Physics
See also : Sciences Astronomy Ancient science Sciences 1600-1800 Sciences from 1800 Books Books 1501-1700 Medal and decoration Nobel medals Medicine Ancient England
Chronology : 1680-1699
Chronology : 1680-1699
1309 Optics by al-Farisi
2018 SOLD for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2021
In antique times, scientific knowledge was transmitted through compilations, which the authors used to insert their own theories. Forgotten, quite wrongly, in Europe, this effective method was perpetuated elsewhere for fifteen centuries, mostly by Arab scholars.
Al-Shirazi was one of these polygraphs. Like Aristotle, he was interested in everything : mathematics, astronomy, geography, philosophy, medicine, theology, law, linguistics, rhetoric. He was also a chess player, a musician and even a humorist.
Al-Farisi, who was one of his pupils, was asked around 700 AH in Tabriz a question about the refraction of light. The master, who was not a specialist in optics, gave him access to a copy dated 419 AH of the Book of Optics by Alhacen, who demonstrated that vision is a brain phenomenon resulting from the reflection of light on the object. The eye is no more than the optical organ which transmits this information.
In compliance with the best tradition, al-Farisi's personal contribution is very important. He studies in great detail the internal geometry of the eye to understand the aberrations of vision created by refraction. He models the drop of water to study the propagation of the sun's ray in its complex sequence of refractions and reflections. He is the very first to interpret the rainbow mathematically and improves the theory of colors.
Al-Farisi's working manuscript, partially autograph, rigorously reproduces the list of chapters from The Optics of Alhacen. It was completed in 708 AH corresponding to 1309 CE, two years before the death of al-Shirazi.
A large part of this document was sold for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's on April 25, 2018 from a lower estimate of £ 250K, lot 32. This set of 321 sheets 22 x 12 cm is illustrated with many figures in red ink. One of these is perhaps the oldest scientifically correct diagram of the internal structure of the eye.
Another section is held at the New York Public Library. It includes the colophons which show that this treatise had been in the hands of two very eminent Ottoman scholars.
Copies were made to transmit this knowledge. One of them, dated 899 AH, was sold for £ 110K including premium by Sotheby's on October 25, 2017, lot 23.
Al-Shirazi was one of these polygraphs. Like Aristotle, he was interested in everything : mathematics, astronomy, geography, philosophy, medicine, theology, law, linguistics, rhetoric. He was also a chess player, a musician and even a humorist.
Al-Farisi, who was one of his pupils, was asked around 700 AH in Tabriz a question about the refraction of light. The master, who was not a specialist in optics, gave him access to a copy dated 419 AH of the Book of Optics by Alhacen, who demonstrated that vision is a brain phenomenon resulting from the reflection of light on the object. The eye is no more than the optical organ which transmits this information.
In compliance with the best tradition, al-Farisi's personal contribution is very important. He studies in great detail the internal geometry of the eye to understand the aberrations of vision created by refraction. He models the drop of water to study the propagation of the sun's ray in its complex sequence of refractions and reflections. He is the very first to interpret the rainbow mathematically and improves the theory of colors.
Al-Farisi's working manuscript, partially autograph, rigorously reproduces the list of chapters from The Optics of Alhacen. It was completed in 708 AH corresponding to 1309 CE, two years before the death of al-Shirazi.
A large part of this document was sold for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's on April 25, 2018 from a lower estimate of £ 250K, lot 32. This set of 321 sheets 22 x 12 cm is illustrated with many figures in red ink. One of these is perhaps the oldest scientifically correct diagram of the internal structure of the eye.
Another section is held at the New York Public Library. It includes the colophons which show that this treatise had been in the hands of two very eminent Ottoman scholars.
Copies were made to transmit this knowledge. One of them, dated 899 AH, was sold for £ 110K including premium by Sotheby's on October 25, 2017, lot 23.
#AuctionUpdate The earliest scientific drawing of a human eye? An early autograph copy of Al-Farisi's landmark work on optics (dated 1309 AD) sells for £549,000#MiddleEast pic.twitter.com/4P7Tv5QMjh
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 25, 2018
1638 Mechanics and Motion
2017 SOLD for € 730K including premium
The work of Galileo Galilei, altogether experimental and mathematical, is extremely abundant and varied. Arriving in the fall of his life, the scientist is fully aware of the innovative importance of his theories. He gathers the most basic elements that he prepares in the form of dialogues offering to the reader a clear view of argument and counter-argument.
