University of California Press

Einstein's Kyoto Address: "How I Created the Theory of Relativity"
Author(s): Seiya Abiko

Source: Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, Vol. 31, No. 1 (2000), pp. 1-35
Published by: University of California Press
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SEIYA ABIKO*
Einstein's Kyoto address: "How I created the theory of relativity"
1.THE TEXTS AND THE TRANSLATOR

Texts
ALBERT EINSTEIN VISITED Japan fromNovember 17 toDecember 29, 1922, at

the invitationof the Japanese publishing company, Kaizo-Sha. Einstein had con
tributed to the company's journal Kaizo (Reconstruction) an article entitled "On
the present crisis of theoretical physics."' The article appeared in "The Einstein
issue" published just in time for his arrival in Japan both in Japanese translation
and in the original German. As this original German text does not seem to be
known in theWest, it is reproduced here as Appendix 1.
The article places Einstein's accomplishments against thehistorical background
of theoreticalphysics. He emphasized the revolutionarycharacter of thefield theory
ofMichael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell, and claimed the theoryof general
relativity culminated the transformation theybegan. He also outlined the origins
of quantum theory in the theoryof thermal radiation and stressed the importance
of the concept of lightquantum. Moreover, pointing to the conflicts between the
quantum and classical approaches, he predicted thata new mathematical language
would be necessary to justify quantum relationships.
During his stay in Japan, Einstein visited Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Kyoto,
Oosaka, Kobe, and Fukuoka, and the shrines or temples at Nikko, Nara, and
Miyajima. At every cityhe visited, he gave talks to Japanese audiences, both popular
*Serei Christopher 3453 Mikatahara-Town Ja

College. Hamamatsu-City, Zip: 433-8558,
pan; e-mail: abiko@ceres.dti.ne.jp. This work is supported by a grant from the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture. I would like to thank J.L. Heilbron for
helpful editorial advice.

The following abbreviations are used: AP, Annalen der Physik; CPE, Albert Einstein,
Collected papers (Princeton, 1987); JSHS, Japanese studies in history of science', PAWS,
Akademie derWissenschaften, Berlin, Sitzungsberichte; PTMPS, Tokyo Mathematical and
Physical Society, Proceedings; PZ, Physikalische Zeitschrift.

1. Albert Einstein, "Uber die gegenwartigen Krise der theoretischen Kaizo, 4
Physik,"
(1922), 1-8.
HSPS, Volume 31, Part 1,pages 1-35. ISSN 0890-9997. ?2000 by The Regents of theUniversity of
California. All rights reserved. Send requests for permission to reprint to Rights and Permissions,
University of California Press, 2000 Center St., Ste. 303, Berkeley, CA 94704-1223.

2 ABIKO
FIG. 1 ProfessorEinstein, lecturingin thehall of thePhysics Department, the Imperial

University of Tokyo. Source: Ishiwara (ref. 2).
and academic (figure 1). Three of those talkswere recorded by his translator Jun
Ishiwara, in their Japanese translations (figure 2). Einstein's notes, if they ever
existed, have not been found.
Ishiwara's Einstein-Kydju kouen-roku (The record of Professor Einstein's ad
dresses) (figure 3 and 4),2 also contains a Japanese translation of Einstein's "Im
pressions of Japan." This essay also appeared in the journal Kaizo along with its
original German text,3which is reproduced here inAppendix 3.
Among Einstein's talks in Japan, only the last, the "Kyoto address" given on
December 14,1922, is importantfrom an historical point of view. It contains state
ments about the route that ledEinstein to the construction of his theories of relativ
ityand about the influence exerted on him by theMichelson-Morley experiment
and by Ernst Mach's philosophy. Ishiwara's record of theKyoto address under
pinned an earlier paper on the formation of the special theory of relativity pub
lished in this journal.4
The Kyoto address has appeared twice inEnglish, translatedby Tsuyoshi Ogawa
and by Yoshimasa A. Ono, although Ogawa included only the part concerning the
2. Jun Ishiwara, Einstein Kydju kouen-roku (The record of Professor Einstein's addresses)
(Tokyo, 1923). The tableof contentsof thisbook is inAppendix 2.
3. AlbertEinstein, "Plauderei iibermeine Eindriicke in Japan,"Kaizo, 5 (1923), 338-343.
4. SeiyaAbiko," On thechemico-thermaloriginsof special relativity," HSPS, 22:1 (1991),
1-24.

EINSTEIN'S KYOTO ADDRESS 3
The poem reads as follows:
Pressed the people, sharpening their ears,

Seated all, as if in absorption.
With senses deep, and opening theireyes,
As ifto a harsh fate indevotion.
Einstein at theblackboard standing,
Without caring lecturegoes rapidlyon.
And Ishiwarawrites everything,
Down inhis notebook fastand fine.
AlbertEinstein
1922
FIG. 2 The illustration

drawn and thepoem composed byAlbertEinstein. Source: Ishiwara
(ref. 2).
formationof special relativity.5These translations, although valuable, contain sev

eral serious errors.Apart from their style of free translation, they sufferfrom tak
ing as the Japanese text the revised edition of Ishiwara's book done by his son,
Hitoshi.6 The revision replaced several termswith others thatare not exactly equiva
lent. Places where these errors occur are indicated in ?3 below. Three of them
deserve notice here. For one, Ishiwara properly used "the principle of relativity"
and "the theoryof relativity" in context as appropriate;7 but both Ogawa and Ono
5. Tsuyoshi Ogawa, "Japanese evidence for Einstein's of theMichelson-Morley's

knowledge
JSHS, 18:1 (1979), 73-81; AlbertEinstein, "How I created the theoryof rela
experiment/'
tivity," trans. Yoshimasa A. Ono, Physics today (Aug 1982), 45-47.
6. Jun Ishiwara, Einstein kouen-roku, rev. Hitoshi Ishiwara 1971). The revision
(Tokyo,
was done to put the text into modern
Japanese.
7. The relevanttextsbyEinstein indicatethat"theprincipleof relativity"shouldclearlybe
distinguishedfrom"the theoryof relativity,"
which is a theoreticalsystemconstructedupon
twoprinciples,"the principle of relativity"and "the principle of the invarianceof light
velocity" (ref.71 below). The principleof relativityis, "The laws by which the statesof
physical systems undergo change are not affected, whether these changes of states be re

4 ABIKO
FIG 3. Handwrittennote byAlbert Einstein forJunIshiwara.The firstline reads: 'To my

dear Ishiwara for commemoration.,, (Meiner liebsten Kollegen Ishiwara zum
colleague
Andenken.) Source: Ishiwara (ref. 2).
wrote "the theoryof relativity" or "the relativity theory" for "the principle of rela
tivity."The same conflation occurs inHitoshi's edition. Secondly, the translators
occasionally miss theantecedents of pronouns. An example is a mixup of Einstein's
idea of an experiment to perceive themotion of the earth with theMichelson
Morley experiment.8 Finally the translations disagree in at least one place with
what Einstein wrote elsewhere. Where the phraseology of the address might sug
gest thatEinstein intended tomake a reference to "inertia," it seems clear fromhis
paper of 1907 referred to in theKyoto address thathe meant "energy."9
Since Ogawa's and Ono's translationswere published, Einstein's letters to his
first wife, Mileva Marie have been made public.10As shown in ?2 below, they
clarify some of the circumstances surroundingEinstein and theKyoto address.
ferred to the one or the other of two systems of coordinates in uniform translatory motion"
(ref.29, p. 41). The generalpostulateof relativityis, 'The general laws of natureare tobe
expressed by equations which hold good for all systems of co-ordinates, that is, are co
variant with respect to any substitutions whatever (generally co-variant)" (ref. 29, p. 117).
8. Ryoiti Itagaki,address to theHistory of Science Society of Japan,Tokyo, 1997; cf.ref.41.
9. Albert Einstein, "Relativitatsprinzip und die aus demselben gezogenen Folgerungen,"
Jahrbuchder Radioaktivitat,4 (1907), 411-462, on 414. Also, inCPE, 2, 433-484.
10. Jiirgen Renn and Robert Schulmann, eds., Albert Einstein/Mileva Marie?The love
letters (Princeton, 1992).

FIG 4. Portrait of Albert Einstein by Ippei Okamato. Einstein wrote: "In appreciation for
the wonderful stay in Japan, Albert Einstein, December 1922." (In Dankbarkeit nach
wunderbariste Aufenthalt in Japan, Albert Einstein, December 1922.) Source: Ishiwara
(ref. 2).

6 ABIKO
Jun Ishiwara
Jun Ishiwara (1881-1947) was the firstJapanese theoretical physicist of inter

national standing." He had graduated from the department of theoretical physics
of theCollege of Science, Tokyo Imperial University, in 1906 and continued his
studies at the graduate school of the college. As early as 1910, Einstein knew
Ishiwara's work and referred to it favorably. "Recently [hewrote a colleague on
November 4], I received several papers by a Japanese on the theoryof relativity.
One of themwas on ponderomotive forces. It is, inmy view, the only paper so far
written on this subject without an ambiguity. For substances with constant \iand ?,
his results seem to be correct."12
At the time Ishiwara wrote these papers he was an instructorat theArmy School
of Artillery and Engineers. They were not his first.He had already published on
the optics ofmoving ponderable bodies.13 InApril 1911, Ishiwara was appointed
assistant professor at theCollege of Science, Tohoku Imperial University, and in
May 1914 became full professor there.
Ishiwara was one of the very few physicists in theworld who accepted the
theoryof lightquanta before the 1920s. Already in 1911 he tried to derive Max
Planck's radiation formula from the interactionbetween lightparticles and atomic
mass.14 From the spring of 1912 to that of 1914 he studied abroad, inMunich,
Berlin, Zurich, and England. At Munich, under Arnold Sommerfeld, he applied
the quantum theory of light to photochemical reactions.15 Sommerfeld did not
appreciate the result since he did not believe in the lightquantum. After returning
home in 1915, Ishiwara set forth,earlier than and independently of Sommerfeld,
the generalization of quantum conditions for atomic elections, which Sommerfeld
esteemed highly.16
Ishiwara wrote some papers on thegeneral theoryof relativityunder Einstein's
direction.17A postcard fromEinstein toLeonid Mandelshtam, dated July23, 1913,
had Ishiwara's signature as one of the participants in a colloquium.18
11. Sigeko Nisio, "The transmission of Einstein's work to Japan," JSHS, 18:1 (1979), 1-8.
12. CPE, 5,261; Jim Ishiwara, "Zur Theorie der elektromagnetischen Vorgange in Bewegten
Korpern," PTMPS, 5 (1910), 310-327; "Bemerkung iiber die Fortpflantzung des Lichtes in
bewegten Medien," ibid., 327-333, and "Zur Dynamik bewegter System," ibid., 5, 333
347.
13. Jun Ishiwara, "Zur Optik
der bewegten ponderablen Medien," PTMS, 5 (1909), 150-180.
14. Jun Ishiwara, "Beitrage zur Theorie der Lichtquanten," Tohoku University, Scientific
reports, 1 (1911-12), 67-104.
15. Jun Ishiwara, "Das photochemische Gesetz und die molekulare Theorie der Strahlung,"
PZ, 73(1912), 1142-1151.
16. Jun Ishiwara, "Universelle Bedeutung des Wirkungsquantums," PTMPS, 8 (1915),
106-116; Arnold Sommerfeld, Atombau und Spektrallinien (Braunschweig, 1919).

17. Jun Ishiwara, "Zur Theorie der Gravitation," PZ, 14 (1913), 128; "Uber die Zusamenhang
der Formeln fur die Massen mit den Raumzeitauffassungen," ibid., 14 (1913), 26-29.
18. CPE, 5, 540.

