Details
EINSTEIN, Albert. Two autograph letters signed and a postcard signed ('Papa') to his son Hans Albert, n.p., n.d. [11 July 1927] - 12 May 1928, postcard with postscript in the hand of Mileva Einstein-Maric, 3 pages, 8vo, and 1 page, 4to (postcard yellowed).
Bulletins on Einstein's refrigerator design. In his postcard Einstein writes from a holiday with Eduard - they have been playing Haydn, Mozart and Schumann; Einstein is awaiting the patents on his 'Kältemaschine'. In a letter of 19 September 1927 he comments on Hans Albert's application for a job at Siemens, and reports that he is working with 'ordentlichem Erfolg' (real success) 'but I'm happy that neither of you became scientists. When one takes it seriously it is bloody hard'; he has had a good idea for the refrigerator, but he doesn't have enough time for it, and his collaborators are insufficiently enthusiastic, 'so nothing will come of the thing'. He discusses Eduard's contemplative nature - for him 'unsere Ziele sind doch nur Seifenblasen' (our aims are only soap bubbles). On 12 May 1928, Einstein reports on an improvement in his condition after heart trouble: he may be going to Kissingen in June, 'wo der Teufel durch Bäder ausgetrieben werden soll' (where the devil will be driven out with baths). A postscript announces that he and Szilard have registered something very neat ('etwas sehr hübsches') for their patent for the refrigerator, namely the idea of replacing cork insulation with layers of paper - 'at least as effective, but much cheaper'.
Between 1927 and 1929 Einstein and Leo Szilard applied for eight patents for their design for a refrigerator without moving parts, based on a pump which is driven not mechanically but electromagnetically. Improvements to conventional refrigerators meant that the Einstein-Szilard refrigerator was not to prove commercially viable; the electromagnetic pump was however adapted for use in nuclear reactors in the post war years.
Bulletins on Einstein's refrigerator design. In his postcard Einstein writes from a holiday with Eduard - they have been playing Haydn, Mozart and Schumann; Einstein is awaiting the patents on his 'Kältemaschine'. In a letter of 19 September 1927 he comments on Hans Albert's application for a job at Siemens, and reports that he is working with 'ordentlichem Erfolg' (real success) 'but I'm happy that neither of you became scientists. When one takes it seriously it is bloody hard'; he has had a good idea for the refrigerator, but he doesn't have enough time for it, and his collaborators are insufficiently enthusiastic, 'so nothing will come of the thing'. He discusses Eduard's contemplative nature - for him 'unsere Ziele sind doch nur Seifenblasen' (our aims are only soap bubbles). On 12 May 1928, Einstein reports on an improvement in his condition after heart trouble: he may be going to Kissingen in June, 'wo der Teufel durch Bäder ausgetrieben werden soll' (where the devil will be driven out with baths). A postscript announces that he and Szilard have registered something very neat ('etwas sehr hübsches') for their patent for the refrigerator, namely the idea of replacing cork insulation with layers of paper - 'at least as effective, but much cheaper'.
Between 1927 and 1929 Einstein and Leo Szilard applied for eight patents for their design for a refrigerator without moving parts, based on a pump which is driven not mechanically but electromagnetically. Improvements to conventional refrigerators meant that the Einstein-Szilard refrigerator was not to prove commercially viable; the electromagnetic pump was however adapted for use in nuclear reactors in the post war years.
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