He begins with cosmology. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, published in Florence in 1632, is placed on the following year in the Index of forbidden books. Galileo now suspect of heresy can no longer publish his works in a Catholic country. Fortunately this ban does not stop his activity.
The treatise on physics, titled Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica e i movimenti locali, is ready in 1636. The comte of Noailles transmits a copy to Elzevier who publishes the book at Leyden in 1638. The book is dedicated to Noailles.
The Discorsi includes Galileo's assertion that the distance traveled in a naturally accelerated movement is proportional to the square of time. Galileo supports this discovery by describing an experiment using a steel ball rolling in a groove. For three and a half centuries the learned world will question the possibility of such measurement with the required accuracy at the time of that demonstration. It is now taken for sure that this very real experiment, published for the first time in the Discorsi, was made by Galileo in 1604.
On April 26 in Paris (Drouot), the auction house Pierre Bergé et Associés in co-operation with Sotheby's sells the association copy of the comte de Noailles, lot 21 estimated € 700K. Some typographical errors are present but without the usual erratum, suggesting that this copy was the very first that was released from Elzevier's presses. It is assembled in a sumptuous 'à la fanfare' binding attributed to Le Gascon, certainly commissioned by Noailles.
Physics is less disruptive than astronomy for the religious authorities and the Discorsi will not be threatened. Much later Einstein would acknowledge Galileo rather than Newton as the father of modern physics and more generally of modern science.
He begins with cosmology. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo, published in Florence in 1632, is placed on the following year in the Index of forbidden books. Galileo now suspect of heresy can no longer publish his works in a Catholic country. Fortunately this ban does not stop his activity.
The treatise on physics, titled Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica e i movimenti locali, is ready in 1636. The comte of Noailles transmits a copy to Elzevier who publishes the book at Leyden in 1638. The book is dedicated to Noailles.
The Discorsi includes Galileo's assertion that the distance traveled in a naturally accelerated movement is proportional to the square of time. Galileo supports this discovery by describing an experiment using a steel ball rolling in a groove. For three and a half centuries the learned world will question the possibility of such measurement with the required accuracy at the time of that demonstration. It is now taken for sure that this very real experiment, published for the first time in the Discorsi, was made by Galileo in 1604.
On April 26 in Paris (Drouot), the auction house Pierre Bergé et Associés in co-operation with Sotheby's sells the association copy of the comte de Noailles, lot 21 estimated € 700K. Some typographical errors are present but without the usual erratum, suggesting that this copy was the very first that was released from Elzevier's presses. It is assembled in a sumptuous 'à la fanfare' binding attributed to Le Gascon, certainly commissioned by Noailles.
Physics is less disruptive than astronomy for the religious authorities and the Discorsi will not be threatened. Much later Einstein would acknowledge Galileo rather than Newton as the father of modern physics and more generally of modern science.
#Vente livres et manuscrits de la #bibliothèque de Jean A. Bonna le 26 avril 2017 en partenariat avec @Sothebys !
— PBA-Auctions (@PBA_Auctions) March 27, 2017
Plus d'infos à venir. pic.twitter.com/oMp0IiaV9U
1687 The Universal Philosophy revealed to the World
2016 SOLD for $ 3.7M including premium
Isaac Newton was the most brilliant scientific innovator of all time. Late in his life he laid down the rules that had guided his unprecedented method. One of these rules summarizes in a simple sentence how he created the modern physics : to the same natural effects we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes.
One of his outstanding skills was to develop mathematical methods of high complexity to analyze and support his own physical theories. Even before he was 30, he compared the motion of the planets and the fall of the bodies. Essentially preoccupied with his own understanding of the mechanism of the universe, he published sparingly.
In 1684 in London, the scientists of the Royal Society challenged themselves to find the mathematical formulation of the law of motion of the planets described by Kepler. All failed. Halley visits Newton in Cambridge. He is stunned : Newton knows the solution but has lost his calculation notes. The orbital movement of a celestial body is an ellipse whose position of the other body is one of the foci.
The scientific stake is highly important and Halley manages to persuade Newton to disclose in their entirety his results concerning the law of universal gravitation. Edited and financed by Halley, Newton's Latin book entitled Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is published in 1687 with the imprimatur of the Royal Society.
