The Nazis, religion and a mystery that we thought was lost: reveal 100 manuscripts of Albert Einstein

Nearly 140 years after the birth of Albert Einstein, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem acquired a hundred pages handwritten by the physicist, including an unpublished document of his work on unified field theory, as well as letters revealing more light on the personality of the scientific genius.

The Hebrew University, of which Einstein was one of the founding fathers and who holds one of the largest funds in the world, presented Wednesday part of the 110 handwritten pages that he had received two weeks ago, after buying them from an American collector.

Most of the content is mathematical calculations from the late 1940s but also letters to employees and more personal writings, like the letter he sent to one of his sons, Hans Albert.

These documents provide "a direct and unaltered approach to the work of one of the most creative minds in the history of science," said the institution's authorities. The acquisition also includes a page that researchers had never seen, although they know of its existence.

This is part of an eight-page appendix of a 1930 article on the scientist's efforts to develop a unified field theory.

These eight pages have never been published but the researchers had copies, he said. "But in the copies we had, miss a page, it was a problem, an enigma. To our surprise and satisfaction, this page is here, "he said, delighted.

Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, a pillar of modern science, has been unsuccessfully trying for decades to prove another concept, namely that electromagnetism and gravity were different manifestations of. the same fundamental field.

Especially curious is the correspondence between Einstein and his friend Michele Besso. In addition to several scientific exchanges, the letters contain several comments on family issues and Jewish identity.

"You will not go to hell, even if you were baptized"wrote Einstein to Besso, who had converted to Christianity.

"As goy (non-jewish), you do not have to learn the language of our parents, whereas as a "Jewish saint" I should be ashamed of the fact that I know almost nothing of l & # 39; Hebrew. But I'd rather be ashamed to learn"Einstein jokes.

In the new collection of manuscripts, you will find for example a letter from Einstein to his son Hans Albert who lived in Switzerland in 1935. Einstein, who would settle in the United States after giving up his German citizenship when Adolf Hitler came to power, he said he was concerned about the complex situation in Europe and the arrival of the Nazis in Germany.

"I have read with concern that there is a big movement in Switzerland, incited by German bandits. But I believe that Even in Germany things are slowly changing"he said.

Faced with the new political landscape, he said: "Let's just hope we do not have a war in Europe first … The rest of Europe is finally starting to take the issue seriously, especially the British, 'they had been heavily involved a year and a half ago, been better and easier.'

This new collection is part of the extensive collection of the Albert Archives Einstein which contains more than 80,000 manuscripts, letters and photographs, among others, presenting the public with the figure of the Nobel Prize winning physicist.

In his will, he left to the University all his writings and his intellectual heritage, including the right to use his image, such as the famous photo of the physicist pulling the tongue.

(With information from AFP, EFE and Reuters)