HISTORY, SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY 56 First printing of two early and important Einstein papers: a revised edition of his doctoral dissertation, and his paper on Brownian motion, signed by Einstein in 1950 (“A. Einstein (50)”) on page 289, the first page of his dissertation. Einstein’s biographer, physicist Abraham Pais, observed that “it is not sufficiently realized that Einstein’s doctoral thesis is one of his most fundamental papers,” and historian of science John Stachel, in his monograph “Einstein’s Miraculous Year: Five Papers that Changed the Face of Physics” (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998), argued that Einstein’s doctoral thesis was a landmark work. According to Stachel, Einstein’s doctoral thesis “combined the techniques of classical hydrodynamics with those of the theory of diffusion to create a new method for the determination of molecular sizes and of Avogadro’s number, a method he applied to solute sugar molecules… Einstein’s concerns extended beyond this particular question to more general problems of the foundations of the theory of radiation and the existence of atoms. [Einstein] later emphasized… ‘A precise determination of the size of molecules seems to me of the highest importance because Planck’s radiation formula can be tested more precisely through such a determination through measurements on radiation.’ The dissertation also marked the first major success in Einstein’s effort to find further evidence for the atomic hypothesis, an effort that culminated in his explanation of Brownian motion. By the end of 1905 he had published three independent methods for determining molecular dimensions.” Biographies of Einstein—such as those produced by Pais and Stachel—invariably refer to 1905 as Einstein’s “miraculous year” because his articles on relativity, the light-quantum, and Brownian motion appeared almost back-to-back within this extremely productive period. Einstein’s dissertation was first published in Bern, by Wyss, in 1905, in a very small edition, largely for Einstein’s own use to secure his doctorate and to apply for jobs. Weil 7a, 11. This volume was signed by Einstein for Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Interior clean; closed tears to wrappers along spine, binding sound. A very good copy, very rare and desirable signed by Einstein. Signed By Albert Einstein: Two Important Early Scientific Papers, Including His Doctoral Dissertation, “A New Determination Of Molecular Dimensions” 63 (EINSTEIN, Albert). Annalen der Physik. Vierte Folge. Band 19. No. 2. Leipzig, 1906. Octavo, later drab paper wrappers, custom clamshell box. $52,000 “I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein
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