The book is difficult in the opinion of the author himself and the circulation probably did not exceed 300 copies but it is of such scientific importance that Halley and Newton took care of organizing their sale through booksellers. One of them named Samuel Smith is more specifically entrusted to the supply onto the Continent and receives about 50 copies for that purpose.
On December 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy in a luxury binding in inlaid morocco, presented in that state by Smith to an unidentified recipient. It is estimated $ 1M, lot 167.
Another association copy with a binding of a comparable luxury is known. It was offered to King James II, patron of the Royal Society. This book was sold for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's on December 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
One of his outstanding skills was to develop mathematical methods of high complexity to analyze and support his own physical theories. Even before he was 30, he compared the motion of the planets and the fall of the bodies. Essentially preoccupied with his own understanding of the mechanism of the universe, he published sparingly.
In 1684 in London, the scientists of the Royal Society challenged themselves to find the mathematical formulation of the law of motion of the planets described by Kepler. All failed. Halley visits Newton in Cambridge. He is stunned : Newton knows the solution but has lost his calculation notes. The orbital movement of a celestial body is an ellipse whose position of the other body is one of the foci.
The scientific stake is highly important and Halley manages to persuade Newton to disclose in their entirety his results concerning the law of universal gravitation. Edited and financed by Halley, Newton's Latin book entitled Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is published in 1687 with the imprimatur of the Royal Society.
The book is difficult in the opinion of the author himself and the circulation probably did not exceed 300 copies but it is of such scientific importance that Halley and Newton took care of organizing their sale through booksellers. One of them named Samuel Smith is more specifically entrusted to the supply onto the Continent and receives about 50 copies for that purpose.
On December 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy in a luxury binding in inlaid morocco, presented in that state by Smith to an unidentified recipient. It is estimated $ 1M, lot 167.
Another association copy with a binding of a comparable luxury is known. It was offered to King James II, patron of the Royal Society. This book was sold for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's on December 6, 2013 over a lower estimate of $ 400K.
Newton's deluxe "Principia" far surpasses $1 million @ChristiesBKS today, reaching $3.7 million! https://t.co/V3Bwq6aGsu pic.twitter.com/4xardPPXsM
— Fine Books Magazine (@finebooks) December 14, 2016
1687 Principia by Newton
2013 SOLD for $ 2.5M including premium by Christie's
1687 The Explanation of the Universal Laws
2013 SOLD 340 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Astronomy and mathematics are inseparable in the history of science. Showing through the accuracy of his calculations that the Ptolemaic system could not explain all the movements of the planets, Copernicus opened the way to modern science, soon followed by the physicists Galileo and Kepler.
In science, unification is stronger than diversification. Developing new techniques of algebra, Isaac Newton was able to assess that the law of gravitation is universal, meaning that it applies altogether to terrestrial and astronomical phenomena.
The Royal Society had actively supported the discoveries of Newton, known as one of the best mathematicians of his time. The Secretary Edmond Halley had directed his research and the President Samuel Pepys provided his imprimatur in 1686.
The book is printed in Latin in 1687 for the Royal Society, in quarto format 24 x 18 cm, entitled Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
A copy in very good condition of the first issue of the first edition in a vellum binding of that time is estimated £ 250K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 27. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very good copy from a great issue was sold for £ 340K including premium.
Astronomy and mathematics are inseparable in the history of science. Showing through the accuracy of his calculations that the Ptolemaic system could not explain all the movements of the planets, Copernicus opened the way to modern science, soon followed by the physicists Galileo and Kepler.
In science, unification is stronger than diversification. Developing new techniques of algebra, Isaac Newton was able to assess that the law of gravitation is universal, meaning that it applies altogether to terrestrial and astronomical phenomena.
The Royal Society had actively supported the discoveries of Newton, known as one of the best mathematicians of his time. The Secretary Edmond Halley had directed his research and the President Samuel Pepys provided his imprimatur in 1686.
The book is printed in Latin in 1687 for the Royal Society, in quarto format 24 x 18 cm, entitled Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
A copy in very good condition of the first issue of the first edition in a vellum binding of that time is estimated £ 250K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 27. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very good copy from a great issue was sold for £ 340K including premium.
