{"id":101,"date":"2021-10-21T12:07:32","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T10:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/testik.de\/einstein-website.de\/en\/?page_id=101"},"modified":"2023-02-25T17:27:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T16:27:07","slug":"academies-and-societies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/academies-and-societies\/","title":{"rendered":"Academies and societies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Information<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"de_DE\"\/ DEUTSCH<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“\u2026 Ich wurde Mitglied vieler wissenschaftlicher Gesellschaften,
und mehrere Medaillen wurden mir verliehen, \u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201d\u2026I became a member of many scientific societies and I was awarded many medals, \u2026\u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Albert Einstein, Berlin 1932<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

ACADEMIES AND SOCIETIES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Albert Einstein\u2018s membership in scientific academies and societies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Albert Einstein was a member (full member, corresponding member, foreign member, honorary member) of many national and international scientific academies and societies such as the Preu\u00dfische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin)<\/strong> and the Kaiserlich Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher zu Halle an der Saale (German Imperial Academy of Natural Scientists in Halle\/Saale).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The young patent clerk Albert Einstein developed his first institutional scientific ideas in 1903. Reason therefore was the membership in scientific and physical societies in Switzerland, in the beginning in Bern and later also in Zurich.
As Einstein moved to Berlin in April 1914 he became among other things also a member of the Preu\u00dfische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Prussian Academy of Sciences).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 1919 he became a member of ever more national and international academies and societies. One of the reasons for this increasing number of memberships was the confirmation of Einstein\u2019s prediction of the deviation of light in the gravitational field of the sun by the British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington<\/strong> (1882-1944) on May 29, 1919. This confirmation of the general theory of relativity made Einstein world-famous overnight. The myth Albert Einstein was born.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1 Handwritten questionnaire of Albert Einstein (excerpt) on
occasion of his admission to the academy, 1932
Leopoldina-Archiv, Bestand M 1 Matrikel, 3879<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Albert Einstein then got more and more requests and in the following years he became a member of many national and international scientific institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the following table you can see that Einstein\u2018s membership with all the German academies and societies ended in 1933. The reason were the political balance of power and the associated incidents in Nazi Germany after 1933. Einstein had already left Germany for good when he asked his friend and colleague, the German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Max von Laue<\/strong> (1879-1960), in a letter dated June 5, 1933 to cancel the membership with all German scientific institutions for him. In the letter Einstein asked von Laue \u201edaf\u00fcr zu sorgen, dass sein Name aus den Verzeichnissen dieser K\u00f6rperschaft gestrichen wird [\u2026] Dieser Weg d\u00fcrfte der richtige sein, da so neue theatralische Effekte vermieden werden.\u201c “to make sure that his name be struck from the lists of these bodies [\u2026] This is probably the right way, because this way new theatrical effects are avoided.”<\/span> Einstein also cancelled his membership with the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei<\/em> on December 15, 1938, after the exclusion of its Jewish Italian members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, at this point of time there were academies and societies which already had excluded Einstein from the respective community, among other things because of his Jewish roots and probably also due to political reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1933 Albert Einstein found a new home in the US. He lived in Princeton, New Jersey and worked at the Institute for Advanced Study. During the following years he became a member of ever more societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some of the named institutions Einstein was also awarded the honorary membership, such as on occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Bern (Bern Society for Natural Sciences)<\/em> on November 21, 1936. In the certificate is says that the society “[\u2026] Herrn Professor Dr. Albert Einstein [\u2026] ihr ehemaliges aktives Mitglied [\u2026] zu ihrem Ehrenmitglied ernennt”.
