Albert Meets America: How Journalists Treated Genius During Einstein's 1921 Travels

366 Pages·2015·3.558 MB·English

by  Illy, Jszsef

Albert Meets America
(cid:41)
Einstein and Weizmann in New York.
Courtesy Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem.
Albert Meets America
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How Journalists Treated Genius
during Einstein’s 1921 Travels
Edited by
J Ó Z S E F I L LY
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Albert meets America : How journalists treated genius during Einstein’s 1921 travels /
edited by József Illy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8018-8457-8 (acid-free paper)
1. Einstein, Albert, 1879–1955—Public opinion. 2. Einstein, Albert, 1879–1955—Travel—
United States. 3. United States—Description and travel. I. Illy, József, 1933–
QC16.E5E44 2006
530.092—dc22
2006005266
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
To Marci
with I+Sz.
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Contents
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Foreword, by Diana K. Buchwald ix
Preface xv
1 Antecedents 1
2 To Visit America (February 21–April 1) 2
3 Prof. Einstein Here (New York, April 2–3) 13
4 City’s Welcome (April 5) 44
5 Freedom of City Is Refused (April 5) 50
6 Freedom of the City Is Given (April 8) 57
7 Fervid Reception (April 10–12) 73
8 Demonstrates with Chalk (April 15–18) 92
9 Defi nes the Speed of Light (April 18–23) 103
10 Puzzles Harding (Washington, April 25–26) 132
11 Speaks for Proposed Zionist University
(New York, April 27–May 1) 140
12 Baffl ed in Chicago (May 2–8) 146
Contents (cid:41) viii
13 Princeton Hears Einstein Explain (May 9–14) 160
14 Sees Boston (May 17–18) 209
15 Push Hebrew Medical Work (New York, May 19–21) 251
16 Coming to Hartford (May 22) 256
17 Professor Einstein and the Hat (New York, May 23) 281
18 To Be in Cleveland (May 25–26) 284
19 To Greet Einstein (Philadelphia, May 29) 306
20 Sails Today (New York, May 30) 309
21 Aftermath (Berlin, June 27–August 24) 315
Notes 335
Bibliography 339
Index 343
Foreword
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When chided for agreeing to make his fi rst trip to the United States as part
of a Zionist delegation, rather than as a representative of German science,
Einstein replied to his colleague Fritz Haber, the Nobel Prize winner in
chemistry:
Despite my expressed internationalist orientation, I nevertheless always
consider it my duty to intervene on behalf of my persecuted and morally
oppressed tribal colleagues, as much as is in my power. I therefore gladly
agreed [to the request to travel to the United States with a Zionist delega-
tion], without debating for more than fi ve minutes, although I had just
turned down all the American universities. This therefore is rather an act
of loyalty than one of disloyalty. The prospect of erecting a Jewish univer-
sity in particular fi lls me with special joy, since I have recently seen numer-
ous examples of the perfi dious and loveless manner in which one treats
splendid young Jews and seeks to sever their educational possibilities. I
could also list other events of the past year that would have to drive a self-
respecting Jew to take Jewish solidarity more seriously than seemed proper
and natural in earlier days.
A few days later Einstein reiterated in a letter to his close friend Heinrich
Zangger: “On Sunday it’s off to America. Not only to speak at universities,
which will happen as well, but for the founding of the Jewish university in
Jerusalem. I feel the keen need to do something for this cause.”
Thus, Albert Einstein, who had received numerous invitations to lec-
ture in America over the preceding few years, traveled from Berlin via
the Netherlands in the spring of 1921 with a full agenda and schedule: he
would spend most of his time accompanying Chaim Weizmann on a tour
of East Coast cities, making numerous, brief appearances at large gather-
ings intended to arouse enthusiasm for the Jewish colony in Palestine and
its planned cultural and educational institutions. In addition, Einstein was
to deliver a series of lectures at Princeton University on his contributions
to modern physics.
Einstein had been propelled to international fame in the fall of 1919, at
age forty, with the confi rmation of his general theory of relativity by two