1704 The Dispersion of Light
2015 SOLD for $ 1.33M including premium
In 1666 Isaac Newton aged 24 is working on improving the optics of the telescopes. His observation that the generation of the spectrum is related to the physical properties of light and not to those of the prism is one of the most important scientific advances of his time. He irrefutably demonstrates it by recomposing the white light though a second prism.
In 1672, he manages to suppress the chromatic aberration in the telescopes and reveals his findings at the Royal Society which publishes his lecture in its Philosophical Transactions.
The great scientist had a difficult temperament and did not accept contradiction. Robert Hooke, who had considered before Newton a wave property of light, is challenging some elements. The hatred between the two physicists is irremediable. Newton refuses to publish his book all along Hooke's lifetime.
Fortunately, Newton also has friends such as Edmund Halley who helps him to publish in 1687 his seminal book on the use of mathematics to model the gravitational properties of matter, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Opticks is finally printed and released in London in 1704, curiously without the author's name, the year after the death of Hooke. Newton added two discussions on curvilinear figures, in order to establish his priority over an ongoing work by Leibniz.
The copy of Opticks presented by Newton to Halley is estimated $ 400K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4, lot 918. It is not dedicated but Halley wrote on the inside title page: "Luceo. Ex dono doctissimi authoris". Luceo, which does not mean anything in Latin, is a burst of enthusiasm based on Lux.
In 1672, he manages to suppress the chromatic aberration in the telescopes and reveals his findings at the Royal Society which publishes his lecture in its Philosophical Transactions.
The great scientist had a difficult temperament and did not accept contradiction. Robert Hooke, who had considered before Newton a wave property of light, is challenging some elements. The hatred between the two physicists is irremediable. Newton refuses to publish his book all along Hooke's lifetime.
Fortunately, Newton also has friends such as Edmund Halley who helps him to publish in 1687 his seminal book on the use of mathematics to model the gravitational properties of matter, the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Opticks is finally printed and released in London in 1704, curiously without the author's name, the year after the death of Hooke. Newton added two discussions on curvilinear figures, in order to establish his priority over an ongoing work by Leibniz.
The copy of Opticks presented by Newton to Halley is estimated $ 400K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4, lot 918. It is not dedicated but Halley wrote on the inside title page: "Luceo. Ex dono doctissimi authoris". Luceo, which does not mean anything in Latin, is a burst of enthusiasm based on Lux.
On our last day of book sales from the Pirie Collection, Newton’s Opticks sold for $1.3m, more than 2x the estimate pic.twitter.com/YPeX07ZcJy
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) December 4, 2015
1745-1749 The Scientific Archives of Cirey
2012 SOLD for € 960K including premium by Christie's
2018 SOLD for € 510K including premium
PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION
Helped by Maupertuis and Clairaut, the Marquise du Châtelet is able to understand and comment on Newton and Leibniz. In their château de Cirey, the marquis admires the exceptional intelligence of his wife and closes his eyes on her loves.
In 1734 Voltaire is disgraced. The Marquise lodges him in Cirey. She is 27 years old. The philosopher learns from his mistress the mathematics and physics that he had largely neglected until then.
The Marquise is a tireless worker. Her manuscripts, often written by secretaries and extensively reworked by her, surfaced a few years ago in an attic. Important pieces were sold by Christie's on October 29, 2012. A call for donations had been issued for an acquisition by the French State and 1400 researchers from around the world had signed a petition for a pre-emption. Both moves were unsuccessful because of the high prices that were expected.
The top lot was a set of 35 workbooks prepared from 1745 to 1749 by Madame du Châtelet for the didactic abstracts accompanying her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica. Estimated € 400K, it was acquired in that sale for € 960K including premium by the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits de Paris which had immediately communicated its commitment to exhibit it to the public.
The museum was managed by Aristophil. In the same sale, Aristophil had anonymously acquired 8 lots of manuscripts by the Marquise, 2 lots of manuscripts by Voltaire on Newton and a portrait of the Marquise attributed to Marie-Anne Loir.
These 12 lots will be sold in Paris - Drouot on November 19 by OVA, the company in charge of the legal dispersion of the Aristophil collections. The auction is operated by Artcurial. Pieces from the 2012 sale are now lots 679 to 690. The abstracts of the Principia are the lot 689.
