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HOW EINSTEIN GOT THE NOBEL PRIZE 507


Before turning in more detail to the later nominations, I first note the reactions
of the Committee to the earlier ones. In the Report for 1910, it was suggested that
one should wait for further experimental verification 'before one can accept the
[relativity] principle and in particular award it a Nobel prize. This [need for fur-
ther confirmation] is presumably the reason why only now [my italics] Einstein
was proposed, though the principle in question was put forward in 1905 and
caused the liveliest stir.' The Committee also noted that Einstein's work on
Brownian motion had gained him great recognition. The comments on relativity
in the Report for 1912 are similar to those in the Report for 1910. 'Lorentz was
undoubtedly more cautious with his hypotheses than Einstein,' it is noted. In the
Report for 1913 is found a remark that relativity is on its way to becoming a
serious candidate for the award even though (the Committee notes) there may be
considerable doubt about likening Einstein to Copernicus or Darwin. I leave my
own comments on this period until later except for registering my lack of surprise
at not finding Lorentz among those who nominated Einstein for special relativity.
During the next few years, there was an inevitable lull. Einstein was deeply
immersed in the struggle with general relativity and was confusing everybody,
including himself, with his hybrid theory in which everything was covariant
except the gravitational field equations. In 1914 he was nominated by Naunyn
(relativity, diffusion, gravitation) and by Chwolson (contributions to several
domains in theoretical physics). The Report for 1914 notes vaguely that it may
take a long time before the last word is said about Einstein's theory of relativity
and his other work. He was not nominated for the 1915 prize. For 1916 there
was only one letter. Ehrenhaft proposed him for Brownian motion and for special
and general relativity. It is observed in the Report that this last work is not yet
complete.
The upswing started, slowly, with the nominations for 1917. A. Haas proposed
Einstein for the new theory of gravitation, quoting the explanation of the peri-
helion precession of Mercury. E. Warburg nominated him for his work in quan-
tum theory, relativity theory, and gravitation. The third and last letter that year,
by Pierre Weiss from Zurich, is the finest nomination for Einstein ever written
[W2]. For the first time we find an appreciation of the whole Einstein, whose
work represents 'un effort vers la conquete de 1'inconnu.' The letter first describes
Einstein's work in statistical mechanics centering on Boltzmann's principle, then
the two axioms of special relativity, next the light-quantum postulate and the pho-
toelectric effect, then the work on specific heats. It concludes by noting Einstein's
experimental efforts. The Report for 1917 refers to 'the famous theoretical phys-
icist Einstein,' speaks highly of his work, but concludes with a new experimental
snag: The measurements of C. E. St John at Mount Wilson had not found the
red shift predicted by general relativity. 'It appears that Einstein's relativity the-
ory, whatever its merits in other respects may be, does not deserve a Nobel prize.'



  1. Warburg and Ehrenhaft repeat their earlier nomination; Wien and von
    Laue independently propose a shared prize for Lorentz and Einstein for relativity;
    Edgar Meyer from Zurich cites Brownian motion, specific heats, and gravitation;

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