Albert Einstein. 1921

Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

'Geometrie und Erfahrung'. Offprint from: Sitzungsberichte der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Berlin: Preussische Akademie, 1921.

Lecturing to a commemorative session of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Einstein discusses the special esteem enjoyed by mathematics in physics. Einstein questioned whether human reasoning, even without direct experience, could lead to an understanding of the properties of real things merely through thought. Regarding the question of why mathematics should be so well adapted to describing the physical world, he concluded, 'As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.'

Quarto (253 x 180mm). 8 pp. from Sitzungsberichte der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, V (27 Januar 1921). Original printed wrappers (faint even browning, ink and pencil numbering above title on cover). Provenance: Dr Hans Albert Einstein (1904-1973, Einstein's elder son: ownership ink stamp with Berkeley, California address).

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