RESULT :
Lot 689 SOLD for € 510K including premium
Helped by Maupertuis and Clairaut, the Marquise du Châtelet is able to understand and comment on Newton and Leibniz. In their château de Cirey, the marquis admires the exceptional intelligence of his wife and closes his eyes on her loves.
In 1734 Voltaire is disgraced. The Marquise lodges him in Cirey. She is 27 years old. The philosopher learns from his mistress the mathematics and physics that he had largely neglected until then.
The Marquise is a tireless worker. Her manuscripts, often written by secretaries and extensively reworked by her, surfaced a few years ago in an attic. Important pieces were sold by Christie's on October 29, 2012. A call for donations had been issued for an acquisition by the French State and 1400 researchers from around the world had signed a petition for a pre-emption. Both moves were unsuccessful because of the high prices that were expected.
The top lot was a set of 35 workbooks prepared from 1745 to 1749 by Madame du Châtelet for the didactic abstracts accompanying her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica. Estimated € 400K, it was acquired in that sale for € 960K including premium by the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits de Paris which had immediately communicated its commitment to exhibit it to the public.
The museum was managed by Aristophil. In the same sale, Aristophil had anonymously acquired 8 lots of manuscripts by the Marquise, 2 lots of manuscripts by Voltaire on Newton and a portrait of the Marquise attributed to Marie-Anne Loir.
These 12 lots will be sold in Paris - Drouot on November 19 by OVA, the company in charge of the legal dispersion of the Aristophil collections. The auction is operated by Artcurial. Pieces from the 2012 sale are now lots 679 to 690. The abstracts of the Principia are the lot 689.
RESULT :
Lot 689 SOLD for € 510K including premium
Les manuscrits d'Emilie du Châtelet "Exposition abregée du sisteme du monde selon les principes de Mr.Neuton" vient d'emporter 507 000 € lors de la vente n°13 des Collections Aristophil par @Artcurial pic.twitter.com/WU40wTQ76c
— Drouot (@Drouot) November 19, 2018
1935 Nobel Prize of James Chadwick
2014 SOLD for $ 330K including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2016 before the auction of another medal by Bonhams (see below)
Physics made a great progress in the early twentieth century by using spectroscopy. In 1922, the Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Niels Bohr for his model of atomic structure and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the English physicist Francis Aston for his work on the mass spectrograph that led to his whole number rule of the atomic nucleus.
By studying with Rutherford the transmutation of radioactive elements, Frederick Soddy set out the theory of isotopes in 1913. In the previous year J.J. Thomson seconded by Aston had separated two beams of neon atoms by deflection in an electro-magnetic field.
After the war, Aston can finally continue his work. He correctly assumes that the two populations of neon atoms are isotopes. More accurate measurements are needed to go further. Aston improves the mass spectrograph in 1919 by focusing the electromagnetic beam. He starts a systematic study of the chemical elements and discovers more than 200 non-radioactive isotopes.
Considering that a Nobel jury appreciates the experimentation, the award to Aston after only 3 years of personal work is highly deserved. His measurements with an unprecedented accuracy in that field led to assess the relative mass of the atoms on a scale centered on the value 16 for oxygen and to know the proportion of natural isotopes for all elements.
The results of Aston are irrefutable and conclusive. In 1920, he demonstrates the whole number rule. The arithmetic falls every time to an integer, solving one of the mysteries of chemistry: the atomic weight of an element is not an integer because it results from a mixing of isotopes, each of them matching a whole number.
Aston still manages to improve the accuracy of his measurements and discovers small variations around 1% from the integers. With a remarkable insight, he assumes the existence of forces ensuring the stability of the nucleus and the duality between energy and matter. This achievement opens the way for the nuclear physics.
In 1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron, an electrically neutral particle slightly heavier than the proton, fully explaining the deviations observed by Aston.
A large lot of memories around Aston's scientific work including his Nobel medal and diploma passed at Bonhams on June 15, 2016, lot 112.
A lot including the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to Chadwick in physics in 1935 was sold for $ 330K including premium by Sotheby's on June 3, 2014, lot 81.
By studying with Rutherford the transmutation of radioactive elements, Frederick Soddy set out the theory of isotopes in 1913. In the previous year J.J. Thomson seconded by Aston had separated two beams of neon atoms by deflection in an electro-magnetic field.
