

xxiv INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME

2

gefördert

insbesondere durch

die

Lektüre

von

David

Humes und

Ernst

Machs

philosophischen

Schriften.[37]

Einstein read two

of

Ernst

Mach's

influential historical-critical studies, the

Mechanik

and the

Wärmelehre,

while

a

student at the

ETH.[38]

Other classics

of

theoretical

physics

that he studied

during

his student

years,

such

as

the works

of

Boltzmann,

Helmholtz, Kirchhoff,

and

Hertz,[39]

also

explicitly

treat

many

foun-

dational and

methodological questions.

The

wide-ranging

"regular philosophical

reading

and discussion

evenings" ("regelmässige

philosophische

Lese- und

Diskussionsabende")[40]

of

Einstein and his

friends,

Maurice Solovine and

Conrad

Habicht, who banded

together

in 1902 to form the

"Olympia Academy"

("Akademie

Olympia"),[41]

also

played

a

significant

role in

directing

his attention

to such issues. In his reminiscences

of

Einstein,

Solovine

gives an

extensive

list

of

the

readings

that formed the basis

of

their

discussions.[42]

Solovine and Einstein started to read

Pearson's Grammar

of Science[43]

before

Habicht

joined

them. After

that,

the three

of

them read and discussed Mach's

[37]

Einstein

1979,

p.

50. Elsewhere he in-

cluded Poincare

together

with Hume and Mach

in

a

similar

list,

noting

that he read Hume

"in

a

quite good

German

edition" ("in

einer recht

gu-

ten

deutschen

Ausgabe") (Einstein to

Michele

Besso, 6 March

1952),

possibly

Hume 1895. In

1915,

Einstein wrote

to

Schlick:

"You

have also

correctly seen

that this trend

of

thought [positiv-

ism] was

of

great

influence

on my

efforts,

and

specifically

E. Mach and still much

more

Hume,

whose treatise

on understanding

I

studied with

fervor

and admiration

shortly

before the discov-

ery

of

the

theory

of

relativity.

It

is

very

well

pos-

sible that without these

philosophical

studies

I

would

not

have arrived

at

the

solution"

("Auch

darin haben Sie

richtig gesehen,

dass diese

Denkrichtung

von

grossem

Einfluss auf meine

Bestrebungen gewesen ist,

und

zwar

E. Mach

und noch viel mehr

Hume,

dessen

Traktat

über

den Verstand

ich kurz

vor Auffindung

der Rela-

tivitätstheorie mit Eifer und

Bewunderung

stu-

dierte. Es ist sehr

gut möglich,

dass ich ohne

diese

philosophischen

Studien nicht

auf

die Lö-

sung gekommen

wäre")

(Einstein

to Moritz

Schlick, 14

December

1915).

In

spite

of

Ein-

stein's

garbled

reference

to

the work that he

read, it

appears

to

have been

A

Treatise of Hu-

man

Nature

(see

the

reading

list

of

the

Olympia

Academy,

cited

below,

and Einstein

to

Michele

Besso,

6

January 1948).

[38]

See Einstein to Mileva

Maric, 10

Septem-

ber 1899

(Vol.

1,

Doc.

54),

especially

note

8.

Commenting

later

on

the

prevailing

mechanistic

outlook in

physics

at

this

time,

Einstein stated:

"It

was

Ernst Mach

who,

in his

History of Me-

chanics, shook this

dogmatic

faith;

this book

ex-

ercised

a profound

influence

upon me precisely

in this

regard

while

I

was a

student"

("Ernst

Mach

war

es,

der in seiner Geschichte

der

Me-

chanik

an

diesem

dogmatischen

Glauben rüt-

telte;

dies Buch hat

gerade

in

dieser

Beziehung

einen tiefen Einfluss

auf

mich als Student

aus-

geübt")

(Einstein

1979,

p.

18).

Einstein

proba-

bly

read the third

edition,

Mach

1897,

while

a

student.

[39]

See Einstein

to

Mileva

Maric, 10

August

1899, 10

September

1899,

1

August

1900, 13

September

1900,

and

15

April

1901 (Vol.

1,

Docs.

52, 54, 69, 75,

and

101).

[40]

Einstein

to

Michele

Besso, 6

March 1952.

[41]

The earliest record

of

the

name

and

mem-

bership occurs

in

a postcard

of

30 November

1903 sent

by

Einstein

to

Conrad Habicht.

[42]

Solovine

1956,

pp.

vii-viii.

The works

are

listed in the order in which Solovine mentions

them. He indicates that

they

read

many

other

works

on

similar

themes,

as

well

as a

number

of

literary

works. In

a

letter

of

14

April

1952 to

Carl

Seelig

(SzZE Bibliothek,

Hs

304:1006),

Solovine includes

Poincare

1905a in

a

similar,

but otherwise less

complete

list

of

the

readings

of

the

Olympia

Academy.

[43]

Pearson

1900.