In August 1921, Ishiwara's academic career came to a sudden end. He was
forced to resign his post at the university because of a love affairwith a woman
who, like himself, was a poet. One of his first tasks after his dismissal was the
publication of a translationof Einstein's collected papers Einstein zensyuu (Kaizo
Sha, Tokyo, 1922-24) in four volumes. It was the first collection of Einstein's
works published anywhere.19 Einstein contributed a preface to the second volume
during his stay in Japan. Its original German text is given inAppendix 4. The
English translation follows:
On the occasion of my visit to Japan, the tireless director of the Kaizo-Sha pub
lishing company brought out a complete collection of my scientific works, which
are thus made accessible in a convenient form to Japanese scholars and students.
It ismy pleasant duty to express my sincere gratitude toMr. [Sanehiko] Yamamoto
for this accomplishment, and, not least, to my honored friend and colleague
Ishiwara who has taken on the great trouble of translation. His name guarantees a
faithful translation.
Our science advances so rapidly that most of the original articles lose their
pertinence and very rapidly seem out of date. On the other hand, however, it
always is stimulating to trace the formation of theories in the original articles.
Moreover, quite often such a study gives deeper insight into the matter than a
systematic description of the finished object smoothed by the work of many con
temporaries. In this sense, I hope that the present collection is an enrichment of
the literature. Especially, I would like to recommend to young scholars the ar
ticles on the special and general theory of relativity, the papers on Brownian mo
tion, and the work on quantum theory of 1905 and 1917. These contain, inmy
view, considerations that have still not been sufficiently taken into account.
This is the first publication of my collected scientific works. That this has
been accomplished in the Japanese language is forme new evidence that testifies
to the strength of scientific life and interest in this country. In these weeks, I have
learned to appreciate Japan not only as a country that respects science, but also?
what is even more important?from the human point of view.
We have it from the best authority that Ishiwara fully understood Einstein's
physics and his German. Thus, we have every reason to believe thathis original
translationwas faithful and exact, and that it should be translated faithfullyand
literally,from the original edition of his book.
2. OTHER RELEVANT SOURCES
Having finished his diploma in the cantonal high school inAarau, Einstein
entered the Swiss Polytechnic, theETH inZurich, inOctober 1896 at the age of
17. According to Rudolph Einstein's son-in-law and
Kayser, biographer,20
19. Jun Ishiwara, Yoshitoshi Endou, Mitsuo Yamada and Yoshio Abe, translators, Einstein
zenshu (The collected papers of A. Einstein) (4 vols., Tokyo, 1922-24).
20. Anton Reiser, Albert Einstein: A biographical portrait (New York, 1930), 52.

8 ABIKO
He encountered at once, in his second year of college [1897-98], the problem of
light, ether and the earth's movement. This never left him. He wanted to
problem
construct an apparatus, which would accurately measure the earth's movement.
That his intention was that of other important theorists, Einstein did not know. He
was at that time unacquainted with the positive contributions, of some years back,
of the great Dutch physicist Hendrik [Antoon] Lorentz, and with the subsequently
famous attempt of [Albert Abraham] Michelson. He wanted to proceed quite em
pirically, to suit his scientific feeling of the time, and believed that an apparatus
such as he thought would lead him to the solution of the problem, whose far
reaching perspectives he already sensed. But there was no chance to build this
apparatus. The skepticism of his teachers was too great, the spirit of enterprise
too small. Albert had thus to turn aside from his plan, but not to give it up forever.
He still expected to approach the major question of physics by observation and
experiment.
This account, echoed in theKyoto address, indicates thatEinstein thought of a

method similar to that of theMichelson-Morley experiment during his second
year at theETH, without knowing the latter's experiment.
Writing toMarie on September 28,1899, during his thirdyear atETH, Einstein
referredto thismethod: "I also wrote toProfessor [Wilhelm]Wien inAachen about
my paper on the relativemotion of the luminiferous ether against ponderable mat
ter,the paper that the "boss" handled in such an offhanded fashion. I read a very
interestingpaper byWien of 1898 on this subject."21
The "boss" referred towas Heinrich Friedlich Weber (1843-1912), Einstein's
supervisor in physics. Wien's paper of 1898 mentioned theMichelson-Morley
experiment as one among the ten attemptswith negative results to detect motion
against the ether. The revelant passage reads:22
10. The attempt by Michelson and Morley. If the ether stays stationary, then the
time that a light beam takes to go back and forth between two glass plates must
change when the plates are moved. The change, depending on the value
v2A2 [=v2/c2], should be observable by utilizing interference.
The negative result obtained is incompatible with the assumption of a sta
tionary ether. This assumption can be maintained only by the hypothesis that the
lengthof a rigid body changeswhen moving throughthestationaryetherby just

the amount to compensate
required the lengthening of the path of the light beam.
Theassumption of movable ether might offer the possibility that the ether is
carried along with the movement of the earth and so stays stationary to it. In this
way, all the negative results of the attempts might be explained. Then, however, it
would be necessary to find an explanation of the aberration [of starlight].
It is likely thatEinstein came to know about theMichelson-Morley experiment by

readingWien during his thirdyear at ETH, in September 1899.
21. Renn and Schulmann (ref. 10), 15.
22. Wilhelm Wien, "Ueber die Fragen, welche die translatorische Bewegung des Lichtaters
betreffen," AP, 65:3 (1898) Beilage, i-xvii, on xv-xvi.

Shortly before that,Einstein wrote toMarie:23
I'm convinced more and more that the electrodynamics of moving bodies as it is
presented today doesn't correspond to reality, and itwill be possible to present it

in a simpler way. The introduction of the term "ether" into theories of electricity
has led to the construction of a medium whose motion can be described, without,
I believe, being able to ascribe physical meaning to it.
And, a month later,"In Aarau I had a good idea for investigating theway inwhich
a body's relativemotion with respect to the luminiferous ether affects thevelocity
of thepropagation of the light in transparentbodies. I even came up with a theory
about it that seems quite plausible tome."24
The next relevant passage from the correspondence with Marie occurs in a
letterofDecember 17, 1901: "I'm busy atwork on an electrodynamics ofmoving
bodies, which promises to be quite a capital piece of work. I wrote to you that I
doubted the correctness of the ideas about relative motion, but my reservations
were based on a simple calculational error.Now I believe in themmore thanever."25
It is not too bold to suppose that"the ideas about relativemotion" should be closely
related to the later "principle of relativity."
On December 19,Einstein reported very considerable progress:26
I spent all afternoon at [Alfred] Kleiner's in Zurich telling him my idea about the
electrodynamics of moving bodies, and....He advised me to publish my ideas on
the electromagnetic theory of light of moving bodies along with the experimental
method. He found the method I've proposed to be the simplest and the most
expedient one imaginable. I was quite happy about the success. I'll write the
paper in the next few weeks for sure.
Alfred Kleiner (1849-1916) was the professor of experimental physics at the

University of Zurich under whom Einstein was preparing his doctoral thesis.
Einstein was of course over sanguine about his project on "the electrodynam
ics ofmoving bodies." It took another fouryears, instead of "the next fewweeks,"
for him to accomplish thework. First he needed to learn the literature:"I want to
get down to business now and read what Lorentz and [Paul] Drude have written
about the electrodynamics of moving bodies. [Jacob] Ehrat will have to get the
literatureforme. [Marcel] Grossmann is doing his dissertation on a subject that is
related to fiddling and non-Euclidean geometry. I don't know exactly what it is."27
"Lorentz" stands for H.A. Lorentz' comprehensive monograph of 1895, later
called "Lorentz' electron theory."28This monograph, mentioned in theKyoto ad
23. Renn and Schulmann (ref. 10), 10.

24. Ibid., 14.
25. Ibid., 69.
26. Ibid., 71.
27. Ibid., 72.
28. Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Versuch einer Theorie der elektrischen und optischen
Erscheinungen in Bewegten Korpern (Leiden, 1895).

10 ABIKO
dress, reviews and explains "Michelson's interference experiment."29 Einstein fully

understood Lorentz' explanation of theMichelson-Morley experiment at least by
1902.Also from thepassage just quoted we see that long before he invented rela
tivity theory,Einstein knew of Grossmann's concern with the non-Euclidean ge
ometry.
In 1907, at the request of Johannes Stark, the editor of the Jahrbuch der
Radioaktivitdt und Elektronik, Einstein prepared a review of relativity theory,al
though, as he wrote Stark, "I am not in a position to inspect all publications con
cerning thematter because the library is closed when I am free."30 In writing this
"review," which he referredto inhis Kyoto address, Einstein startedhis investiga
tions into the gravitational field and thegeneralized theoryof relativity.The intro
duction to the review reads as follows:31
The most important result of the fourth part is that concerning the inertial mass of
energy. This result suggests the question whether energy also possesses heavy
(gravitational) mass. A further obvious question suggesting itself is whether the
principle of relativity is limited to nonaccelerated moving systems. In order not

to leave these questions totally untouched, I added to the present paper a fifth part
that contains a novel consideration, based on the principle of relativity, on accel
eration and gravitation.
The novel consideration is, "The proposition...that to an amount of energyE there

corresponds a mass ofmagnitude E/c2 holds not only for inertial but also forgravi
tationalmass, if the assumption introduced in ?17 is correct." The "assumption"
of ?17 is the so-called "principle of equivalence."
By 1912, Einstein had developed general relativity to apply to "the static case
of gravitation," but still sought "the dynamic law of gravitational field."32He be
gan to study the non-Euclidean geometry that he needed for furtherprogress in
1912,when he returned toZurich as a fullprofessor at theETH. Marcel Grossmann
introduced him toBernhard Riemann's theoryabout the foundations of geometry.
Utilizing this theory,Einstein and Grossmann wrote a paper "Preliminary version
29. H.A. Lorentz, A. Einstein, H. Minkowski, H. Weyl, The principle of relativity (New
York, 1952), 2-7.
30. CPE, 5, 74; Albert Einstein, "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper," AP, 17 (1905),
891-921; "1st dieTragheit eines Korpers von seinem Energieheit abhangig?," AP, 18 (1905),
639-641. Also, in CPE, 2, 275-306, 312-314.
31. CPE, 2 (ref. 9), 436. On p. 255 of the English translation of CPE, 2 (Princeton, NJ,
1989), the German clause "Urn diese Fragen nicht ganz unerortert zu lassen" is translated as
"In order not to leave this question totally undiscussed." In my view, this translation is
erroneous. The words "diese Fragen" should be translated into "these questions," i.e., plu
ral.
32. CPE, 5, 434.

EINSTEIN'S KYOTO ADDRESS
of the generalized theory of relativity and the theory of gravitation."33 Einstein

described thework to thephilosopher ErnstMach in June 1913:34
Recently you may have received my new work on relativity and gravitation, which
is now finally finished after endless troubles and tormenting doubts....If [the theory
is confirmed experimentally], then your ingenious researches on the foundation
of mechanics...attain a glorious confirmation. From the theory it follows neces
sarily that inertia arises from a kind of interaction between bodies, as implied by
your considerations about [Isaac] Newton's bucket experiment.
Another passage fromEinstein's correspondence ofNovember 1913, this one

from a letterto his former studentand collaborator Ludwig Hopf, is also relevant
to our theme:35
With the theory of gravitation I am very satisfied. The fact that the equations of
are
gravitation not generally covariant, which bothered me very much recently
has proved to be unavoidable. It is easily shown that a theory with generally
covariant equations cannot exist if the field is to be fully determined mathemati
cally by matter.
Yet, as he said in theKyoto address, after two years of struggleEinstein managed

to obtain covariant equations of the gravitational equations. As he admitted there,
he had made a mistake inhis calculatons. Einstein explained himselfmore fully to
Sommerfeld inNovember 1915:36
Last month I had one of the most stimulating and exhausting times in my life,
indeed also one of the most successful. I could not even think of writing to you.
For, I realized that my previous gravitational field equations were entirely

untenable! [Ich erkannte namlich dass meine bisherigen Feldgleichungen der
Gravitation ganzlich haltlos waren!] The following indications led to this:
1) I proved that the gravitational field on a uniformly rotating system does not
satisfy the field equations.

