Das Prinzip der Relativität und die Grundgleichungen der Mechanik.

the first response to einstein's relativity

The rare first edition, author's offprint issue, of the first public response to Einstein's special relativity. From the library of physicist Arnold Sommerfeld. This offprint is exceptionally rare, with no other copies appearing in auction records.

When Einstein's first paper on relativity was published in the Annalen der Physik in June, 1905, it initially attracted little notice. As his sister wrote in her biographical sketch, 'The young scholar imagined that his publication in the renowned and much-read journal would draw immediate attention. He expected sharp opposition and the severest criticism. But he was very disappointed. His publication was followed by an icy silence. the next few issues of the journal did not mention his paper at all. The professional circles took an attitude of wait and see. Some time after the appearance of the paper, Albert Einstein received a letter from Berlin. It was sent by the well-known Professor Planck, who asked for clarification of some points which were obscure to him. After the long wait this was the first sign that his paper had been read at all. The joy of the young scientist was especially great because the recognition of his activities came from one of the greatest physicists of that time' (Pais, Subtle is the Lord, pp. 149-150).

'The rapidity with which special relativity became a topic of discussion and research is largely due to Planck's early interest. In his scientific autobiography, Planck gave his reasons for being so strongly drawn to Einstein's theory: "For me its appeal lay in the fact that I could strive toward deducing absolute, invariant features following from its theorems". The search for the absolute - forever Planck's main purpose in science - had found a new focus' (Pais p. 150). In addition to publishing the present paper, Planck presented Einstein's theory in the physics colloquium in Berlin during the winter of 1905-06 and discussed it at a scientific meeting held in September 1906. His assistant Max von Laue would also become an early an influential supporter.

Among the new results published here are 'the first occasion on which the momentum velocity relation, the transformation laws, and the variational principle of relativistic point mechanics were written down. Planck derived the [momentum-velocity relation] from the action of an electromagnetic field on a charged point particle...' (Pais pp. 150-151).

Only a decade older than Einstein, Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951) was one of the most influential physicists of the period. In addition to making significant contributions to atomic and quantum theory, and acting as an early supporter of Einstein, he was known as an excellent, collaborative teacher. At Munich he supervised or taught seven future Nobel Prize winners - Heisenberg, Pauli, Debye, Bethe, von Laue, Pauling, and Rabi - and dozens of others who would become famous. Sommerfeld and Planck were both friends and colleagues, with Sommerfeld penning a biographical memoir of Planck in celebration of the latter's 60th birthday celebrations, so it is natural that Sommerfeld would have received a copy of this offprint.

First edition; 4-leaf offprint; original wrappers, very minor creasing, a fine copy.