11
The Prague Papers
Ha. From Zurich to Prague
'I will most probably receive a call from a large university to be full professor with
a salary significantly better than I have now. I am not yet permitted to say where
it is' [El]. So Einstein wrote to his mother on April 4, 1910, less than half a year
after he had begun his associate professorship in Zurich. The call he expected was
supposed to come from the Karl-Ferdinand University, the German university in
Prague. He had to be discreet since the search committee convened in January
had not even made a proposal to the faculty yet. The experimentalist Anton
Lampa, committee chairman and Einstein's strong advocate, had sounded him out
beforehand. The committee report dated April 21, 1910, proposed three candi-
dates and stated that all of them were willing to accept a formal offer. Einstein
was the first choice. This report quotes a glowing recommendation by Planck:
'[Einstein's work on relativity] probably exceeds in audacity everything that has
been achieved so far in speculative science and even in epistemology; non-Euclid-
ean geometry is child's play by comparison.' Planck went on to compare Einstein
to Copernicus [HI].
The news spread. In July 1910 the Erziehungsrat (board of education) peti-
tioned the government of the Canton Zurich. It was noted that, according to
experts, Einstein was one of the few authorities in theoretical physics; that stu-
dents from the ETH were coming to the University of Zurich to attend his lec-
tures; that he was teaching six to eight hours per week instead of the customary
four to six; and that efforts should be made to keep him in Zurich. An annual
raise of 1000 SF was proposed. The petition was granted [PI].
It would appear that Einstein was eager to go to Prague, however. In the sum-
mer of 1910 he wrote to Laub, 'I did not receive the call from Prague. I was only
proposed by the faculty; the ministry has not accepted my proposal because of my
Semitic descent' [E2]. (I have seen no documents to this effect.) In October he
wrote to Laub that the appointment seemed pretty certain [E3], but in December
he wrote that there had been no word from Prague yet [E4]. However, on Jan-
uary 6, 1911, His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty Franz Joseph formally
approved the appointment, effective April 1. Einstein was notified by letter, dated
January 13 [HI]. Prior to the beginning of his appointment, he had to record his
religious affiliation. The answer none was unacceptable. He wrote 'Mosaisch'
192