Typed letter signed ("A. Einstein").
4to. 1½ pp. In German. On blindstamped headed stationery.
€ 22,000.00
To the Hungarian-born physicist Cornelius Lanczos (1893-1974) on the intolerant and megalomaniac character of Erwin Schrödinger. Einstein considers him "intuitively extraordinarily gifted man" who suffers from so stormy a temperament that it makes him argue entirely contradictory opinions in short succession, so that one could quite frequently refute Schrödinger with Schrödinger: "Er ist ein intuitiv ausserordentlich begabter Mensch mit einem stürmischen Temperament und nicht frei von cäsarischen Anwandlungen. Das Temperament bringt ihn dazu, sich zu einer Zeit mit einer Auffassung A zu identifizieren und nach einiger Zeit mit der damit unverträglichen Auffassung B, sodass man meistens Schrödinger mit Schrödinger am schlagendsten widerlegen könnte".
Further, Einstein disapproves of Lanczos's intention to leave his position in Dublin, not least because finding a position in America where one can "immerse oneself in problems" is not at all easy; he urges his friend not to be too suspicious of others' attitudes towards him, even if strong nationalism is a well-known phenomenon among the Irish.
Lanczos had taken over Schrödinger's post at the School of Theoretical Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in 1952, and in spite of some early difficulties was to remain there for the rest of his life. Einstein himself would pass away only two months after the present letter.
Two small tears near lower left corner and left margin.