2) The movement of theMercury-perihelion became 18" instead of 45" per cen
tury.
3) The covariance-consideration inmy paper of last year does not yield theHamil
tonian
[now called Lagrangean] function H. When it is properly generalized, it
an arbitrary H. From this itwas demonstrated that the covariance with
permits
respect to the "adapted" coordinate system was a flop.
33. Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossmann, Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten

Relativitatstheorie und einer Theorie der Gravitation (Leipzig, 1913). Also inCPE, 4, 303-339.
34. CPE, 5,531-532.
35. Ibid., 562.
36. Armin Hermann, ed., Albert Einstein/Arnold Sommerfeld Briefwechsel (Basel, 1968),
32-33. Also in CPE, 8, 206-207.

12 ABIKO
Once every last bit of confidence in results and methods of my earlier theories
had given way, I saw clearly that only through a link with the general covariance
theory, that is, with Riemann's covariant, that a satisfactory solution could be
found. To my regret, I have immortalized the final errors in this struggle in the
Academic contributions, which I can send to you directly. The final result is as
follows.
The field equations are generally covariant....The equations read
gravitational
I had considered these equations with Grossmann already 3 years ago....But at

that time I had reached the conclusion that these did not lead to Newton's ap
which was proven to be a mistake.
proximation,
This matter is discussed furtherin ?4 below.
3. THE KYOTO ADDRESS
Address at theKyoto University

(How I created the theoryof relativity)37
I [Ishiwara] feel I should add here more about the address at Kyoto that I
referred to last time. Itwas December 14. Itwas cold, every roof slightly covered
with snow both on theday before and on themorning of the 14th. We accompanied
Professor [Einstein] to theUniversity at noon, and joined the lunch party.During
the shortbreak after that,professors ofKyoto talkedwith Professor Einstein. Af
tera while, the time came for the students'welcoming party to start.As theProfes
sor stood up, I told him about the request of Professor [Kitaro] Nishida.38 As I
have already written, Professor Nishida is theperson who firstgave Mr. Yamamoto
of Kaizo-Sha themotive to invite Professor Einstein.39 Professor Nishida pro
posed earnestly that, ifwe could ask theProfessor to talk today,he wanted to hear
about the circumstances of how Professor Einstein had created the theoryof rela
tivity,which must be of invaluable importance both for general students and for
us. Professor Einstein probably had some friendlyfeelings forProfessor Nishida.
He had already begun towalk away, but answered at once as follows:
That is not an easy task. But, if someone wants me to talk about it, I will. It is all
the same tome whatever I talk about.
37. The Japanese text is in Ishiwara (ref. 2), 131-151.

38. Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945), a distinguished developed the
Japanese philosopher,
"Nishida philosophy," which is deeply rooted in Zen Buddhism with coloring fromWilliam
James and Henri Bergson.
39. Ishiwara wrote in the preface, "It was in December of the 9th year of the Taishou era
[1920] thatMr. Yamamoto of Kaizo-Sha visited me. He asked me to write on the main
ideas of the theory of relativity on his Journal Kaizo and he said also that he had a plan to

For us, itwas an extraordinary favor.As for the contents of the theoryof rela
tivity,we can learn themby readingmany other books. But what kind of thoughts
and difficulties the creator of the theoryhimself passed through inorder to reach it,
we cannot learn from other sources. It was a greater that we could hear
pleasure
about it from the very Professor himself, a pleasure we could never have enjoyed
otherwise. Itwas under these circumstances that the Professor startedhis talk to
the students as follows.
It is never an easy task to talk about how I reached the theory of relativity,
because there are many hidden complexities that stimulate one's thinking. Be
sides, the complexities affect itwith various degrees of strength. I intend neither
to talk about each of them, nor to quote each of the papers I have written. I shall
only trytopick up simplythegistmost directlyrelatedto thedevelopmentofmy

thought.
It was about seventeen years ago that I first had the idea to establish the
principle of relativity.40 Where the idea came from cannot be expressed accu
rately. It is certain, however, that the idea was contained in the problems concern
ing the optics of moving bodies. Light propagates through the sea of ether. The
earth also moves in this same ether. If seen from the earth, ether flows against it.
Nevertheless, I could not find the facts verifying this flow of ether in any litera
ture on physics.
Therefore, I wanted somehow to verify this flow of ether against the earth,
namely, themovement of the earth. When I posed this problem tomy mind at that
time, I never doubted the existence of ether and themovement of the earth. Thus,
I wanted, by appropriately reflecting light from one source by mirrors, to send
one light beam along the motion of the earth and the other along opposite to it.
Anticipating that there should be some difference in the energy of these beams, I
wanted to verify this by the difference of heat caused by them on two thermo
couples. This idea was sort as that of Michelson's

of the same experiment, but I
did not know this experiment
very well then.41
While I had these ideasin mind as a student, I came to know the strange
result of Michelson's experiment. Then I came to realize intuitively that, ifwe
admit this as a fact, itmust be our mistake to think of the movement of the earth
against ether. That was the first route that led me to what we now call the prin
ciple of special relativity.42 Since then I have come to believe that, though the
earth moves around the sun, we cannot perceive thismovement by way of optical
experiments.
invite Professor Einstein in order to obtain a few of his lectures. Yamamoto added that
Professor Nishida of the Faculty of Literature Kyoto University, had suggested the project.
I supported this splendid project with all my heart."
40. Here both the original and the revised editions have "the principle of relativity." Yet,
both of the previous translators wrote "a relativity theory" or "the theory of relativity."
41. This follows Reiser (ref. 20) and Tetsu Hirosige, "The ether problem, the mechanistic
world view, and the origin of the theory of relativity," HSPS, 7 (1976), 3-82, on 54. Ogawa
has "but I had not carried out the experiment yet to obtain any definite results" and Ono, "I
did not put this experiment to the test."
42. Here both the original and the revised editions have "the special principle of relativity."
Ogawa wrote "the special principles of relativity," Ono, "the special theory of relativity."

14 ABIKO
Itwas
just then that I had the chance to read Lorentz' monograph of 1895.
There,Lorentz dealt with the problems of electrodynamics and was able to solve
them completely in the first approximation, namely, in so far as he neglected the
quantities higher than the second power of the ratio of themoving body's velocity
to that of light. Then I dealt with [Armand] Fizeau's experiment and tried to ap
proach itwith the hypothesis that the equations for electrons given by Lorentz
held just as well for the system of coordinates fixed in themoving body as for that
fixed in the vacuum. Anyway, at that time I firmly believed in the correctness of
the Maxwell-Lorentz equations of electrodynamics and that they revealed the
true reality. What ismore, [the hypothesis] that these equations held also good for
themoving systems of coordinates, indicated the relation of the so-called invari
ance of light velocity.
In spite of that, this invarianceof light velocity conflicted with the law of the
additivity of velocity well known inmechanics. Why on earth did these two con
tradict each other? I felt I had come up against a serious difficulty. Expecting to
modify Lorentz' way of thought somehow, I spent almost one year in useless
thoughts. Then, I could not but think that thismystery would be too hard forme to
solve.
Nevertheless, a friend [Michele Besso] of mine inBern relieved me by chance.

It was a beautiful day. I visited him and began to talk to him like this.
"I have a problem that I cannot solve for the life of me. Today, I've brought
with me the battle to you."
"I discussed various things with him. Thereby, I felt inspired and was able to
reach the enlightenment.43 The next day, I revisited him and said to him, "Thanks
a lot. I have completely interpreted my problem now."44
My interpretation was really about the concept of time. Namely, time could
not be defined absolutely, but is in an inseparable relationship with the signal
velocity. Thus the previous extraordinary difficulty was solved completely for
the first time.
Within five weeks of this realization the principle of special relativity as we
know itwas established.45 I did not doubt that itwas quite acceptable also from
the philosophical point of view. Specifically, I noticed that it should agree with
Mach's view.46 As you can see, nothing in the [special] theory is connected with
43. Here Ishiwara used Japanese words suggestive of "satori" inZen Buddhism. Ogawa: "I
could suddenly comprehend the matter," Ono: "Then suddenly I understood where the key
to this problem lay."
44. The original has "I have completely interpreted," the revised edition, "I have com
pletely solved." Ogawa's translation, "My solution was really for the very concept of time,"
seems awkward, while Ono's, "An analysis of the concept of time, was my solution," is
quite different from the original meaning.

45. The original has "the principle of special relativity," the revised edition, "the special
theory of relativity;" Ogawa, "the present theory of special relativity was completed;" and
Ono, "the special theory of relativity was completed."

46. Ogawa's translation ends at this point.

Maori's so directly as the later problems

view solved by the general theory of
relativity. Nonetheless, following his analyses of the various concepts of science,
we can suppose a connection, although itmight be indirect.
It was in this way that the special theory of relativity was constructed.
The first idea leading to the general theory of relativity occurred two years
later, namely in 1907. It occurred, besides, in a striking fashion.
From the outset, itwas not satisfactory to me that the motions to which the
[principle of] relativity applied were restricted to those with uniform mutual ve
locity, and that its application to arbitrary motions was not allowed. I always
hoped that somehow I could manage to get rid of this restriction.

In 1907,I was preparing a summary of the results of the special theory of
relativity, for the Jahrbuch der Radioaktivitdt at the request of Stark, the editor of
the journal. Itwas then that I realized that, although all other laws of nature satis
fied the special theory of relativity, only the law of universal gravitation did not.
I felt deeply that I wanted somehow to find the reason why. But, I could not fulfill
this purpose easily. Above all, what was most unsatisfactory tome was that, while
the relationship between inertia and energy was given excellently by the special
theory of relativity, that between this and weight, namely, between energy and the
gravitational field, was left quite uncertain.47 I imagined that its explanation could
not be accomplished in terms of the special theory of relativity.
I was sitting in a chair in the patent office at Bern. Suddenly an idea dawned
on me: "If a man falls freely, he should not feel his weight himself."
I felt startled at once.

This simple thought leftme with a deep impression
indeed. It was
this deep impression that drove me to the theory of gravitation. I
went on thinking and thinking.
When a man falls, he has acceleration. The judgements he makes must be

those made in the system of reference with acceleration.
Thus, I determined to extend the principle of relativity48 so as to be appli

cable not only to systems of reference moving with uniform velocity, but also to
ones moving with acceleration. By doing so, I expected that the problem of gravi
tation could be solved at the same time. I expected so because49 we can inter
pret50 the reason why a person in free fall does not feel his weight, as that there is,
other than the gravitational field caused by the earth, another gravitational field
compensating it. In other words, in a system of reference moving with accelera
tion, it is required that there should appear a new gravitational field.
47. Ono: "the relationship between inertia and weight, or the energy of the gravitational
field, wasnot clearly elucidated." Cf. ref. 9 and ref. 31.

48. The original edition has "the principle of relativity," while the revised edition and Ono,
"the theory of relativity."
49. Ono omits this important phrase.
50. Ono omits the keyword "interpret."

