Volume I: The Early Years, 1879-1902. John Stachel, ed. Princeton
University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1987.
German-language volume: 433 pp.
$52.50 HB. English translation: 196
pp. $22.50 PB (can only be purchased
with German volume). Microfiche: $10.
The publication of the first volume of the long-awaited, long-delayed Einstein papers is a most welcome event. And if this first volume is a taste of things to come, the complete set will represent a most important and significant source of primary data for rewriting the history of physics of the first half of the 20th century.
As with all the other dimensions that define Einstein’s life, his published papers are anything but ordinary. The editors estimate that the collected papers will require a total of some 40 volumes organized chronologically in two series. (I am reminded of Lady Macbeth’s ranting, ... who would have thought the old man to have had so much ...
