers", vol 1,
p.267); a year later, he discussed the
complete dissertation (ibid., p.321). He
withdrew it in February 1902 (see ibid.,
doc. 132, p.331), probably because of
objections by Kleiner, but they stayed in
contact. Einstein's successful 1905
doctoral dissertation was approved by
Kleiner, who helped him obtain his first
full-time academic post in 1909 (see
below).
[24] Presumably, Lieserl was born at
Maric's home. However, recent efforts to
find civil or church records of the birth
in her hometown or nearby failed.
[25] The delay was connected with the
opposition of his family (see "Collected
Papers", vol. 1, doc. 138, p.336). On his
deathbed, Einstein's father gave his
consent in October 1902, according to
Abraham Pais: "Subtle is the Lord ...: The
Science and the Life of Albert Einstein"
(Oxford, 1982), p.47
[26] See "Private Lives", p.90
[27] Late in 1901, after he was assured of
a Patent Office job, he wrote Maric: "The
only problem that still needs to be
resolved is how to keep our Lieserl with
us; I wouldn't want to have to give her
up. Ask your Papa, he's an experienced man
and knows the world better than yur
overworked, impractical Johnny"
("Collected Papers, vol. 1, doc. 127, p.
324, translation from "The Love Letters",
p.68)
[28] Peter Michelmore: "Einstein: Profile
of the Man" (New York, 1962), states:
"Hans Albert Einstein ... had never
discussed his father before with any
writer, at least not in depth. But he
answered all my questions, and waited
while I wrote down all the answers" (vii).
Hans Albert inherited his mother's papers,
and his first wife, Frieda
Einstein-Knecht, transcribed excerpts from
Einstein's letters discussing Lieserl. So,
if not told earlier by either parent, Hans
Albert knew about his sister by the time
he spoke to Michelmore
[29] Michelmore: "Einstein", p.42
[30] Leo Tolstoy: "Anna Karenina", trans.
Louise and Aylmer Maude (London, 1965),
p.1
[31] "Collected Papers", vol.5, doc.5,
letter of January 22, 1903, p.10 (my
translation)
[32] Maric to Savic, March 20, 1903, copy
in Einstein Papers Project Archives,
Boston University
[33] "Collected Papers", vol. 5, doc. 13,
p.22, translation modified from "The Love
Letters", p.53
[34] For further speculation, see "Private
Lives", p.88-91
[35] "Collected Papers", vol. 5, doc. 13,
p.22, translation from "The Love Letters",
p.53
[36] Maric to Savic, September 3, 1909,
copy in Einstein Papers Project Archives,
Boston University
[37] The flirtatious nature of their
earlier relationship is apparent from a
poem Albert wrote for her ("Collected
Papers", vol. 1, doc. 49, p.220) [p.332]
[38] See "Collected Papers", vol. 5,
p.181, p.198-199; Einstein-Maric to Georg
Meyer, May 23, 1909, copy in the Archive
of the Einstein-Gesellschaft, Swiss
National Library (Bern). For a fuller
account, see "Private Lives", p.124-126.
Einstein's anger flared up again over
forty years later, when he blamed Maric's
pathological jealousy on "uncommon
ugliness" (Einstein to Erika
Schaerer-Mayer [Meyer-Schmid's daughter],
cited in "Collected Papers", vol. 5,
p.199, no.4)
[39] Maric to Savic, September 3, 1909,
copy in Einstein Papers Project Archives,
Boston University
[40] Maric to Savic, n.d. [c. October
1909], copy in Einstein Papers Project
Archives, Boston University
[41] By this point, the Poly had been
renamed the Eidgenössische Technische
Hochschule, or ETH for short
[42] Maric to Savic, n.d. [c. January
1911], copy in Einstein Papers Project
Archives, Boston University
[43]. Michelmore: "Einstein", p.57
[44] Maric to Savic, n.d. [c. October
1909], copy in Einstein Papers Project
Archives, Boston University
[45] As children, they were well
acquainted, and her father (nicknamed
"Rudolf the rich" by Einstein) was the
chief creditor of his father's debts (see
"Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc. 93,
p.281); for their relationship, see his
letters to her in "Collected Papers", vol.
5; for her poetry reading, see Pais:
"Einstein Lived Here", p.145
[46] "Collected Papers", vol. 5, p.585,
587
[47] Ibid., p.558
[48] After their divorce he regularly
stayed at Maric's house when visiting
Zurich
[49]. See "Collected Papers", vol. 1. For
a more detailed discussion of their
relationship up to 1905, see "Einstein and
Maric"
[50] For her most extensive comment on
physics, see "Collected Papers", vol. 1,
doc. 36, last paragraph, p.59; for an
example of her descriptive powers, see
ibid., doc. 109, pp.301-302
[51] "The Love Letters", p.9
[52] Ibid., p.12-13
[53] See "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc.
37, p.139
[54] Ibid., vol. 1, xxxix-xi
[55] 2On the Electrodynamics of Moving
Bodies" is the title of his famous 1905
paper on special relativity ("Collected
Papers", vol. 2, doc. 28). See the next
section for further discussion of this
topic.
[56] Philipp Frank: "Einstein: His Life
and Times" (New York, 1953), p.21
[57] Albert Einstein: "Lettres à Maurice
Solovine", ed. Maurice Solovine (Paris,
1956), introduction, xii
[58] Thishas sometimes been confused with
a doctoral thesis. Maric hoped to use her
diploma thesis work as the basis for a
doctorate, but she was never a candidate
for that degree.
