---
created_at: '2015-04-18T13:28:48.000Z'
title: Einstein's Letter to Marie Curie (1911)
url: http://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol8-trans/34
author: anacleto
points: 174
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comment_text: 
num_comments: 30
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objectID: '9399379'

---
[Source](http://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol8-trans/34 "Permalink to 
Volume 8: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English translation supplement) page 6    ")

# 
Volume 8: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English translation supplement) page 6    

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##  Volume 8: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English translation supplement) Page 6 (34 of  742)

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6    
DOCS.    
FOR    
VOL.    
5    
NOVEMBER  1911-MARCH    
1912    
Vol.    
5,    
312a.  To  Marie  Curie    
Prague,  23    
November    
1911    
Highly    
esteemed    
Mrs.    
Curie,[1]    
Do  not    
laugh    
at    
me    
for    
writing  you    
without    
having    
anything    
sensible    
to    
say.    
But    
I    
am  so    
enraged  by    
the    
base    
manner    
in  which    
the    
public  is    
presently    
daring  to    
concern    
itself  with    
you[2]    
that    
I    
absolutely    
must    
give    
vent  to    
this    
feeling.  However,    
I    
am    
convinced    
that    
you  consistently  despise    
this    
rabble,    
whether  it    
obsequiously    
lavishes    
respect    
on    
you    
or    
whether  it    
attempts  to    
satiate    
its    
lust    
for  sensationalism!    
I    
am    
impelled    
to    
tell    
you    
how    
much  I  have    
come    
to  admire    
your  intellect,  your    
drive,    
and    
your  honesty,    
and    
that    
I    
consider    
myself  lucky    
to  have    
made    
your    
personal  acquaintance    
in  Brussels.    
Anyone    
who  does  not  number    
among    
these    
reptiles    
is  certainly    
happy,    
now  as    
before,    
that    
we    
have  such    
personages  among    
us    
as  you,    
and    
Langevin[3]    
too,    
real    
people    
with  whom    
one    
feels    
privileged    
to  be  in    
contact.  If    
the  rabble    
continues  to    
occupy    
itself  with    
you,    
then    
simply    
don't    
read    
that    
hogwash,    
but  rather    
leave    
it    
to    
the    
reptile    
for  whom  it  has  been    
fabricated.    
With    
most    
amicable    
regards    
to    
you,  Langevin,    
and    
Perrin,[4]    
yours  very  truly,    
A.    
Einstein    
P.S.  I  have    
determined  the  statistical    
law  of    
motion    
of    
the    
diatomic    
molecule    
in  Planck's    
radiation    
field    
by    
means    
of    
a    
comical    
witticism,    
naturally    
under  the    
constraint    
that  the  structure's  motion    
follows    
the    
laws  of    
standard    
mechanics.    
My  hope    
that    
this    
law  is    
valid  in    
reality    
is    
very    
small,    
though.[5]    
Vol.    
5,    
375a.  From  Walther  Nernst[1]    
Berlin,    
26a  Am    
Karlsbad,  23    
March    
[1912][2]    
Esteemed    
Professor    
Einstein,    
With    
these  lines    
I  just    
want  to    
express  my  joy    
at    
the    
prospect    
of    
arriving    
at    
agreement    
in    
an    
oral    
discussion,    
at    
which    
the    
presence    
of    
our    
colleague    
Planck[3]    
is  naturally    
not    
only  extremely    
welcome    
but  could  make  mine  almost    
superfluous.    
Nor  do    
I    
want    
to  address    
today    
your    
view    
that    
publications    
could  do    
no    
harm    
because    
one    
does  not  have  to  read    
them[4]-I    
do    
think,  though,    
that    
such    
an    
attitude,    
if  it    
were    
prevalent,    
would    
hamper    
the    
steady    
development    
of  physics–    
rather,    
only    
to    
express  again  my  delight    
that    
I    
can    
welcome    
you    
here    
soon.    
I    
shall 

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