THE PRAGUE PAPERS 193[Fl]. On January 10, he sent his letter of resignation, which was accepted on
February 10 [P2]. In February Einstein visited Lorentz in Leiden. In March he
and his family arrived in Prague [SI].
It is mildly puzzling to me why Einstein made this move. He liked Zurich.
Mileva liked Zurich. He had colleagues to talk to and friends to play music with.
He had been given a raise. He must have known that in the normal course of
events further promotion was to be expected. Prague was not an active center of
theoretical physics. However, a letter by Kleiner to a colleague may indicate that
there were other considerations. 'After my statements about his conduct some time
ago (after which he wanted to apologize, which I once again prevented), Einstein
knows that he cannot expect personal sympathy from the faculty representatives.
I would think you may wait until he submits his resignation before you return to
this matter .. .' [Kl]. I do not know what the cause of friction was.
'I have here a splendid institute in which I work comfortably,' Einstein wrote
to Grossmann soon after his arrival in Prague [E5]. Ludwig Hopf, his assistant
from Zurich, had accompanied him but left soon afterward for a junior position
in Aachen. What little I know about Emil Nohel, Hopf's successor, is found in
Chapter 29. In the summer of 1911, Besso came for a visit [E6]. In February
1912 Einstein and Ehrenfest met personally for the first time in Prague [K2].
Otto Stern availed himself of his independent means to join Einstein there, after
having received his PhD with Sackur in Breslau [S2], and stayed with Einstein
from 1912 to 1914, first in Prague, then in Zurich.
'My position and my institute give me much joy,' Einstein wrote to Besso, but
added, 'Nur die Menschen sind mir so fremd,' (Only the people are so alien to
me) [E7]. It appears that Einstein was never quite comfortable in Prague. When
he arrived at the Institute, a porter would greet him with a bow and a 'your most
obedient servant', a servility that did not agree with him. He was bothered by
bureaucracy. 'Infinitely much paperwork for the most insignificant Dreck,' he
wrote to one friend [E5] and, 'Die Tintenscheisserei ist endlos,' to another [E7a].
His wife was not at ease either [F2]. In Einstein's day, there were four institutions
of higher learning in Prague, two universities and two institutes of technology, one
Czech and one German each. As Stern later recalled: 'At none [of these
institutions] was there anyone with whom Einstein could talk about the matters
which really interested him ... he was completely isolated in Prague.. .' [Jl].
Einstein's stay in Prague lasted sixteen months. Ehrenfest was his first choice
as his successor. This proposal came to naught because of Ehrenfest's refusal to
state a religious affiliation [K3]. Eventually Philipp Frank was named to this post
on Einstein's recommendation. Frank stayed in Prague until 1938.* In the next
chapter I shall describe Einstein's return to Zurich. First, however, let us have a
look at his physics during the Prague period.
*See Frank's biography [Fl] for other details about Einstein's Prague period.