Every document in
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein
appears in the language in which it was written, and supplementary paperback volumes present the English translations if all non-English materials. For those desiring a supplement to Volume 5, for instance, this paperback includes translations of correspondence that give a much richer picture of Einstein in his twenties and thirties than we ever had. In addition to illuminating the personal aspects of his life, the letters document his scientific activity: his concentration for years on the unfathomable problems of quanta and radiation, his extensive knowledge of experimental physics, his many fruitful interactions with experimentalists, and finally his long struggle to generalize the 1905 theory of relativity to include gravitation and accelerated frames of reference. This paperback translation does not include notes or annotation of the documentary volume and is not intended for use without the original language documentary edition, which provides the extensive editorial commentary necessary for a full historical and scientific understanding of the documents.