March 29, 1951

Dear Solovine,

I am sending the correction herewith. I wrote my comments in German; if you do not understand them, write me again. I notice besides that even after the corrections the Appendix on the theory of gravitation is quite difficult to understand. It is more important for the subject to be intelligible than for the volume to appear as soon as possible.

I am very sorry about the package mix-up. Schiller’s “The Ring of Polycrates” comes to mind. Find out whether the so-called “Care” packages are subject to high duties too. You owe this whole blessing to Truman and his helpers.

There is no need for you to bother about the book after having been paid for the translation. I have no illusion of being able to better the world through this book, and it makes no difference to me whether the book appears later or not at all. In any case, I do not intend to be mixed up in it. If it is published, we can always bash our heads in over the portrait.

Schrödinger’s equation is wholly in order. E is a function of q and p alone. But Schrödinger’s function psi, formed from E, depends on the time t.

La Mettrie writes interestingly, though we were struck by his flowery rococo style. I read all of it to my sister. It is hard to understand how his contemporaries managed to find it so exciting.

With warmest greetings from all of us.

Your      

A. Einstein