16 ABIKO
"Yet, I could not solve the problem completely at once. It was after another
eight years that I found out the true relationships. Nevertheless, before that time,
I came to know a little of the somewhat general basis connected with them.
"Mach was the one who also insisted that all the systems of reference moving
with accelerations relative to each other are equivalent. But, obviously, this con
flicted with our geometry. The reason is that, ifwe admitted all these systems of
reference as valid,51 Euclidean geometry could not hold for each of them. To
describe a law discarding geometry is just the same as to describe an idea without
language. In order to express our idea, we must seek the language first.What had
we to seek then at that point?
"This problem remained unsolved for me until 1912. In that year, it occurred
tome by chance that there could be a deep reason for regarding the surface theory
of [Karl Friedlich] Gauss as the key to opening this mystery. I visualized Gauss'
surface coordinates as really meaningful objects.52 I did not know at that time,
however, thatRiemann had discussed the foundations of geometry more deeply. I
happened to recall that a lecture on geometry inmy student years by [Carl Friedlich]
Geiser, our professor of mathematics, contained Gauss' theory, hence that idea
[of mine]. In that way, I came to realize that the foundations of geometry indeed
could bear a physical meaning.
"WhenI returned from Prague to Zurich [in 1912], Imet my friend and math
ematician Grossmann there. He was the man who had helped me gain access to
mathematical literature when I was in the patent office at Bern. This time, he
introduced me to the works of [Curbastro Gregorio] Ricci at first, then to those of
Riemann. I asked him whether my problem could be solved by means
Thus, of
Riemann's theory, in other words, whether the coefficients I wanted to find could
be completely determined53 in terms of the invariance of the line elements. Then,
in 1913,1 wrote a paper in collaboration with him. Nevertheless, we could not
obtain the correct equations of universal gravitation yet. I further dealt with
Riemann's equation in various directions, only to find many reasons why the
results I imagined could not be obtained in that way.
"Two years of struggle passed after that. It was only then that I finally real
ized that there was an error inmy earlier calculation. I returned once again to the
former invariance theory and tried to find out the correct equations of universal
gravitation. Then, at last, after two weeks, they appeared before my eyes.
"Among thework I did after 1915,1would like to takeup only theproblem

of cosmology. This concerns the geometry and the time of the universe. My work
on this problem is based on the treatment of boundary conditions in the general
theory of relativity and also on Mach's considerations on inertia. Of course, I did
not know concretely to what extent his view on the relativistic nature of inertia
was definite.54 But it is nevertheless certain that I received a great mental stimu
lation from him."
51. Ono omits this if-clause.

52. Ono: "I found thatGauss' surface coordinates were very meaningful for understanding
this problem."
53. Ono omits this whether-clause.
54. Ono: "Although I did not exactly understand Mach's idea about inertia."

Anyway, I tried tomake invariant the boundary conditions on the

equations
of universal gravitation. Finally, eliminating the boundary by regarding the uni
verse as a closed space, I could solve the problem of cosmology. As a result,
inertia emerged as a property altogether of an inter-body character; and itwas
shown that the inertia of a body would vanish, if itwere not for another body
opposing to it. I believe the general theory of relativity thereby became satisfac
tory from the epistemological point of view.55
That is the story, I tried to describe concisely and historically how the gist of
the theory of relativity was created.
Here, we can clearly see, with what deep thoughts and considerations, also
with what beautiful friendships, a great physical theory,rare in history,was born.
Even with his rare genius and efforts,theunlimited phenomena of nature could not
have been wholly understood solely by one brain. How necessary and delightful it
is to cooperate in thisgreat human enterprisewith selfless kindness to each other.
While timid people try to boast their slightest creation, or to oppose this great
theoryvigorously, the Professor humbly indicates his good fortune and how he
tried to collaborate with otherswith increasing effort.
We cannot but look up tohis
sublime example.
4. DISCUSSION
The editors of the fifthvolume of Einstein's Collected papers observe that

"Einstein of the Swiss Years (and of lateryears as well) remained taciturn at the
critical periods of his life, so thata well-charted paper trailprobably never existed
for the years before the publication of the revolutionary papers of 1905 or during
thePrague period when he embarked in earnest on his path to general relativity."56
His taciturnityrelaxed inKyoto. There he revealed the course of his thoughts dur
ing these periods of his greatest creations. Ishiwara's record of theKyoto address
consequently is of immense historical value.
The revelations with respect to special relativitymay be summarized as fol
lows:
"The principle of relativity" along with the route to itdrove his construction of
the theoryof special relativity.
The impulse for establishing thisprinciple came fromproblems concerning "the
optics of moving bodies," namely, the problem of the flow of ether against the
earth.
He could not find evidence for the flow in any physics literature.
He conceived a method to detect the flow without knowing of theMichelson
Moreley experiment.
55. Ono: "with this result the general theory of relativity can be satisfactorily understood
epistemologically."
56. CPE, 5, xxxii.

18 ABIKO
His subsequent encounter with "the strange result ofMichelson's experiment"

made him realize the nonexistence of the ether flow,which formed the firstroute
to "the principle of relativity."57
He applied this "principle of relativity" to theMaxwell-Lorentz equations of
electrodynamics.
Thence, he derived the so-called "principle of the invariance of lightvelocity."58
He was troubled by the conflict between the invariance of the lightvelocity and
the law of additivity of velocity inNewtonian mechanics.
Itwas this trouble that led him to revise the concept of time,which forced a
revolution in our concepts of space and time.
Gerald Holton has argued in detail against the popular view thatEinstein con
structed his theoryof relativity in order to explain theMichelson-Morley experi
ment.59 No doubt, there were roots to the theory of relativity other than the
Michelson-Morley experiment.60Although, as letters toMarie and theKyoto ad
dress make clear, Einstein knew of this experiment as well as its explanation by
Lorentz before he wrote his paper on special relativity, the paper makes no refer
ence to the experiment.61As Holton put it,"insofar as he was aware ofMichelson's
result,he was evidently not specially impressed with itupon reading it inLorentz'
paper because he already had assumed it to be trueon other grounds."62 It seems
that the "ten attemptswith negative results" listed inWien's paper of 1898, to
which Einstein referred inhis lettertoMarie in 1899, were already enough forhim
in 1905. The reason Einstein mentioned in theKyoto address onlyMichelson's
experimentmust be thathe regarded itat that time as themost serious and famous
among the "ten attempts with negative results."
57. Einstein regarded theMichelson-Morley experiment not as evidence of the invariance

of light velocity, but as support for the principle of relativity; Abiko (ref. 4), 22.
58. The reason Einstein established this derived "invariance of the light velocity" as the sec
ond independent principle must be that he wanted to generalize it so as to be applicable to the
case of light quantum which transcends the realm ofMaxwell's Abiko (ref. 4), 21.
equations;
59. Gerald Holton, "Einstein, Michelson, and the "crucial" experiment," Isis, 60 (1969),
133-197, also in Holton, Thematic origins of scientific thought, Kepler to Einstein (Cam
bridge,MA, 1988), 279-370.
60. Abiko (ref. 4). It should be pointed out here that the first and the second editions of
Einstein's "Autobiographical Notes," in P. A. Schipp ed., Albert Einstein: Philosopher
Scientist (Evanston, IL, 1949, 1951), 52-53, contained a serious error, which was cor
rected in the third edition published in 1969. Where the third edition stated "neither me
chanics nor electrodynamics could...claim exact validity," the first and the second edition
stated "thermodynamics" instead of "electrodynamics." This might be one of the possible
causes Holton, who quoted in Origins (ref. 59) 309 & 316 this part of the first edition, had
failed to point out what I did in ref. 4.
61. Einstein referred in his paper of 1905 only as "the unsuccessful attempts to discover any
motion of the earth relative to the "light medium" (ref. 29, p. 37).
62. Holton, Origins (ref. 59), 302.

On the other hand, as pointed out by Ogawa,63 several authors, including fa

mous historians likeTetsu Hirosige and Imre Lakatos,64 insisted thatEinstein did
not know ofMichelson's experiment when he wrote the 1905 paper, on theground
ofHolton's research. But, as Ogawa pointed out, thatwas not what Holton meant
inhis paper. Moreover, recentlyRyoichi Itagaki submitted a new English transla
tionof the relevant part of theKyoto address with the suggestion thatEinstein did
not know of theMichelson experiment in his studentdays. Itagaki supposed that
the relevant part of Einstein's original textmust have been written in the subjunc
tivemood. Yet, as Itagaki himself admitted,65his interpretationconflicts with the
translated textby Ishiwara, who studied inGermany and, therefore,was proficient
in German.
The revelations with respect to general relativitymay be summarized as fol

lows:
He was not satisfiedwith the restrictedapplicability of the "principle of relativ

ity" to systemswith uniformmutual velocities.
He noticed that,unlike other laws of physics, the law of universal gravitation did
not fit into the framework of the special theoryof relativity.
He wanted to know whether the same relationship between energy and gravita
tionalmass is valid as thatbetween energy and inertialmass in special relativity.
He thought that these questions could not be answered in the framework of rela
tivity.
He noticed thata person in a free fall does not feel his own weight.
This fact helped lead him to the "principle of equivalence."
He noticed thatEuclidean geometry could not hold for accelerated systems.
He needed another geometry to describe the laws in accelerated systems.
The firstclue to a solution was the surface theoryof Gauss, which he had heard
about in a lecture by Geiser at ETH.
The firstsix of these developments occurred during the time he was inBern,
the last three inPrague.
In a note to the fourthvolume ofEinstein's Collected papers, the editorswrote
that"the decisive insight" in the "non-Euclidean character of the space-time met
ric and itsconnection with gravitation" came toEinstein afterhe moved toZurich
inAugust 1912.66But theKyoto address suggests that itoccurred during the time
63. Ogawa(ref. 5), 74-75.

64. Tetsu Hirosige, "Where did the theory of relativity originate from?" (in Japanese) Butsuri
(Journal of the Japanese Physicial Society), 26 (1971), 380-388; Imre Lakatos, Mathemat
ics, science, and epistemology (Cambridge, 1978), 209.

65. Ryoichi Itagaki, "Einstein and theMichelson experiment?Concerning his speech at
the Imperial University of Kyoto" (in Japanese), Kagakushi Kenkyuu, 38 (1999), 173-177,
15n on 177.
66. CPE, 4, 193.

20 ABIKO
he was inPrague. Abraham Pais supports the latterview on various grounds. "I am
convinced thathe arrived inZurich with the knowledge thatnot just one but ten
gravitational potentials were needed."67 Indeed, Einstein had noticed the inad
equacy of Euclidean geometry on a uniformly rotating system ina paper written in
February 1912 inPrague.68
A letter to Smoluchowski ofMarch 1912 shows that by thenEinstein knew
that "the simple scheme of equivalent 4 dimensions is not valid here in the same
formas in [Hermann]Minkowski."69 In thepaper written inMarch 1912, he wrote:70
"It seems that the latter [the 'equivalence principle'] can be maintained for infi
nitely small fields only." Our derivations of the equation ofmotion of thematerial
point and of the electromagnetic equations do not thereby become illusory,be
cause they apply equations (2) [of the coordinate transformation] only to infini
tesimally small spaces." This statement suggests a realization that space in gen
eral could be transformed intoone ofMinkowskian typeonly locally by the "prin
ciple of equivalence."
Einstein added a note to thispaper during proofreading. It reads:
For a material point moving in a static gravitational field free from out
side forces, the following equation is valid,
or
The last Hamiltonian [Lagrangean] equation allows an inference about how

the equations of motion of a material point in dynamic gravitational fields can be
built.
This statement suggests thatEinstein had realized the importance of the four
dimensional line element.Also, in the lastpaper of Prague written in July 1912, he
referredto thegravitational, equivalence, and transformationin suggestive ways:71
If the gravitational field is to be interpreted along the lines of our present theory
of relativity, it can perhaps occur only in two ways. One can understand the gravi
tational vector either as a four-vector or as a six-vector....Here, however, we reach
67. Abraham Pais, 'Subtle is the Lord' (Oxford, 1982), 210.

