Abstract
IN the issue of NATURE for August 18, 1923, p. 253, Prof. Einstein is quoted as having said of Mach, at the reception given to him (Einstein) by the Société Française de Physique, “His (Mach's) view of science, that it deals with immediate data, led him to reject the existence of atoms. Probably were he still with us he would change his opinion”. As one of the oldest pupils of Mach who worked with him on fluorescence in 1877 and enjoyed his warm friendship since 1876, I often had an opportunity of discussing atomism with him. Not long before the War, I was sitting with him in his garden in Vienna, and I remember that he said to me: “Atomism is a good working hypothesis for the study of chemistry; it must be used with great care on studying and working in science; but it is extremely dangerous as a noetic theory”. It was after the memorable discovery of Rutherford and Geiger in 1908, who showed that the emission of a-particles from radium-C is the same whether it be counted by the spinthariscope or by the electroscope, and the most incredulous chemists admitted it as a proof of the existence of atoms, that Mach did not change his old view. At the beginning of the War, I asked him in a letter whether he considered the results of all the observations in radioactivity as a proof of the existence of atoms, and he replied to me verbally: “I do not make myself a proselyte of my ideas—do not make yourself a proselyte on atomism”. He never changed his ideas up to his death.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BRAUNER, B. Einstein and Mach. Nature 113, 927 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/113927b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/113927b0
This article is cited by
-
Saving Mach’s View on Atoms
Journal for General Philosophy of Science (2010)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.