Einstein'sPainfulRomanceWalterSullivanThestoryofananguishedloveaffairbetweenAlbertEinsteinandthewomanwhowouldlaterbecomehisfirstwifehasemergedinnewlydisclosedcorrespondencebetweenthem.新近披露的艾伯特·愛因斯坦與意中人(此人后來成為他的元配)之間的來往信件，向人們展示了這對情侶飽含辛酸的愛情經歷。Manyofthelettersdescribethelovebetweentheyoungscientistandhisfuturewife,MilevaMaric;thepainassociatedwithhismother'svehementdisapprovaloftherelationship;andtheirexcitementovertheimpendingbirthofachild.有許多信件都敘述了這位年輕科學家和他未婚妻米萊娃·瑪麗克之間的愛情，敘述了因為愛因斯坦的母親拼命反對這門親事而引起他倆的痛苦心情，還敘述了他倆為孩子的即將出世油然而生的興奮心情。Thefateofthechild,agirl,however,remainsamystery.Shewasbornbeforethecouplemarriedin1903andthereapparentlyisnorecordofwhatbecameofher.然而，這個女孩后來的命運如何依然是個謎。她是在這對夫婦于1903年結婚前生下的，而且對她后來的情況顯然沒有記載。IntertwinedwiththedisclosuresofadifficultromancearefragmentsofEinstein'sthoughtashestruggledtowardconfidenceinhisconceptofrelativity.與所披露的艱難的羅曼史交織在一起的是愛因斯坦滿懷信心地為自己的相對論概念而努力奮斗的思想片斷。EinsteinandMaric,aSerbborninaregionofHungarythatisnowpartofYugoslavia,becamefriendsin1896whilestudyingtogetherattheFederalTechnicalInstituteinZurich.InsubsequentyearstheywrotefrequentlyasEinstein'seffortstofindworkandMaric'svisitshomecausedmanyseparations.愛因斯坦與瑪麗克(她出生在當時匈牙利的塞爾維亞地區，現為南斯拉夫的一部分。)是在1896年交上朋友的。當時他倆正一起在蘇黎世的聯邦理工學院學習，在后來的許多歲月中，因愛因斯坦為找工作奔波，瑪麗克為回家探親而造成多次分離，所以他們通信頻繁。Inhisletters,Einsteinconfidedinherhiseffortstoparticipateintherevolutiontakingplaceinmanyfieldsofphysics,includingthenatureoflight,relativemovementandmolecularphenomenon.愛因斯坦在信中向瑪麗克吐露，自己在投身于許多物理學領域(其中包括光的特性、相對運動和分子現象)內發生只靠給私人上課為生(如果我們能找到一些這樣機會的話)，但這還是很成問題的。”InterspersedamongEinstein'srepeatedexpressionsoflovewerediscussionsofscientificquestionswithwhichbothwereconcerned.在愛因斯坦的那些情意繾綣的信中也摻帶著對他們雙方都關心的科學問題的討論。WhilevisitingtheSwisstownofAarau"agoodideaoccurredtome,"hewrote,"aboutawayofinvestigatinghowabody'srelativemotionwithrespecttotheluminiferousetheraffectsthevelocityofpropagationoflightintransparentbodies.Alsoatheoryonthismatteroccurredtome,whichseemstobehighlyprobable."在游覽瑞士的阿勞城時，“我心中產生了一個好主意，”他寫道，“即關于研究一個物體與傳光以太的相對運動如何影響光在透明物體中的傳播速度的方法。在這個問題上我頭腦里還產生了一種似乎十分有可能成立的理論。”Healsowaspondering"thedefinitionofabsoluterest",aparadoxthatledhimtohisinitialtheoryonrelativity.Thetheoryruledoutthepossibilityofabsoluterest,sinceallobjectsareconsideredtobeinmotionrelativetootherobjects.Healsowascontemplatingtheelectrodynamicsofmovingbodieswhich,hesaid,"promisestobeacapitalpaper."他還在思考著“絕對靜止的定義”，一種導致他產生最初相對論的悖論。這種理論排除了絕對靜止的可能性。因為一切物體對于其他有關物體來說都被看作是處在運動之中的。他還對移動物體的電動力學冥思苦想，他說，“這有希望成為一篇優秀論文。”"IwrotetoyouthatIdoubtedthecorrectnessoftheideasaboutrelativemotion,"hewrote."Butmydoubtswerebasedsolelyonasimplemathematicalerror.NowIbelieveinitmorethanever."“我曾寫信給你，談到過我對相對運動想法的正確性有懷疑，”他寫道。“但我的懷疑只是基于簡單的數學上的錯誤。現在我比以前更深信無疑了。”Mr.Stachel,writingintheMayissueofPhysicsToday,saysthispassage"suggeststhatEinsteinhadalreadyadoptedsomeversionoftherelativityprinciple",althoughnotinitsfinalform.斯塔赫爾先生在5月號的《今日物理》上撰文說，這篇文章“意味著愛因斯坦已經采用了某種形式的相對論原理”，盡管還不是最終形式。