68. Albert Einstein, "Lichtgeschwindigkeit und Statik des Gravitationsfeldes,"AP, 38(1912),
355-369, on 356. Also, in CPE, 4, 130-144.
69. CPE, 5, 434.
70. Albert Einstein, "Zur Theorie des statischen Gravitationsfeldes," AP, 38 (1912), 443
458, on 456, 458. Also in CPE, 4, 147-162.
71. Albert Einstein, "Relativitat und Gravitation. auf eine Bemerukung von
Erwiderung
M. Abraham," AP, 38 (1912), 1059-1064, on 1062-1063, 1064. Also in CPE, 4, 181-186.

results in conflict with the consequences mentioned earlier from the proposition
of the gravitational mass of energy. Therefore, it seems that the gravitational vec
tor cannot find its place in the present scheme of the theory of relativity without
conflicts. This situation by no means indicates that themethod based on the prin
should be deemed a failure.
ciple of relativity
I can find no reason why the principle of equivalence should not hold in an infi
nitely small space....On the other hand, the principle of equivalence offers us an
interesting prospect that the equations of a theory of relativity including also gravi
tation must also be invariant under transformations with acceleration (and rota
tion). The route to this goal appears very difficult. It can be seen from the highly
special case of the gravitation of stationary masses that the space-time coordi
nates lose their simple physical meaning. The form of the general equations of
space-time transformations cannot yet be foreseen. I appeal to all colleagues to
tryto solve thisdifficultproblem!
These statements seem sufficient to indicate thatEinstein was aware of the

necessity of a non-Euclidean space-time metric and its connection with gravita
tion already before he leftPrague.
The editors of the fifthvolume ofEinstein's Collected papers wrote: "Whereas
Einstein's letters tell us nothing about the prehistory of special relativity, theydo
provide some background to the creation of general relativity,albeit in a sketchy
way. The crucial months of collaboration withMarcel Grossmann and the reasons
behind theirgiving up the idea of general covariance remain in the dark."72
The Kyoto address supplies a reason: "therewas an error inmy formercalcu
lation." In his letterofNovember 28,1915 to Sommerfeld, Einstein specified that
the error occurred during his examination of theNewtonian limit of the generally
covariant field equations.73 John Stachel and JohnNorton, think that the situation
was much more complicated.74 As Norton, who studied Einstein's research notes
closely, put it:75
On the basis of his earlier work on gravitation and the principle of equivalence,
Einstein believed that there was such a reduction [from the ten gravitational po
tentials in the new theory to a more manageable single potential] in the case of
static fields....But, unfortunately for Einstein, itwas the wrong direction. Both his
assumptions about static fields and about the weak-field equations were inconsis
tentwith his final theory. In addition he had one final and puzzling misconception
about the form of these weak-field equations in rotating coordinate systems. To
gether, these were sufficient to thwart Einstein's attempts to construct acceptable
generally covariant field equations from the Ricci tensor....Now convinced of the
fruitlessness of this search, Einstein developed general arguments against the physi
cal acceptability of all generally covariant field equations.
72. CPE, 5, xxxv.

73. CPE, 8 (ref. 36), 206-207.
74. John Stachel, "Einstein's search for general relativity, 1912-1915," inD. Howard and J.
Stachel, eds., Einstein and the history of general relativity (Boston, 1989), 48-100; John
Norton, "How Einstein found his field equations, 1912-1915," HSPS, 14:2 (1984), 253
316; also in Howard and Stachel (ibid.), 101-159.

75. CPE, 5, 200; Norton (ibid.), 102-103.

22 ABIKO
Stachel and Norton elucidated circumstances thatcorrespond to the remark in

theKyoto address, "I furtherdealt with Riemann's equation in various directions,
only to findmany reasons why the results I imagined could not be obtained in that
way." The matter cannot be developed further here.
Thus theKyoto address and other sources contribute the following points to
the furtherdevelopment of general relativity:
Returning to ETH and consulting Grossmann, Einstein encountered Riemann's

theory.
He pursued Riemann's theorywith Grossmann's help in search of the equations
of the gravitational field.
He published, in collaboration with Grossmann, the so-called "Entwurf" paper
of 1913, inwhich theequations determining thegravitational fieldwere not gener
ally covariant.
In late 1915, he realized thathis field equations were untenable on several grounds.
Shortly after that,he realized thathe had made a mistake in his examination of
theNewtonian limitof the generally covariant field equations.
He constructed correct ones in twoweeks and announced them at themeeting of
thePrussian Academy of Science on November 25, 1915.76
In order tomake his general theoryof relativity satisfactoryfrom an epistemo

logical point of view, Einstein needed a relativistic theory of inertia, that is, a
derivation ofMach's principle. As appears fromhis lettertoMach about Newton's
bucket experiment,77 Mach's principle was a matter of serious concern toEinstein
from the startof his research on the general theoryof relativity. Itwas partly to
deepen or ground it thathe constructed his cosmology.78 He did manage to show
that the inertiaof a body would vanish without thepresence of other bodies. That
constituted the relativistic theory of inertia he needed to arrive at a satisfactory
epistemology.
Why did Einstein reveal in theKyoto address so much of the history of the
construction of relativity,about which he had said so little in theWest? The answer
may lie inhis "Essays on my impressions in Japan," reproduced inAppendix 3. It
opens:
When Yamamoto's invitation to Japan came, I decided at once to undertake the

long trip in spite of the months itwould take. I could give no other excuse for it
than that I could never have forgiven myself if I had let slip this opportunity to see
Japan with my own eyes.
76. Albert Einstein, "Die Feldgleighungen der Gravitation," PAWS (1915), pt. 2, 844-847.
Also in CPE, 6, 245-248.
77. CPE, 5 (ref.34), 531-532.
78. Albert Einstein, "Kosmologisch Betrachtungen zur allgemeinen Relativitats Theorie,"
PAWS (1917), pt. 1, 142-152. Also, in CPE, 6, 541-551.

For this country from us by a mysterious

is concealed veil not present else
where. We see many in our country, living lonely, studying diligently,
Japanese
and laughing in a friendly way. No one can discover the feelings hidden behind
this protective laughing. We know, however, that there is behind all this a soul
quite different from ours, showing the Japanese style as expressed [also] inmany
small everyday objects around us and in literature influenced by the Japanese,
which has been fashionable from time to time.
My curiosity reached a peak when I sailed on the "Kitano Maru" through the
Japanese Straits, and saw countless pretty small islands shining in the morning
sun.What shone themost, however, were the faces of all the Japanese passengers
and crewmembers....I was moved when I saw what deep emotions moved them.
The Japanese love their country and their nation more than all others, and they
feel more displaced than others do in foreign countries, in spite of their linguistic
ability and their great curiosity about life abroad. Whence does it come?
Einstein emphasized the disinclination to individualism and the tightnessof

family relationships in Japan:
The development of this tradition was certainly made easier by the delicateness
of feeling characteristic to this nation and by the strength of sympathy that seems
livelier than in Europe. A rough word injures the European no less than the Japa
nese. The former proceeds at once to a counterattack, an eye for an eye. The
Japanese withdraw injured and?weep. How often the unfitness of the Japanese
people for rough words ismisinterpreted as falseness and insincerity.
Einstein's sympathy also extended to Japanese arts and ways of life:
I cannot free myself from amazement over and admiration [for Japanese art].
Nature and men seem united here, so that the unity of style is produced never seen
otherwise. All things that actually derive from this country are graceful and cheer
ful, not metaphysically abstract but always more or less tightly bound with the
natural. Graceful is the landscape with small green islands and hills, graceful are
the trees, graceful the most carefully cultivated farmland divided carefully into
small parts, in particular, however, the houses on it, and, finally, the people them
selves in their speaking, their movements, their clothing, their tools....The Japa
nese are more serene and carefree in their social relations than we not
are?living
in the future but in the present. Their serenity is always expressed in refined forms,
never
noisily. We can understand Japanese wit immediately. They have a sense
for the funny and the humorous also. I have noticed with amazement that, with
regard to this sense, which is deeply rooted psychologically, there is not a great
difference between the Japanese and the Europeans.
Einstein's appreciation of the character of the Japanese made iteasier for him to
open himself to them.This iswhat he said about the Japanese audience to Ishiwara:
"I never dreamt of coming to Japan and delivering lectures.What a splendid audi
ence, they are! They listen earnestly, and never a single cough."

24 ABIKO
Appendices
1.UBER DIE GEGENWARTIGE KRISE DER THEORETISCHEN PHYSIK79
Es istZiel der theoretischen Physik, ein aufmoglichst wenigen von einander

unabhangigen Hypothesen ruhendes logisches Gedankensystem zu schaffen, das
den ganzen Komplex der physikalischen Prozesse kausal zu erfassen gestattet.
Auf die Frage nach der Art der Entstehung und des Wachstums dieses
wissenschaftlichen Systems hatte man in der Zeit vor Maxwell etwa folgende
Antwort geben konnen.
Auf unbezweifelbare Tatsachen der menschlichen Anschauung bezw. des

menschlichen Denkens griindetman zuerst die unverriickbare Basis aller exakten
Wissenschaft, namlich die Geometrie und die Analysis. Dies thaten bereits die
Griechen, sodass den Spateren ausser dem Entwickeln der Infinitesimalrechnung
nichts prinzipiellNeues zu thun iibrigblieb. Dann kam dieAufstellung der eigentlich
physikalischen Grundgesetz, d. h. der Grundgesetze derMechanik, durch Galilei,
Newton und deren Zeitgenossen. Bis gegen das Ende des 19 Jahrhundertswaren
die Physiker davon iiberzeugt, dass jene Grundgesetze der Mechanik die Basis
aller theoretischer Physik uberhaupt sein miisse, d. h. dass jede physikalische
Theorie im letztenGrunde aufMechanik zu griinden sei.
Es schien also die Basis der Physik endgiiltig aufgestellt zu sein und die Arbeit
der theoretischen Physiker darin zu bestehen, durch Spezialisierung und
Differenzierung der Theorie diese der stets wachsenden Fiille der erforschten
Erscheinungen anzupassen. An dieMoglichkeit, das Fundament der Physik andern
zu miissen, dachte man nicht.Da wurde es infolge der Forschungen Faraday's und
Maxwell's allmahlich offenbar, dass die Grundlage der Mechanik den
elektrormagnetischenErscheinungen gegeniiber versage. Diese Wandlung vollzog
sich inmehreren Etappen. Zunachst erkannten die beiden genannten Bahnbrecher,
dass die elektromagnetischen Vorgange nichtmit der Theorie der unvermittelten
Fernwirkungskrafte darstellbar seien.
Nach Newton waren alle Krafte, welche Beschleunigungen materieller Punkte

erzeugen konnen, auf Momentanwirkungen der iibrigen materiellen Punkte
zuruckzufiihren,welche der einzelne der letzterenauf den betrachtetenmateriellen
Punkt ausiibt. Maxwell und Faraday setzten dieser Theorie der unvermittelten
Fernwirkung die Theorie des elektromagnetischen Feldes gegeniiber. Nach dieser
Theorie beruht alle Ausbreitung der elektrischen Kraft nicht auf instantaner
Fernwirkung, sondern auf einem ausbreitungsfahigen Zustande des Raumes, bezw.
des Aethers, dem elektromagnetischen Felde. Das durch kontinuierliche

Raumfunktionen darstehlbare, mit Energie begabte Feld trat als physikalische
Realitat neben die nach Newton's Theorie als alleinige Energie tragerfigurierenden
beweglichen Massenpunkte. Es ist bekannt, dass Hertz durch seine Experimente
79. Einstein (ref. 1).