After the war, Aston can finally continue his work. He correctly assumes that the two populations of neon atoms are isotopes. More accurate measurements are needed to go further. Aston improves the mass spectrograph in 1919 by focusing the electromagnetic beam. He starts a systematic study of the chemical elements and discovers more than 200 non-radioactive isotopes.
Considering that a Nobel jury appreciates the experimentation, the award to Aston after only 3 years of personal work is highly deserved. His measurements with an unprecedented accuracy in that field led to assess the relative mass of the atoms on a scale centered on the value 16 for oxygen and to know the proportion of natural isotopes for all elements.
The results of Aston are irrefutable and conclusive. In 1920, he demonstrates the whole number rule. The arithmetic falls every time to an integer, solving one of the mysteries of chemistry: the atomic weight of an element is not an integer because it results from a mixing of isotopes, each of them matching a whole number.
Aston still manages to improve the accuracy of his measurements and discovers small variations around 1% from the integers. With a remarkable insight, he assumes the existence of forces ensuring the stability of the nucleus and the duality between energy and matter. This achievement opens the way for the nuclear physics.
In 1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron, an electrically neutral particle slightly heavier than the proton, fully explaining the deviations observed by Aston.
A large lot of memories around Aston's scientific work including his Nobel medal and diploma passed at Bonhams on June 15, 2016, lot 112.
A lot including the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to Chadwick in physics in 1935 was sold for $ 330K including premium by Sotheby's on June 3, 2014, lot 81.
1939 Einstein Letter to Roosevelt
2002 SOLD for $ 2.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2021
In January 1939, Niels Bohr, visiting the United States, informed physicists of the control of the fission of the uranium atom by the Berlin team. The Germans are ahead of the rest of the world on the way to the atomic bomb. Their result is confirmed by new experiments in Paris, Columbia University and Princeton.
Physicists are trying to warn the government. Fermi fails. Szilard rightly considers that the message must be carried by an illustrious figurehead. He chooses Einstein. This project resulted in two slightly different typed letters, dated August 2, 1939, which Szilard prepared and had Einstein signed for communication to President Roosevelt.
Now they must capture the president's attention. Szilard has an ally, Alexander Sachs, who had been a close associate of Roosevelt. Sachs is suspicious of Einstein's pacifist positions and would have preferred Lindbergh but the contact with the aviator had failed.
An appointment is finally made in October by Sachs to deliver Einstein's letter to Roosevelt. The President, annoyed at first, suddenly understands what is at stake : they must prevent the Germans from blowing everything up. He creates a Board that will lead to the Manhattan Project, and sends Einstein a letter of thanks.
The other letter signed by Einstein on August 2 had been kept by Szilard. Accompanied by Einstein's handwritten cover letter in German to Szilard, it was sold for $ 2.1M including premium by Christie's on March 27, 2002, lot 161.
Einstein was never told about the Manhattan Project. After the destruction of Hiroshima, he will declare that his letter to Roosevelt was the great mistake of his life. He had not understood in time that the Germans did not really have the skills to develop nuclear weapons.
Physicists are trying to warn the government. Fermi fails. Szilard rightly considers that the message must be carried by an illustrious figurehead. He chooses Einstein. This project resulted in two slightly different typed letters, dated August 2, 1939, which Szilard prepared and had Einstein signed for communication to President Roosevelt.
Now they must capture the president's attention. Szilard has an ally, Alexander Sachs, who had been a close associate of Roosevelt. Sachs is suspicious of Einstein's pacifist positions and would have preferred Lindbergh but the contact with the aviator had failed.
An appointment is finally made in October by Sachs to deliver Einstein's letter to Roosevelt. The President, annoyed at first, suddenly understands what is at stake : they must prevent the Germans from blowing everything up. He creates a Board that will lead to the Manhattan Project, and sends Einstein a letter of thanks.
The other letter signed by Einstein on August 2 had been kept by Szilard. Accompanied by Einstein's handwritten cover letter in German to Szilard, it was sold for $ 2.1M including premium by Christie's on March 27, 2002, lot 161.
Einstein was never told about the Manhattan Project. After the destruction of Hiroshima, he will declare that his letter to Roosevelt was the great mistake of his life. He had not understood in time that the Germans did not really have the skills to develop nuclear weapons.