[59] "Collected Papers, vol. 1, doc. 63,
pp. 243-244; translation from the
supplementary "English Translation",
trans. Anna Beck (Princeton, 1987), p.138
[60] "The Love Letters", p.30
[61] See "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc.
67
[62] See ibid., note 33, p.244
[63]. I.e., the "Annalen der Physik"; it
became his first publiation (see
"Collected Papers", vol. 2, doc 1)
[64] "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc. 85,
p.273, my translation
[65] Ibid., doc. 79, p.267, my translation
[66] See "Collected Papers", vol. 1, doc.
132, p.331
[67] Ibid., doc. 125, p.320, my
translation [p.333]
[68] It has been suggested that she
attributed her work to him. But it is hard
to see why she would do so in private
letters to a close personal friend. If the
expressions of admiration in these letters
were meant to characterize her own work,
they would give a most unpleasant
impression of her character. If we accept
her word that she picked her final diploma
thesis topic, I see no reason to doubt it
when she says he wrote the articles in
question.
[69] See the articles by Walker and
Trömel-Plötz cited in note 5
[70] "The Love Letters", p. 54
[71] Ibid., p.39
[72] Ibid., p.69
[73] Michelmore: "Einstein", p.45-46. Such
comments, and similar (but less reliable)
anecdotal accounts by Maric's relatives in
the Vojvodina (see "Im Schatten Albert
Einsteins), led to Senta Trömel-Plötz's
appellation: "Mileva Maric: The Woman Who
Did Einstein's Mathematics"
[74] See "Collected Papers", vol. 2, doc.
23, pp. 276-306
[75] Ibid., p.306. Besso's role is
explained more precisely in later
reminiscences by Einstein, notably his
1922 Kyoto lecture (see ibid., p.264), and
Michelmore also mentions it ("Einstein",
p.45).
[76] "Collected Papers", vol. 3, doc. 1,
p.125, descriptive note
[77] Ibid., doc. 3, pp. 177-178
[78] Ibid., doc. 11, p.321
[79] Mileva Maric to Albert Einstein,
October 4, 1911, in Einstein, "Collected
Papers", vol. 5, doc. 290, p.331
[80] Einstein and Maric met Marie Curie
only after Pierre's death. For her life,
see Eve Curie: "Madame Curie", trans.
Vincent Sheean (New York, 1937); Rosalind
Pflaum: "Grand Obsession: Madame Curie and
Her World" (New York, 1989); and Helena M.
Pycior: "Marie Curie's 'Anti-natural
Path': Time Only for Science and Familiy";
in: "Uneasy Careers and INtimate Lives:
Women in Science, 1798-1979", ed. Pnina G.
Abir-Am and Dorinda Outram (New Brunswick,
N.J., 1989), p.191-214
[81] Both Einstein and Maric knew
Ehernfest and Afanasieva. For his life and
their relationship, see Martin Klein:
"Paul Ehrenfest", vol. 1, "The Making of a
Theoretical Physicist" (Amsterdam, 1970).
Klein cites an obituary in Dutch, but
there is no biography of Afanasieva
[82] Speaking of the German milieu, Kaplan
notes: "the popular stereotype of the
Russian female student, who was portrayed
as a radical, both politically and
personally" ("The Making of the Jewish
Middle Class", p.147); and she writes that
"bourgeois parents displayed extraordinary
ambivalence regarding their daughters'
aspirations. ... the fear lingered that
educated daughters would educate
themselves right out of the marriage
market" (p.142)
[83] Pierre had a well-established career
in physics when he met Marie
[84] A few years later he referred to his
first two papers as "worthless beginner's
works" (see: "Collected Papers", vol. 5,
doc. 66, p.79)
[85] "[O]ut of about one thousand [male]
students there is hardly a single one who
has the abilities for independent
scientific accompolishment in the higher
sense, so the demands on women at the
least should not be set any higher" (Ella
Wild, Einleitung [[introduction]] to "Die
Frauenstudium", p.15-16
[86] It seems plausible that he used Maric
to help him break free of his family,
especially his mother
[87] See, e.g., Lewis Pyenson: "Einstein's
Early Scientific Collaboration"; in:
"Historial Studies in the Physical
Sciences 7 (1976), p.84-123
[88] I am indebted to Pnina Abir-Am
for this insight
[89] See, e.g., the acocunt by his son
Hans Albert, cited in "Private Lives",
p.129
[90] For the Curies, See Helena M. Pycior:
"Reaping the Benefits of Collaboration [p.334]
While Avoiding Its Pitfalls: Marie Curie's
Rise to Scientific Prominence"; in:
"Social Studies of Science" 3 (1993):
p.301-323. There is no study of the
collaboration between the Ehrenfests, but
I can cite a few indications of his
efforts. Of the two articles they wrote
jointly in 1906, the first is signed
Tatiana and Paul Ehrenfest, the second is
signed Paul and Tatiana Ehrenfest (see
Paul Ehrenfest: "Collected Scientific
Papers", ed. Martin Klein [Amsterdam / New
York, 1959], p.107, 127). Their joint
article on the foundation of statistical
mechanics in the prestigious
"Encyklopaedie der Mathematischen
Wissenschaften" states: "The critical
review and systematization of the results
of all fundamental investigations was
carried out by the authors in common work.
P. Ehrenfest bears the ultimate
responsibility for the final editing"
(p.213). [p.335]