iiber die Ausbreitung der elektrischen Kraft dieser Auffassung zur allgemeinen
Anerkennung verhalf.
Anfangs wurde der umwalzende Charakter der Feldtheorie noch nicht in seiner
ganzen Harte erkannt. Maxwell selbst war noch davoniiberzeugt, dass die
elektrodynamischen Prozesse als Bewegungsvorgange des Aethers aufzufassen
seien, ja er benutzte sogar dieMechanik, um zu den Feldgleichungen vorzudringen.
Aber in der Zwischenzeit stellte es sich immer deutlicher heraus, dass eine
Zuruckfuhrung der elektromagnetischen Gleichungen aufmechanische unmoglich
sei. Das Streben nach einer einheitlichen Basis der Physik zwang unter diesen
Umstanden dazu, den Versuch zu machen, die mechanischen Gleichungen
umgekehrt auf die elektromagnetischen znruckznfuhren. Dies Streben lag umso
naher, nachdem J. J. Thomson erkannt hatte, dass es eine elektromagnetische
Tragheit elektrisch geladener Korper gibt, und nachdem M. Abraham gezeigt hatte,
dass sich die Tragheit der Elektronen rein elektromagnetisch auffassen liess.Mit
der Zuruckfuhrung der Tragheit auf elektromagnetische Vorgange war eine
vollstandige Umwalzung derGrundlagen der Physik vollzogen, wenigstens grund
satzlich. An die Stelle der Massenpunkte als letztes Reales trat das
elektromagnetische Feld als fundamentalesKonstruktionselement der theoretischen
Physik. Es ist allgemein bekannt, dass eine theoretischeKonstruktion derMaterie
auf rein elektromagnetischer Grundlage bis zu einem gewissen Grade gelungen
ist. Insbesondere wissen wir heute, dass die Kohasionskrafte rein
elektromagnetischer Natur sind.
Damit sind die Friichte der Faraday-Maxwell'schen Feldtheorie noch nicht
erschopft. Die Erkenntnis von der Kovarianz der Maxwellschen
elektromagnetischenGleichungen gegeniiber den Lorentz-Transformationen fuhrte
zur speziellen Relativitatstheorie und damit zu der Erkenntnis der Equivalenz von
Tragheit und Energie, die Ausdehnung der Feldtheorie auf die Gravitation mit
Rlicksicht anf die Identitat der tragen und schweren Masse zur allgemeinen
Relativitatstheorie. Mit der allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie sank eine Stiitze der
Newton'schen Theorie dahin, von der man ehedem geglaubt hatte, dass sie zum
Fundament jeglicher Naturwissenschaft mit Notwendigkeit gehore, namlich die
Euklidische Geometrie. Diese war in friiherVorzeit entstanden aus primitiven
Experimenten an festenKorpern und war von den Physikern stillschweigend als
exakt zutreffendesGesetz fiirdie Lagerung gleichmassig temperierter,ausseren
Wirkungen nicht unterliegender festerKorper vorausgeset worden, musste aber
nun, auf Grund sehwerwiegender, indirekt auf dem Experiment fussender
Erwagungen durch eine allgemeinere, bereits von Gauss und Riemaun aufgestellte
Doktrin ersetztwerden. Mit der allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie scheint die durch
Faraday und Maxwell begriindete Entwicklungsphase der theoretischen Physik
zu sein.
abgeschlossen
In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten ist erkannt worden, dass auch das durch die
Faraday-Maxwell'sche Feldtheorie charakterisierte Fundament der Physik
Erfahrung gegeniiber nicht stand halt, so wenig die von ihrbegriindeteMechanik.

26 abiko
Es ist vielmehr zu erwarten, dass der FortschrittderWissenschaft eine Anderung

ihres Fundamentes verlangt, welche nicht minder tiefgreifend ist als diejenige,
welche wir unter dem Namen "Feldtheorie" haben. Da wir aber
zusammengefasst
noch weit von einem logisch klaren Fundament entferntsind,miissen wir uns hier
damit begniigen zu zeigen, inwieferndie bisherige Grundlage sich als unzureichend
erweist, und wie man durch erfolgreiche, aber doch nur tastende Versuche, die
durch den Namen "Quantentheorie" znsammengefasst sind, wichtigen Gruppen
physikalischer Erscheinungen gerecht geworden ist.
Die Quantentheorie nahm ihrenUrsprung bei der Theorie der thermischen
Strahlung, furwelche die Vereinigung von Mechanik und elektromagnetischer
Feldtheorie einmit der Erfahrung unvereinbares und sogar an sich unvernunftiges
Gesetz liefert. Das Grundproblem der Warmestrahlung lasst sich wie folgt
formulieren.Die Thermodynamik lehrt,dass im Innern eines von undurchsichtigen
Korpern von der Temperatur Tumgebenen Hohlraumes eine Strahlung vorhanden
ist,deren Zusammensetzung vollig unabhangig istvon derNatur der dieWandung
des Hohlraumes bildenden Korper. Istp die monochromatische Strahlungsdichte,
d. h. pdv die Strahlungsenergie imHohlraum pro Volumeinheit, deren Frequenz
zwischen v und v+dv liegt, so istp eine ganz bestimmte Funktion von v und T.
Diese ist durch rein thermodynamische Betrachtungen nicht bestimmbar; ihre
Ableitung setzt vielmehr einen Einblick indie Natur des Prozesses der Erzeugung
und Absorption der Strahlung voraus:
Die klassische Mechanik inVerbindung mit derManwell'schen Elektrodynamik
liefertfiirp einenAusdruck von der Form:
p-av2^ (1)
welcher schon darum nicht zutreffen kann, weil er fiir die Gesamtdichte
pdv einen unendlich grossenWert ergibt.Planck fand als

Hohlraumstrahlung J vt=0
bisher mit alien Erfahrungen befriedigend ubereinstimmenden Ausdruck der
Erfahrung:
=
8tt/zv3 1 ...
P ?3-Tv-> (2)
ekT~\
wobei k eine mit der absoluten Grosse derAtome zusammenhangende Konstante,
h eine vorher inder Physik unbekannte Naturkonstante bedeutet, die man wohl als
die Fundamentalkonstante der Quantentheorie bezeichnen kann. Planck gab im
Jahr 1900 eine Theorie dieser Formel, welche implizite eine mit der bisherigen
Physik unvereinbare Hypothese enthalt, der wir nachtraglich gestutzt auf die
experimentelle und theoretische Forschung der beiden letzten Jahrzehnte die
Fassung geben konnen. Wo auch immer sinusartig pendelnder Vorgang von der
Frequenz v inderNatur vorhanden ist,betragt seine Energie immerein ganzzahliges
Vielfaches von hv\ Zwischenwerte der Energie eines sinusartig pendelnden
Vorganges kommen in der Natur nicht vor.

Auf Grund dieser Hypothese gelang es, nicht nur die Plnnck'sche Formel (2)
der Warmestrahlung, sondern auch das Gesetz der spezifischen Warme
krystallinischer festerKorper richtig abzuleiten. Aber diese Ableitungen sind alle
in sich widerspruchsvoll, weil sie sich neben jener neuen Hypothese stets der mit
ihrnicht vereinbaren Grundlage der klassischen Physik bedienen.
Bei den grossen Erfolgen, welche die Maxwell'sche Elektrodynamik und
Newton'sche Mechanik in der Physik gehabt haben und bei ihrergegenwartigen
Unentbehrlichkeit istes Pflicht, die Grundhypothese derQuantentheorie soviel als
moglich zu bezweifeln. Aber es gibt Erscheinungen, die einerseits die
Quantentheorie direkt bestatigen, deren Unvereinbarkeit mit dem Fundament der
klassischen Physik unmittelbar klar ist.
Die Energiedichte der von einer Strahlungsquelle emittiertenSrahhung nimmt
nach derMaxwell'schen Theorie wie das reziproke Abstandsquadrat ab. Die an
einem Orte furAbsorptionsvorgange pro Zeiteinheit disponible Energie miisste
also mit der Entfernung unbegrenzt abnehmen. Da nun z. B. die chemische
Zersetzung eines Molekiils oder die Loslosung eines Elektrons aus einem Atom
eine bestimmteEnergie erfordert,so sollte die Strahlung,welche durch hinreichende
Ausbreitung von der Lichtquelle geniigend geschwacht ist, einen solchen
chemischen Prozess nicht mehr erzeugen konnen. Im Gegensatz zeigt aber die
Erfahrung, dass die chemische und lichtelektrischeWirksamkeit der Strahlung von
deren Dichte ganzlich unabhangig ist; die chemische Gesamtwirkung einer
Strahlung, die Materie durchsetzt, ist nur von der Gesamtenergie derselben, aber
gar nicht von ihrer raumlichen Energiedichte abhangig. Es hat sich ferner aus
Versuchen von E. Warburg ergeben, dass die pro chemischem Elementarprozess
absorbierte Energie stetsgleich /zvist,unabhangig von der raumlichen Energie der
Strahlung.Dies Resultat folgt auch aus den Experimenten iiberden lichtelektrischen
Effekt und iiberdie Erzeugung von Kathodenstrahlen durch Rontgenstrahlen.
Wir wissen heute, dass diese Energie wirklich aus der Strahlung stammt und
dass sie nicht etwa almahlich angesammelt wird. Die Lichtabsorption besteht in
unteilbaren Elementarprozessen, bei deren jedem die Energie hv vollstandig
umgesetzt wird. Uber die Einzelheiten eines solchen Elementarprozesses wissen
wir nichts.Waren von der Strahlung nur ihreenergetischen Eigenschaften bekannt,
so wiirden wir, uns genotigt sehen, eine Art molekularer Theorie der Strahlung
aufzustellen nach Art der Newton'schen Emissionstheorie des Lichtes. Aber die
Erklarung der Beugungs- und Interferenz-Vorgange auf solcher Basis stosst auf
uniiberwindliche Schwierigkeiten. Es istfernerwahrscheinlich daran festzuhalten,
dass die Feldtheorie der Strahlung nicht inhoheremMasse falsch istals die Theorie
der elastischen Wellen in festen Korpern, welche deren thermischen Inhalt
konstituieren; denn beide Theorien kollidieren in gleichem Maasse mit der
Quantenrelation und mlissen in gleicher Weise mit letztererkombiniert werden,
um zu einer zutreffendenDeutung der Erfahrungsresultate zu gelangen.

28 ABIKO
Die grossartige Entwicklung unserer Kenntnis von der Zusammensetzung der

Atome, welche wir den grossen Meistern Rutherford und Bohr imWesentlichen
verdanken, hat zu einer hochst bedentsamen Verallgemeinerung der Quantenregel
gefiihrtwelcher wir jetzt gedenken wollen. Bereits vor der Rutherford-Bohr'schen
Theorie war die Annahme geboten, dass die Absorption bezw. Eission einer
Spektrallinie einem Ubergange eines Atoms bezw. Molekuls von einem
Zustande in einen andern musse. Der die Zustande
ausgezeichneten entsprechen
der Elementargebilde gewiss nicht als sinusartige Oszillationen zu deuten waren,
so entstand das Problem, die Quantentheorie auf mechanische Systeme
Charakters auszudehnen, was den Bohr's,
allergemeinen Forschungen
Sommerfeld's, Epstein's und Schwarzschild's stufenweise gelungen ist.Die von
diesen Forschern erlangten Resultate werden durch ihre exakte Bestatigung auf
dem Gebiete der Spektreskopie zu gesicherten Ergebnissen erhoben.
Lasst sich einmechanisches System durchKoordinaten gvbeschreiben, welche
zyklische Veranderungen imLaufe der Zeit erfahren,und istfurjeden Freiheitsgrad
v das zu dem qv gehorige Moment qv(=--?) als Funktion von ausschliesslich
V
der einen Koordinate qv darstellbar, so ist fur jedes v das iiber einen Zyklus
erstreckte Integral \pvdqvein ganz-zahliges Vielfache der Planck'schen Konstante
h. Dadurch sind die nach der Quantentheorie "erlaubten" Zustande definiert fur
sogenannte "quasiperiodische" mechanische Systeme. Die allgemeine Regel hat
sich in derart subtilen und formenreichen Spezialfallen (z. B. Epstein's Theorie
des Stark-Effektes) bewahrt, dass ihreallgemeine Richtigkeit rechtwahrscheinlich
geworden ist.
Vom allgemeinen theoretischen Standpunkte aus ist Folgendem besonders
wunderbar. Einerseits scheint? wie schon bemerkt ? die Mechanik nicht
allgemein zu gelten, da die auf sie gegrtindete statistische
Mechanik zu Ergebnissen
fiihrt,die mit der Erfahrung imWiderspruch sind (z. B. spezifischeWarme fester
Korper). Andererseits bewahren sich die mechanischen Gesetze innerhalb des
Gultigkeitsbereiches der obigen Regel in bewunderswerterWeise. Sollte es inder
Natur nur quasiperiodische Elementarvorgange geben oder allgemeiner nur solche
mechanische Systeme, welche soviele Integrate in geschlossener Form besitzen
als Freiheitsgrade? Ein solcher Gedanke erscheint imHinblick auf die kinetische
Gastheorie absurd. Die Frage, inwieferndie Giiltigkeit der klassischen Mechanik
(und Elektrodynamik) durch die Quantenforderung begrenzt wird, ist heute in
ebenso tiefesDunkel gehiilltwie vor 15 Jahren.
Es ist vielfach bemerkt worden, dass bei dem heutigen Zustande unserer
Kenntnis die Darstellbarkeit der Naturgesetze durch Differenzialgleichungen
zweifelhaft erscheint. In der That miissen wir nach der soeben angegebenen
Quantenregel einen ganzen Bewegungszyklus des Systems insAuge fassen, um
beurteilen zu konnen, ob ein bestimmterZustand des Systems quantentheoretisch
erlaubt ist oder nicht. Um den Quanten-Relationen wirklich gerecht zu werden,
scheint eine neue mathematische Sprache notig zu sein; jedenfalls erscheint es

