Einstein on the Run by Andrew Robinson

Author:Andrew Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780300234763
Publisher: Yale University Press

Einstein in Oxford during one of his three visits in 1931, 1932 and 1933. He liked to stroll around the city on his own, comparing its life with that of Berlin. The precise location is unknown.

ELECTED ‘STUDENT’ OF CHRIST CHURCH

Even before Einstein left Oxford on 28 May 1931, Lindemann appears to have begun negotiations within Christ Church to lure him back. His idea was that Einstein should be elected a ‘research student’ (i.e. a fellow) of the college and be offered a bursary from college funds so that he could spend relatively brief periods of time in Oxford each year at his own convenience. By late June, Dean White of Christ Church informed Lindemann that the college was in a position to offer a ‘studentship’ to Einstein for five years, with an annual stipend of £400, a dining allowance and accommodation during his periods of residence, which it was hoped would last for about a month each year during Oxford term time. Lindemann promptly intimated this possibility to Einstein in a letter.

Einstein was immediately tempted – not least because of the disastrous economic and political situation in Germany, with banks at risk of collapse, escalating unemployment and the rising popular appeal of the Nazi Party. ‘Your kind letter has filled me with great pleasure and brought back to me the memory of the wonderful weeks in Oxford,’ he wrote to Lindemann on 6 July. However, he went on to advise Lindemann of a difficulty that had put him ‘on the horns of a dilemma’: whether to accept Christ Church’s offer or a parallel offer from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, since he was unable to fulfil both obligations given his commitments in Berlin. He therefore proposed the following course of action: that Lindemann write immediately to the dean of Christ Church asking him not to send his invitation to Einstein yet. ‘I should not like either to delay replying to him or to have to answer in the negative.’ Better, he said, first to await the answer from Pasadena and then he would take a decision on what he should do.

By mid-July, it became clear that Einstein was ready to accept Christ Church’s offer. But in a letter to the dean he did not clarify whether he accepted all of the terms of the studentship, in particular its annual residence requirement. Lindemann persuaded the college to give Einstein the benefit of the doubt: although he might spend less than a month at Christ Church in any one year, he would make up for this during another year. On 21 October, the governing body elected Einstein unanimously to a research studentship. Einstein accepted the offer on 29 October with a warm letter to the dean referring to the college’s ‘harmonious community life’.

In the interval, however, Dean White received a stern letter of protest at the college’s decision. Dated 24 October, it came from a former tutor and student of Christ Church who had taught classical history there from 1900

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