In almost all respects, the two laureates were different: nationality, cultural background, occupations and preoccupations. Yet they were allied by their curiosity about the other's contributions, their pursuit of truth and their love of music. The Tagore-Einstein dialogues are filled with insights into the creativity and the philosophy of the two men, as well as their interest in the arts. Tagore was an incredibly prolific poet, playwright, novelist and essayist.

Their first conversation dealt with truth and the nature of reality, with Einstein wondering if truth and beauty existed independently of man. ''If there would be no human beings any more,'' Einstein offered as a hypothesis, ''the Apollo of Belvedere would no longer be beautiful.''

When Tagore objected to that premise, Einstein said that he agreed with it in terms of Beauty, but not Truth. Tagore said that Truth was realized through man: ''If there be some Truth which has no sensuous or rational relation to the human mind, it will ever remain as nothing so long as we remain human beings.'' To which Einstein responded, ''Then I am more religious than you are!''

They met again in Berlin the next month -- the second of four meetings between 1930 and 1931. The men were photographed together, both hirsute -- Einstein with his moustache, Tagore with his long white beard -- hands identically clasped and each staring into the camera.

In that conversation, the two talked about family, the German youth movement and the interplay of chance and predetermination. That led to a discussion about the differences between Western and Indian classical music. Tagore commented that in human affairs there is ''an element of elasticity -- some freedom within a small range which is for the expression of our personality.'' He compared that freedom to Indian music, saying that it is not as rigidly fixed as Western music, and added that ''in India the measure of a singer's freedom is in his own creative personality -- he can make permutations and combinations of notes according to the law of the melody prescribed,'' but he had to be guided by his artistic conscience.