sinnwidrig die Gesetze durch eine Kombination von Differentialgesetzen und

Integralbedingungen auszudriicken, wie wir es heute thun.Abermals sind die
Grundlagen der theoretischen Physik erschuttert,und es ruftdie Erfahrung nach
demAusdruck einer hoheren Stufe von Gesetzlichkeit. Wann wird uns der erlosende
Gedanke beschert werden? Gluckllch diejenigen, welche es erleben und schauen
durfen.
(August1922)

30 ABIKO
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF ISHIWARA'S RECORD OF EINSTEIN'S

ADDRESSES80
Four photographs
Einstein lecturing in thehall of thePhysics Department, the Imperial University of
Tokyo (figure 1).
An illustrationdrawn and a poem composed byAlbert Einstein (figure 2).
Handwritten note by Albert Einstein for Jun Ishiwara (figure 3).
Portrait ofAlbert Einstein by Ippei Okamoto (figure 4).
Preface
Professor Einstein's Addresses (Text by Jun Ishiwara)

1.Preface to the addresses
2. First half of the address atKeio University
(On the special theoryof relativity,with two illustrations.)
3. The second half of the address atKeio University
(On the general theoryof relativity,with one illustration.)
4. Address at theYouth Assembly Hall
(On space and time in physics, with two illustrations.)
5. Special lectures at the Imperial University of Tokyo
(Six series of lectures on the theoryof relativity for scholars.)
6. Public addresses in various cities
7. Address at the Imperial University ofKyoto
(How I created the theoryof relativity.)
8. Postscript to the addresses
Essays on my impressions in Japan

(An essay byAlbert Einstein in Japanese translation,with preface by Jun Ishiwara.)
The black and ultimate light

(A poem by Jun Ishiwara, in praise of Einstein)
Having been in contact with a great scientist
(A poem by Jun Ishiwara, containing conversations with Einstein)
Having sent offProfessor Einstein on his returnhome
(An essay by Jun Ishiwara)
Having portrayed the sacred scholar

1.The humanity of Dr. Einstein
(Essays with nine illustrationsby Ippei Okamoto, the illustrator)
2. Having portrayed the sacred scholar
(Eight illustrationswith captions by Ippei Okamoto)
80. Ishiwara (ref. 2).

3. PLAUDEREI UBER MEINE EINDRUCKE IN JAPAN81
Ich bin in den letzten Jahren viel inderWelt herum gereist, eigentlich mehr,
als sich fureinenGe 1ehrten schickt.Denn ein solcher vonmeiner Art soil eigentllich
still in seinem Zimmer sitzen bleiben und studieren.Nun gab es furmeine fruheren
Reisen stets eine Entschuldigung, die mein nicht sehr empfindliches Gewissen
bequem zurRuhe bringen konnte.Als aberYamamotos Einladung nach Japan kam,
entschloss ichmich sofort zu der grossen Reise, die doch Monate inAnspruch
nehmenmusst, ohne dass ich dafiir eine andere Entschuldigung anfuhren kann als
die eine, dass ich es mir nie hatte vernzeihen konnen, wenn ich die Gelegenheit,
Japanmit eigenen Augen zu sehen, hatte unbenutzt vorbeigehen las sen.
Nie inmeinen Leben bin ich inBerlin mehr und echter beneidet worden wie in
dem Augenblicke, als man erfuhr,dass ich nach Japan eingeladen sei. Denn dies
Land istbei uns von einem Schleier des Geheimnisvollen umgeben wie kein anderes.
Man siehtviel Japanerbei uns, einsam lebend, eifrig studierend,freundlich lachelnd.
Niemand kann die Gefuhle ergrunden, die hinter diesem schutzenden Lacheln
Verborgen sind. Und doch weiss man, dass eine von der unsrigen Verschiedene
Seele dahinter steckt,die sich im japanischen Stil zeigt,wie er sich inden zahlreichen
bei uns vertretenen japanischen kleinen Gebrauchsgegenstanden aussert und in
einer japanisch beeinflussten Literatur, die von Zeit zu Zeit Mode wird. Alles, was
ich liber Japan Kopfe hatte, konnte mir kein klares Bild geben. Meine Neugier
aufs Hochste gespannt, als ich auf der "Kitanu Maru" durch die japanischen
Meerengen fuhrund die unzahligen zierlichen griinen Inselchen inderMorgensonne
leuchten sah.Am meisten aber leuchtetendie Gesichter aller japanischen Passagiere
und der ganzen Schiffsmannschaft.Manches zarte Frauchen, das sonst vor der
Fruhstuckszeit niemals gesehen wurde, liefunruhigund selig um sechsUhr morgens
auf Deck herum, den rauhenMorgenwind nicht achtend, um sobald als irgend
moglichdie heimat Erde zu schauen. Ichwar geriihrt,als ich sah,wie tiefBewegung
sich aller bematigte.Der Japaner liebt seinLand und seinVolk mehr als alle anderen,
und er fuhltsich seiner sprachlichen Fahigkeiten und seiner grossen Neugier allem
Auslandischem gegentiber doch fremderimAusland als alle anderen.Woher kommt
das?
Zwei Wochen erst bin ich in Japan gewesen, und gar vieles istmir noch
geheimnisvoll wie am erstenTag. Aber manches habe ich doch verstehen gelernt,
ammeisten die Scheu des Japaners dem Europaer undAmerikaner gegentiber.Bei
uns istdie ganze Erziehung darauf gerichtet,dass wir den Kampf urnsDasein als
Einzelwesen unter moglichst giinstigen Bedingunngen erfolgreich aufzunehnen
vermogen. Besonders in den Stadten-weitgehendster Individualismus,
riicksichtsloseKonkurrenz bei Anspannung der hochsten Krafte, fieberhafteArbeit
um moglichst viel Luxus und Geniisse zu erringen. Das Band der Familie ist
gelockert,derEinfluss der kiinstlerischenundmoralischen Tradition auf das tagliche
Leben verhaltnismassig gering.Die Isolation des Individuums wird als notwendige
81. Einstein (ref. 3).

32 ABIKO
Folge des Daseinskampfes angesehen, sie raubt dem Menschen jene heitere
Sorg 1osigkeit, die nur das Aufgehen in einer Gemeinschaft verleihen kann. Die
?
vorwiegend nationalistische Bildung fur das praktische Leben unter unseren
Verhaltnissen unentbehrlich ? verleiht dieser Einstellung des Individuums noch
mehr Scharfe; durch sie trittdie Vereinsamung des Iudividuums noch starker in
das Bewusstsein tritt.
Ganz anders in Japan. Das Individuum ist hier weit weniger allein auf sich
gestellt als inEuropa oder Amerika. Die Bande der Familie sind viel enger als bei
uns, trotzdem das Gesetz sie eigentlich wenig beschiitzt. Aber die Macht der
offentlichenMeinung isthier starkernoch als bei uns sorgtdafiir,dass das Gefiige
der Familie nicht gelockert wird. Die gedruckte und nicht gedruckte Fama hilft
durch Zwang vollendem, was durch Erziehung und angeborene Gutherzigkeit des
Japanersmeist schon geniigend gesichert ist.
Der Zusammenhalt der Fammilien imweiteren Sinne inmaterieller Beziehung,
die gegenseitige Hilfe, wird erleichtert durch die Anspruchsl osigkeit des
Individuums inWohnung und Nahrung. Der Europaer kann, imAllgemeinen eine
Person in seinerWohnung beherbergen, ohne dass die Ordnung des Hauses
empfindlich gestortwird. So kommt es, dass der europaische Mann meist nur fur
Frau und Kinder sorgen kann, wenn es gut geht. Oft musst die Frau am Erwerben
teilnehmen, auch die Frau der oberen Stande und die Erziehung der Kinder den
Dienstboten iiberlassen. Dass erwachsene Geschwister oder gar fernereVerwandte
fur einander sorgen, gehort schon zu den Seltenheiten.
Aber noch aus einem zweiten Grunde istder engere schiitzendeZusammenhang
Individuen in diesem Lande leichtermoglich als bei uns. Es istdie eigentiimliche
japanische Tradition, die eigenen Geflihle und Affekte nicht zu aussern, sondern
unter alien Umstanden ruhigund gelassen zu bleiben. Hierauf beruht es, dass viele,
auch seelisch nicht miteinnander harmonierende Personen unter einem Dache
wohnen konnen, ohne dass es zu peinlichen Reibungen und Konflikten kommt.
Hierin scheintmir der tiefe Sinn des japanischen Lachelns zu liegen, das dem
so ratselhaft ist.
Europaer
Bringt diese Erziehung zur Unterdriickung der Gefuhlsausserung des
Iudividuums eine innereVerarmung, eine Unterdriickung des Individuums selbst
mit sich? Ich glaube es nicht. Die Entwicklung dieser Tradition war gewiss
erleichtertdurch eine diesem Volke eigentiimliche Feinfuhligkeit und durch eine
Intensitatdes Mitgefuhls, das lebhafter zu sein scheint als bei dem Europaer. Ein
rauhesWort verletzt den Europaer nichtweniger als den Japaner.Ersterer schreitet
sofor zum Gegenangriff, Gleiches mit Gleichem reichlichVergeltend. Der Japaner
zieht sich verletzt zuriick und?weint. Wie oftwird dem Japaner die Unfahigkeit
zum rauhenWorte als Falschheit und Unaufrichtigkeit gedeutet.
Fur einen Fremden wie mich ist es nicht leicht, tief in die japanische Seele zu
blicken. Uberall mit grossterAufmerksamkeit im Festgewande empfangen hore
ichmehr sorgfaltigabgewogene Worte, als solche vielsagende, die unbeachtet aus
der Tiefe der Seele heraus schliipfen.Aber was dem unmittelbarenErleben an den

