Item #23 Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen [A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions]. WITH: Zur Theorie der Brownschen Bewegung [On the Theory of Brownian Motion]. Albert Einstein.

Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen [A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions]. WITH: Zur Theorie der Brownschen Bewegung [On the Theory of Brownian Motion]

FIRST APPEARANCE in a journal of Einstein’s famous doctoral dissertation: “it has had more widespread practical applications than any other paper Einstein wrote” (Pais). WITH: Einstein’s important sequel to his revolutionary paper on Brownian motion, “includes the discussion of rotary Brownian motion” (Pais).

“It is not sufficiently realized that Einstein’s thesis is one of his most fundamental papers. Histories and biographies invariably refer to 1905 as the miraculous year because of his articles on relativity, the light-quantum, and Brownian motion. In my opinion, the thesis is on a par with the Brownian motion article. In fact, in some--not all--respects, his results on Brownian motion are by-products of his thesis work. This goes a long way toward explaining why the paper on Brownian motion was received by the Annalen der Physik on May 11, 1905, only eleven days after the thesis had been completed.

“Three weeks after the thesis was accepted, this same journal received a copy (without dedication) for publication. It was published only after Einstein supplied a brief addendum in January 1906... Quite apart from the fundamental nature of some results obtained in the thesis, there is another reason why this paper is of uncommon interest: it has had more widespread practical applications than any paper Einstein ever wrote” (Pais, Subtle is the Lord).

IN: Annalen der Physik, Band 19, pp. 289-306; 371-381. Leipzig: Barth, 1906. Octavo, contemporary German morocco, marbled boards. Whole volume 19 offered (without general title page). Stamp (“Prof. R.W. Pohl / Göttingen) on page 1. Spine faded and a few scuffs to handsome contemporary binding; text and Einstein articles fine.

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