1954 Beyond Space and Time
2018 SOLD for $ 2.9M including premium
Alchemy sought a relationship between all things. Newton had relied on mathematics in his quest for the philosopher's stone. By dissociating space and time, he had triggered the modern science.
Albert Einstein was born into a Jewish family without religious beliefs. After a very short mystical phase, he rejects in his turn the Biblical scriptures. Newton had not gone far enough : Einstein would link space and time. Around 1902 he finds a frame of thought in Spinoza for whom God could not have a material reality nor act a role in our destinies.
Beyond the laws of physics, the ultimate truth will never be reached. We may attribute the designation of God to this axiom. Einstein is not a pantheist and throughout his life he will state that he is not an atheist. He also follows Spinoza for the social and political consequences of his theories : peoples are equal to each other.
In 1952 the German Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind publishes a book titled Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. He sends a copy to Einstein who replies on January 3, 1954 in a private letter.
The concept of a 'chosen' people visibly upsets Einstein although he has managed to remain courteous. He is a Jew who loves his people but the idea of God is a product of human weakness and all religions including Judaism are relics from primitive superstitions.
This two-page autograph letter in German was sold for £ 207K including premium by Bloomsbury on May 15, 2008. It is estimated $ 1M for sale by Christie's in New York on December 4, lot 1. Meanwhile in 2012 a transaction on eBay had been reported at a much higher price.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Albert Einstein was born into a Jewish family without religious beliefs. After a very short mystical phase, he rejects in his turn the Biblical scriptures. Newton had not gone far enough : Einstein would link space and time. Around 1902 he finds a frame of thought in Spinoza for whom God could not have a material reality nor act a role in our destinies.
Beyond the laws of physics, the ultimate truth will never be reached. We may attribute the designation of God to this axiom. Einstein is not a pantheist and throughout his life he will state that he is not an atheist. He also follows Spinoza for the social and political consequences of his theories : peoples are equal to each other.
In 1952 the German Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind publishes a book titled Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. He sends a copy to Einstein who replies on January 3, 1954 in a private letter.
The concept of a 'chosen' people visibly upsets Einstein although he has managed to remain courteous. He is a Jew who loves his people but the idea of God is a product of human weakness and all religions including Judaism are relics from primitive superstitions.
This two-page autograph letter in German was sold for £ 207K including premium by Bloomsbury on May 15, 2008. It is estimated $ 1M for sale by Christie's in New York on December 4, lot 1. Meanwhile in 2012 a transaction on eBay had been reported at a much higher price.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1965 The Great Teacher of Quantum Physics
2018 SOLD for $ 975K including premium
Richard Feynman's thinking was original and effective. Reading a commentary by Dirac about the lack of understanding in the theory of quantum electromagnetism, he decides to always rely only on himself for his research while adding a playful dimension. The title of one of his books of reminiscences, Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman !, is significant.
Feynman's method was to use geometry and diagrams rather than developments in mathematical formulas. Highly motivated to share his knowledge, he was the best professor and lecturer in atomic physics, ensuring that his explanations were always clear.
His contributions in theoretical physics are numerous. He solved Dirac's problem by imagining the quantum mechanism of charged particles in rotation, for which he shared in 1965 the Nobel Prize in Physics with Tomonaga and Schwinger. He also made fundamental advances in the model of the helium superfluidity and in the theory of quarks. He was also a visionary, encouraging as early as 1959 the development of nanotechnologies.
On November 30 in New York, Sotheby's disperses Richard Feynman's research library, including autograph drafts of several lectures. Lot 67 estimated $ 800K consists of his Nobel medal and diploma along with two documents used during the ceremony.
Feynman's method was to use geometry and diagrams rather than developments in mathematical formulas. Highly motivated to share his knowledge, he was the best professor and lecturer in atomic physics, ensuring that his explanations were always clear.
His contributions in theoretical physics are numerous. He solved Dirac's problem by imagining the quantum mechanism of charged particles in rotation, for which he shared in 1965 the Nobel Prize in Physics with Tomonaga and Schwinger. He also made fundamental advances in the model of the helium superfluidity and in the theory of quarks. He was also a visionary, encouraging as early as 1959 the development of nanotechnologies.
On November 30 in New York, Sotheby's disperses Richard Feynman's research library, including autograph drafts of several lectures. Lot 67 estimated $ 800K consists of his Nobel medal and diploma along with two documents used during the ceremony.