Menschen entgeht, das erganzen die Eindrucke der Kunst, die man in Japan so
reich und vielfaltig empfangtwie sonst inkeinem Lande. Dabei verstehe ich unter
"Kunst" alles, was hierMenschenhande mit asthetischerAbsicht oder Nebenabsicht
an Dauerndem
hervorbringen.
In dieser Beziehung komme ich kaum heraus aus dem Staunen und der
Bewunderung. Natur und Menschen scheinen sich vereinigt zu haben, um eine
Stileinheit hervorzubringen wie nirgends sonst. Alles, was wirklich von diesem
Lande stammt, ist zierlich und heiter, nicht abstraktmetaphysisch sondern stets
ziemlich eng verbunden mit dem durch die Natur Gegebenen. Zierlich ist die
Landschaft mit kleinen griinen Inselchen oder Hiigeln, zierlich die Baume, zierlich
das sorgfaltig inkleine Parzellen geteilte, sorgfaltigstbebaute Ackerland, besonders
aber die darauf stehenden Hauschen und endlich die Menschen selbst in ihrem
Sprechen, ihrenBewegungen, ihrerKleidung samt alien Geratschaften, deren sie
sich bedienen. Besonderen Gefallen habe ich am japanischen Hause gefundenmit
seinen sehr gegliederten glatten Wanden, seinen vielen, mit Matten weich
ausgelegten Zimmerchen. Jede kleine Einzelheit hat da Sinn und Bedeutung. Dazu
zierlicheMenschen mit ihremmalerischen Lacheln, Verbeugen, Sitzen?alle Dinge,
die man nur bewundern aber nicht nachmachen kann. Du versuchst es vergeblich,
O Fremder! ? Doch das zierliche Essen Japans bekommt dir nicht, bescheide
dich liebermit dem Zusehen. ? Der Japaner istverglichen mit unserenMenschen
heiter und sorglos im gegenseitigen Umgang, ? lebt nicht inder Zukunft, sondern
in der Gegenwart. Seine Heiterkeit aussert sich immer in feiner Form, nie
gerauschvoll. Der Witz des Japaners ist furuns unmittelbar verstandlich. Auch fur
des Drollige, Humoristische hat er viel Sinn. Ich habe mit Staunen konstatiert,
dass inBezug auf diese psychologisch gewiss tief liegenden Dinge keine grosse
Verschiedenheit zwischen dem Japaner und dem Europaer besteht. Die
Weichherzigkeit des Japaners zeigt sich hierbei daran, dass seinWitz nicht
sarkastischen Charakter anninimt.
Von grosstem Interesse war mich die japanische Musik, die sich ja teilweise
oder ganz unabhangig von der unsrigen entwickelt hat. Erst beim Anhoren ganz
fremder Kunst kommt man dem Ideal naher, das Konventionelle vom
Wesenhtlichen, durch die menschliche Natur Bedingten zu trennen. Die
Unterschiede der japanischen Musik von der unsrigen sind in der Tat fundamental.
Wahrend namlich bei unserer europaischen Musik Akkorde und architektonische
Gliederung allgemein sind und unentbehrlich scheinen, fehlen sie bei der
japanischen Musik. Dagegen sind beiden gemeinsam die dreizehn gleichen
Tonstufen, inwelche die Oktave geteilt ist.Mir scheint die japanische Musik als
eine Art Gefuhlsmalerei von ungeahnt unmittelbarem Eindruck. Fur die
kunstlerische Wirkung scheint sogar die exakte Tonhohe nicht so unbedingt
massgebend zu sein. Es macht mir vielmehr den Eindruck, dass es sicht um eine
stilisierte Darstellung von Gefuhlsausserung der menschlichen Stimme sowie
solcherNaturlaute handelt, die auf das menschliche Gemut einen Gefuhlseindruck
hervorbringen wie das Singen der Vogel und die Brandung des Meeres. Dieser

34 ABIKO
Eindruck wird dadurch verstarkt, dass Schlaginstrumente eine wichtige Rolle

spielen, welchen keine bestimmte Tonhdhe eigen ist,die aber besonders geeignet
sind zur rythmischenCharakterisierung. Der Hauptreiz der japanischen Musik liegt
furmich in den uberaus feinen Rythmen. Ich bin mir vollstandig des Umstandes
bewusst, dass mir die intimstenFeinheiten dieser Art Musik noch verschlossen
sind. Abgesehen daven, dass eine lange Erfahrung zur Unterscheidung des rein
Konventionellen von personlichen Ausdruck des Kiinstlers stets eine grosse
Erfahrung voraussetzt, entgeht mir die Beziehung zum gesprochenen und
gesungenenWort, das ja bei den meisten japanischen Musikstticken eine erhebliche
Rolle spielt. Fur die kiinstlerische Einstellung der japanischen Seele scheint es mir
charakteristisch,dass als Blasinstrument nur die zarte Flote auftritt,nicht aber die
viel grelleren Blasinstrumente ausMetall. Es zeigt sich auch hier die besonders in
der japanischen Malerei hervortretende und inderAusgestaltung der Gegenstande
des taglichenLebens so charakteristischeVorliebe furdas Liebliche und Zierliche.
Am meisten wirkte die Musik auf mich, wenn sie dazu diente, ein Theaterstuck
oder eine stummeHandlung (Tanz) zu begleiten, insbesondere beim Noh-Spiel.
Der Ausgestaltung der japanischen Musik zu einer Kunstgattung grossen Stiles
steht meiner Meinung nach der Mangel an formaler Gliederung und
architektonischemAufbau imWege.
Das Herrlichste, was furmich an japanischer Kunst existiert, liegt auf dem
Gebiete derMalerei und Holzschnitzerei. Hier zeigt sich so recht,dass der Japaner
eine formfreudiger Angenmensch ist,der das Geschehene unermiidlich kunstlerisch
gestaltet, in stilisierte Linie verwandelt. Kopieren der Natur im Sinne unseres
Realismus ist dem Japaner fremd, ebenso die religiose Abkehr von Sinnlichen
trotzdem Einfluss des der japanischen Seele innerlich fremdenBuddhismus des
asiatischen Festlandes. Alles ist ihmErlebnis inForm und Farbe, naturwahr und
doch insofernnaturfern,als stetseine weitgehende Stilisierung vorherrscht.Klarheit
und einfache Linie liebt er iiber alles. Das Gemalde wird stark als Ganzes
empfunden.
Nur wenige der grossen Eindriicke, die ich in diesenWochen empfing, konnte
ich erwahnen, nichts sagend iiber die politischen und sozialen Probleme. Auch
?
iiberdie Besonderheit der japanischen Frau, dieses blumen-ahnlichen Wesens
schwieg ich; denn hier muss der gewohnliche Sterbliche dem Dichter das Wort
lassen. Doch eines liegtmir noch am Herzen. Mit Recht bewundert der Japaner die
geistigen Errungenschaft des Westens und versenkt sichmit Erfolg und grossem
Idealismus indieWissenschaften. Moge er aber dabei nicht vergessen, die grossen
Guter rein zu erhalten, die er vor dem Westen voraus hat, die kiinstlerische
Gestaltung des Lebens, die Schlichtheit undAnspruchslosigkeit inden personlichen
Bediirfnissen, und die Reinheit und Ruhe der japanischen Seele.

4. VORWORT82
Gegentlich meines Besuches inJapanhat der unermiidlicheLeiter des Kaizoscha

Verlages eine vollstandige Kollektion meiner bisherigen wissenscaftlichen Arbeiten
fertiggestellt,die nun dadurch den japanischen Fachgenossen und Studenten in
bequem Form zuganglich gemacht sind. Es istmir eine angeneme Pflicht, Herrn
Dank auszusprechen und nicht
Yamamoto furdiese Leistung meinen tiefgefiihlten
minder meinem verehrtenund befreundeten Fachgenossen Ishiwara, der sich der
grossenMuhe derUbersetzung unterzogen hat; seinName biirgtfureine sinngetreue
Ubersetzung.
Unsere Wissenschaft schreitet so rasch fort,dass Originalabhandlungen meist
sehr rasch ihreaktuelle Bedeutung einbiissen und uberholt erscheinen.Andererseits
aber hat es stetseinen eigentiimlichenReiz, dasWerden der Theorien zu verfolgen
an Hand der Originalabhandlungen; und nicht selten verleiht ein solches Studium
einen tieferenEinblick indieMaterie als eine durch die Arbeit vieler Zeitgenossen
geglattete systematische Darstellung des fertigenGegenstandes. In diesem Sinne
hoffe ich, das sie vorliegende Sammlung eine Bereicherung der Fachliteratur
darstellt. Insbesondere mochte ich mir erlauben, den jungen Fachgenossen die
Abhandlungen uber Brawn'sche Bewegung und die quantentheoretischenArbeiten
aus den Jahren 1905 und 1917 empfehlen, welche Uberlegungen enthalten, die
nach meiner Meinung auch heute noch nicht genugent berucksichtigt werden.
Dies istdie ersteAusgabe meiner samtlichenwissenschaftlichen Arbeiten. Dass
diese in japanischer Sprache erfolgt, istmir ein neuer Beweis furdie Intensitatdes
wissenschaftlichen Lebens und Interesse Japans, das ich in diesen Wochen nicht
nur als Statte derWissenschaft hochachten, sondern? was doch noch mehr heisst
? vom menschlichen Standpunkt lieben gelernt habe.
27. XII. 1922.
82. Albert Einstein, "Vorwort," in J. Ishiwara et al, eds. (ref. 19), 2, i-ii.


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Einstein's Kyoto Address: "How I Created the Theory of Relativity"

Author(s): Seiya Abiko

This content downloaded from 132.235.61.22 on Tue, 24 Sep 2013 18:06:25 PM

1.THE TEXTS AND THE TRANSLATOR

ALBERT EINSTEIN VISITED Japan fromNovember 17 toDecember 29, 1922, at

*Serei Christopher 3453 Mikatahara-Town Ja

helpful editorial advice.

Physical Society, Proceedings; PZ, Physikalische Zeitschrift.

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FIG. 1 ProfessorEinstein, lecturingin thehall of thePhysics Department, the Imperial

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The poem reads as follows:

Pressed the people, sharpening their ears,

FIG. 2 The illustration

formationof special relativity.5These translations, although valuable, contain sev

5. Tsuyoshi Ogawa, "Japanese evidence for Einstein's of theMichelson-Morley's

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FIG 3. Handwrittennote byAlbert Einstein forJunIshiwara.The firstline reads: 'To my

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This content downloaded from 132.235.61.22 on Tue, 24 Sep 2013 18:06:25 PM

Jun Ishiwara (1881-1947) was the firstJapanese theoretical physicist of inter

106-116; Arnold Sommerfeld, Atombau und Spektrallinien (Braunschweig, 1919).

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In August 1921, Ishiwara's academic career came to a sudden end. He was

2. OTHER RELEVANT SOURCES

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He encountered at once, in his second year of college [1897-98], the problem of

This account, echoed in theKyoto address, indicates thatEinstein thought of a

lengthof a rigid body changeswhen moving throughthestationaryetherby just

It is likely thatEinstein came to know about theMichelson-Morley experiment by

betreffen," AP, 65:3 (1898) Beilage, i-xvii, on xv-xvi.

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Shortly before that,Einstein wrote toMarie:23

presented today doesn't correspond to reality, and itwill be possible to present it

Alfred Kleiner (1849-1916) was the professor of experimental physics at the

called "Lorentz' electron theory."28This monograph, mentioned in theKyoto ad

23. Renn and Schulmann (ref. 10), 10.

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dress, reviews and explains "Michelson's interference experiment."29 Einstein fully

principle of relativity is limited to nonaccelerated moving systems. In order not

The novel consideration is, "The proposition...that to an amount of energyE there

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of the generalized theory of relativity and the theory of gravitation."33 Einstein

Another passage fromEinstein's correspondence ofNovember 1913, this one

Yet, as he said in theKyoto address, after two years of struggleEinstein managed

For, I realized that my previous gravitational field equations were entirely

satisfy the field equations.

33. Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossmann, Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten

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I had considered these equations with Grossmann already 3 years ago....But at

This matter is discussed furtherin ?4 below.

3. THE KYOTO ADDRESS

Address at theKyoto University

37. The Japanese text is in Ishiwara (ref. 2), 131-151.

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only trytopick up simplythegistmost directlyrelatedto thedevelopmentofmy

couples. This idea was sort as that of Michelson's

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Nevertheless, a friend [Michele Besso] of mine inBern relieved me by chance.

quite different from the original meaning.

Ono, "the special theory of relativity was completed."

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Maori's so directly as the later problems