EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955.
Carbon Copy of a Letter to William Farrington ANNOTATED AND DIAGRAMMED in ink and pencil by Einstein describing in mathematical detail the action of force on the earth's crust, 2 pp, rectos only, letter dated January 14, 1954, folds;
WITH: Typed Note Signed ("A. Einstein") to Charles Hapgood, 1 p, personal letterhead embossed with 112 Mercer St address, January, 16, 1954, centerfold.
ANNOTATED, AND HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC LETTER ON THE EARTH'S SHIFTING CRUST. Showing an application of his scientific mind outside of physics, Einstein wrote to geologist William Farrington at MIT describing in great scientific detail how the ideas put forth by Charles Hapgood about the shifting of the earth's crust are plausible. Here he forwards the Farrington letter to Hapgood, inserting in ink and pencil the scientific diagrams and equations in making his argument. In 1958, Hapgood published his Earth's Shifting Crust, which utilized as an introduction a foreword Einstein had provided for him in May of 1954, shortly after this exchange. It was not until the 1960's that the idea of continental drift took root at large in the scientific community, overriding the ideas which Hapgood put forth. A fascinating look at the breadth of Einstein's knowledge and mind, reinforcing his idea that "All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree" (Einstein, "Moral Decay," 1937).