\u201d[\u2026] appoints Professor Dr. Albert Einstein [\u2026] its former active member [\u2026] honorary member”.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-war requests for a new membership in German institutions (1945) were rejected by Einstein. This also applies for a request of the German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld<\/strong> (1868-1951), who wanted to persuade Einstein to again become a member of the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Bavarian Academy of Sciences).<\/em> In Einstein\u2018s reply to Sommerfeld dated December 14, 1946, it reads: “[\u2026] will ich nichts mehr mit Deutschen zu tun haben, auch nichts mit einer relativ harmlosen Akademie. [\u2026]”
“[\u2026] I do not wish to have anything more to do with Germans, not even with a relatively harmless Academy. [\u2026]”.<\/span> Two requests of the K\u00f6nigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu G\u00f6ttingen (Royal Scientific Society, G\u00f6ttingen)<\/em> were not answered by Einstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Einstein\u2018s membership in the academies and societies only existed on paper, in the later years this membership was kept over the years, even decades. Many memberships only ended with Einstein\u2019s death on April 18, 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Selection:<\/span> Einstein\u2018s membership in national and international scientific institutions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country<\/strong><\/td>Membership<\/strong><\/td>Academy \/ Society<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Switzerland<\/td>1903 – 1955<\/td>Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Bern
Society for Natural Sciences, Bern<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Switzerland<\/td>1909 – 1955<\/td>Physikalische Gesellschaft Z\u00fcrich
Physical Society Zurich<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Switzerland<\/td>1910 – 1955<\/td>Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Z\u00fcrich
Society for Natural Sciences, Zurich<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>1913 – 1933<\/strong><\/td>Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
German Physical Society<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>1914 – 1933<\/strong><\/td>Preu\u00dfische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin
Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>1915 – 1933<\/strong><\/td>K\u00f6nigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu G\u00f6ttingen
Royal Scientific Society, G\u00f6ttingen<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Denmark<\/td>1920 – 1955<\/td>Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Netherlands<\/td>1920 – 1955<\/td>Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
Royal Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Italy<\/td>1921 – 1938<\/strong>
1946 <\/strong>– 1955<\/td>		Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Spain<\/td>1923 – 1955<\/td>Real Akademia de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales
Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>1927 – 1933<\/strong><\/td>Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Bavarian Academy of Sciences<\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>1932 – 1933<\/strong><\/td>Kaiserlich Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher zu Halle, Leopoldina
Imperial German Academy of Natural Scientists in Halle, Leopoldina<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Illustrations credits:<\/span><\/strong>
Courtesy of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina<\/a>: 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editors: D. C. Cassidy, M. J. Klein, A. J. Kox,
R. Schulmann, D. Kormos Buchwald, a.o.<\/td>		The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 1-13<\/em><\/strong><\/td>Princeton 1987-2012<\/td><\/tr>
Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina<\/td>Festgabe zur Jahresversammlung 1979\/80 RAUM UND ZEIT<\/strong>
ACTA HISTORICA LEOPOLDINA, Nr. 14<\/td>		Halle\/Saale 1980<\/td><\/tr>
Max Fl\u00fcckiger<\/td>Albert Einstein in Bern<\/strong><\/td>Bern 1974<\/td><\/tr>
Ann M. Hentschel, Gerd Gra\u00dfhoff, Karl Wolfgang Graff<\/td>Albert Einstein “Jene gl\u00fccklichen Berner Jahre”<\/strong><\/td>Bern 2005<\/td><\/tr>
Robert Schulmann
(Editors: C. Dirks, H. Simon)<\/td>		Albert Einstein – ein politischer Jude
<\/strong>(relativ j\u00fcdisch. Albert Einstein Jude, Zionist, Nonkonformist)<\/td>		Berlin 2005<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“\u2026 Ich wurde Mitglied vieler wissenschaftlicher Gesellschaften,und mehrere Medaillen wurden mir verliehen, \u2026” \u201d\u2026I became a member of many scientific societies and I was awarded many medals, \u2026\u201c Albert Einstein, Berlin 1932 ACADEMIES AND SOCIETIES Albert Einstein\u2018s membership in scientific academies and societies Albert Einstein was a member (full member, corresponding member, foreign member, honorary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-101","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2540,"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/101\/revisions\/2540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/einstein-website.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}