312 THE LATER JOURNEYEngland Einstein stayed in the home of Haldane, whose daughter fainted from
excitement the first time the distinguished visitor entered the house. In his intro-
duction, Haldane mentioned that he had been 'touched to observe that Einstein
had left his house [that morning] to gaze on the tomb of Newton at Westminster
Abbey.' Then he went on to describe Einstein in these words:
A man distinguished by his desire, if possible, to efface himself and yet impelled
by the unmistakable power of genius which would not allow the individual of
whom it had taken possession to rest for one moment. [L5]16d. Einstein and Germany
In April 1914, Einstein set out from Zurich to settle in the capital of the German
Empire, a country still at peace. In December 1932, he left Germany for good. In
the interim, he lived through a world war. The Empire disintegrated. His own
worldwide renown began in 1919, the time of the uncertain rise of the Weimar
republic. At the time he left Germany, the republic, too, was doomed.
Fame attracts envy and hatred. Einstein's was no exception. In this instance,
these hostile responses were particularly intensified because of his exposed position
in a turbulent environment. During the 1920s, he was a highly visible personality,
not for one but for a multitude of reasons. He was the divine man. He was a
scientific administrator and an important spokesman for the German establish-
ment. He traveled extensively—through Europe, to Japan, to Palestine, through
the Americas. And he was a figure who spoke out on nonestablishment issues,
such as pacifism and the fate of the Jews.
In the first instance, Einstein's role within the establishment was dictated by
his obligations, many of them administrative, to science. He fulfilled all these
duties conscientiously, some of them with pleasure. As a member of the renowned
Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, he published frequently in its Pro-
ceedings, faithfully attended the meetings of its physics section as well as the plen-
ary sessions, often served on its committees, and refereed dubious communications
submitted to its Proceedings [K2]. On May 5, 1916, he succeeded Planck as pres-
ident of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. Between then and May 31,
1918, when Sommerfeld took over, he chaired eighteen meetings of this society
and addressed it on numerous occasions. On December 30, 1916, he was
appointed by imperial decree to the Kuratorium of the Physikalisch Technische
Reichsanstalt, a federal institution, and participated in the board's deliberations
on the choice of experimental programs [K3]. He held this position until he left
Germany. In 1917 he began his duties as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut
fur Physik, largely an administrative position, the initial task of the institute being
to administer grants for physics research at various universities.* (It became a
*In the early years, only the astronomer Freundlich held an appointment as scientific staff member
of the institute. Freundlich caused Einstein and others a certain amount of trouble [K4].