At sea on SS Deutschland, early March 1931

'The downside of success': happy memories of California on a stormy voyage home, and dark visions of the future in Germany.

On his voyage home from Pasadena, Einstein sends 'this little greeting amidst stormy seas and enormous rollers, which however have been bravely endured'. He much enjoyed his stay in Pasadena: 'I was able to contribute something to the astronomers, and also discovered something important in my theoretical work over there. Nature is wonderful there, but there are too many people who pay attention to one – the downside of success'. News from Germany is worrying: 'everything is unstable, much more worryingly than on the ship'. But they have grown accustomed to it, and hardly notice it any more: 'At least the republic is still standing for the moment!'.

During his stay in California early in 1931 Einstein visited Mount Wilson Observatory, where Edwin Hubble personally showed him the 100-inch Hooker telescope. The political situation in Germany was to worsen dramatically during each of his three successive winter trips to California in the early 1930s.
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