An addendum to my last posting, relating to the inflated claim made by Evan Harris Walker about Mileva Maric's supposed contributions to Einstein's epoch-making 1905 paper on the photoelectric arising from her attending the lectures of Lenard at Heidelberg in 1899. Here is an extract from a letter in which Mileva reports on one of the lectures, and the comments on it by Roger Highfield (science editor, Daily Telegraph, longtime consultant commentator on the weekly BBC Radio 4 Science programme now called "Leading Edge").
Extract from letter 20 Oct 1897 "It really was too enjoyable in Prof Lenard's lecture yesterday; now he's talking about the kinetic theory of gases. It seems that oxygen molecules travel at a speed of over 400 metres per second, and after calculating, the good professor set up equations, differentiated, integrated, substituted and finally showed that the molecules in question really do move at such a velocity, but that they only travel a distance of 1/100 of a hair's breadth." Roger Highfield's comment: "This irreverent tone is appealing, but it seems that Mileva had missed the key points of what Lenard was saying. The mathematics that apparently dazzled her would not have been directed at determining the velocity of the molecules - since this can be obtained quite simply - and the tiny distance they travelled between collisions should hardly have come as a surprise to her. It depends on how many collisions each molecule experiences with others within a given time interval. Although this was only a light-hearted anecdote, it suggests that Mileva lacked Einstein's intuitive grasp of physics." (Highfield and Carter, p. 43) N.B. A radically different view of Einstein's achievements (compared with "Einstein's Wife") was broadcast on PBS in 1997: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2311eins.html Allen Esterson --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
