
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Lot 57
EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955. Autograph Letter Signed ("A. Einstein"), in German, 1 p, 4to,
21 September 2015, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$10,625 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our History of Science & Technology specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot


Client Services (San Francisco)

Client Services (New York)

Client Services (Los Angeles)
EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955.
Autograph Letter Signed ("A. Einstein"), in German, 1 p, 4to, [Berlin], June 30, 1920, to Hans Reichenbach, uneven toning, a few spots in upper margin, two-hole punch at left margin, folding creases.
"CONCEPTS ARE SIMPLY EMPTY WHEN THEY STOP BEING FIRMLY LINKED TO EXPERIENCES." EINSTEIN ON THE VALUE OF RELATIVITY FOR PHILOSOPHY. Einstein writes to Hans Reichenbach, the philosopher of science and an influential expositor of Relativity. In part (translation):
"I am really very pleased that you want to dedicate your excellent brochure to me, but even more so that you give me such high marks as a lecturer and thinker. The value of the th.[eory] of rel.[ativity] for philosophy seems to me to be that it exposed the dubiousness of certain concepts that even in philosophy were recognized as small change. Concepts are simply empty when they stop being firmly linked to experiences. They resemble upstarts who are ashamed of their origins and want to disown them." The letter was published in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, vol 10, doc 66, pp 323-324 (CPAE Translation, vol 10, doc 66, p 201).
We are grateful for the assistance of Dr. Diana Kormos Buchwald, general editor of the Einstein Papers Project, in cataloguing this lot.
"CONCEPTS ARE SIMPLY EMPTY WHEN THEY STOP BEING FIRMLY LINKED TO EXPERIENCES." EINSTEIN ON THE VALUE OF RELATIVITY FOR PHILOSOPHY. Einstein writes to Hans Reichenbach, the philosopher of science and an influential expositor of Relativity. In part (translation):
"I am really very pleased that you want to dedicate your excellent brochure to me, but even more so that you give me such high marks as a lecturer and thinker. The value of the th.[eory] of rel.[ativity] for philosophy seems to me to be that it exposed the dubiousness of certain concepts that even in philosophy were recognized as small change. Concepts are simply empty when they stop being firmly linked to experiences. They resemble upstarts who are ashamed of their origins and want to disown them." The letter was published in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, vol 10, doc 66, pp 323-324 (CPAE Translation, vol 10, doc 66, p 201).
We are grateful for the assistance of Dr. Diana Kormos Buchwald, general editor of the Einstein Papers Project, in cataloguing this lot.





![[Americana.]](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2006-09%252F22%252F7332891-4-1.JPG%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)

![CALEPINO, AMBROGIO. 1435-1511. [Dictionarium.] Calepinus Ad librum. Mos est putidas.... Venice: Peter Liechtenstein, January 3, 1509.](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2012-08%252F09%252F8520323-124-1.jpg%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)
![HEARN, LAFCADIO. 1850-1904. [Japanese Fairy Tales.] Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith, [But Tokyo: T. Hasegawa,] [c.1931].](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2025-11%252F07%252F25776056-1-1.jpg%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)