AlthoughMarichasbeendepictedbyhistoriansasadullwoman,thelettersshowherinterestinthenatureofinfinity.雖然瑪麗克被歷史學家描寫成一位缺乏想象力的女子，這些信卻表明，她對無限性很感興趣。"Idonotbelievethestructureofthehumanbrainistobeblamedforthefactthatmancannotgraspinfinity,"shewrotetohimin1897,whenhewas18yearsold.“我認為，人們不能了解無限性，不應歸咎于人腦的結構，”1897年她給當時18歲的愛因斯坦的信中寫道。Shecontinued:"Hecertainlycoulddothatifinhisyoungdays,whenhewaslearningtoperceive,thelittlefellowhadnotbeensocruellyconfinedtotheearth,oreventoanest,betweenfourwalls,butinsteadwasallowedtowalkoutalittleintotheuniverse."她接下去寫道：“倘若一個人在年輕時期，在學習掌握新概念時，不被無情地局限于地球，或者甚至局限于四面圍墻的斗室之中，而是被允許走出去涉足一下宇宙的話，他當然是能夠做到這一點的。”Sciencehistorians,suchasGeraldHoltonofHarvardUniversity,regardEinstein'sabilityto"walkoutintotheuniverse"andthinkinpureabstractionsasessentialtohisrevolutionarydiscoveries.Particularlyremarkable,Mr.Holtonsaidinaninterview,istheextenttowhichtheirinterestinphysicsdominatesthecorrespondencedespitetheirpersonaldifficulties.科學史家們，諸如哈佛大學的熱拉爾·霍爾頓認為，愛因斯坦“涉足宇宙”的能力和用純抽象方式思維的能力對他的各項具有革命性的發現是必不可少的。特別引人注目的是，霍爾頓先生在一次會見中說，盡管他們各自都有困難，但他們在通信中對物理學的興趣竟然占著最重要的位置。"Mostimportantforhistoriansofscience",headded,istheevidencethatsoearlyinhislifeEinstein"wasalreadydeeplythinkingaboutthenatureoflight,relativityandmolecularmotion."This"allfellintoplaceinaspectacularsetofpapers"publishedin1905andthereafter,hesaid.他又說：“對科學史學工作者來說，最重要的是”，在愛因斯坦的一生中這樣早的時候就有跡象表明，他“就已經在深刻地思考著光的特性、相對論和分子運動的問題了”。他說，“這一思想”都體現在一系列引人注目的論文之中”，并從1905年起陸續發表。Despitelongperiodsofseparation,MaricandEinsteinoccasionallymanagedtomeetandhiketheSwissmountains.Aboutthetimeofoneoftheirexcursions,inMay1901,shelearnedofherpregnancy.盡管瑪麗克與愛因斯坦多次長期分離，但他倆有時也設法團聚，去瑞士的崇山峻嶺觀光，作徒步旅行。1901年5月在一次短途旅行時，瑪麗克得知自己懷孕了。ThefirstletterinwhichEinsteinmentionedthissubject,however,beganwithdiscussionofapaperontheproductionofcathoderaysbyultravioletlight.Itthencontinued："Justbeofgoodcheer,love,anddon'tfret.Afterall,IamnotleavingyouandI'llbringeverythingtoahappyconclusion."然而，愛因斯坦提到此事的第一封信是以談論一篇關于用紫外線產生陰級射線的論文開頭的。該信接著才寫道：“你要高興喜歡才是，可別憂愁煩惱。畢竟我不會離開你，而且我一定會把一切圓滿了結。”Asinseveralsubsequentlettershereferredtothechildasthoughthebabywasalreadyborn,saying,"Howistheyoungchap?"當他在后來的幾封信中再談到這個孩子的情況時，仿佛孩子已經生下了。他問道，“小家伙好嗎?”Maricwashopingforagirlandtheycalledtheunbornchild"Lieserl",adiminutiveofLiese."Iamdizzywithjoy",Einsteinwroteher,afterreceivingwordofajobinBern."TheonlythingthatmustbesolvedishowtohaveourLieserlwithus.Idonotwantforustohavetopartwithher."瑪麗克希望生個女孩，所以他們在孩子未出生時便叫她“莉塞爾”(莉絲的昵稱)。當愛因斯坦得知在伯爾尼找到工作的消息后，他寫信給瑪麗克說，“我高興死了。唯一得解決的事情就是怎樣使莉塞爾和我們在一起。我不想使我們不得不離開她。”Despitehismother'sopposition,EinsteinandMaricweremarriedinJanuary1903inBern.Accordingtoaletter,toappearinthenextvolumeofhispapers,theEinsteinslaterlearnedthattheirdaughterhadrecoveredfromscarletfever.Butapparentlyshewasstillinhermother'snativeregion.Thementionofscarletfeveristhelastreferencetothegirlinthecorrespondence.盡管遭到母親的反對，愛因斯坦還是于1903年元月在伯爾尼與瑪麗克結為伉儷。根據愛因斯坦文集下一卷上發表的一封信，愛因斯坦夫婦后來得知，女兒的猩紅熱已經痊愈。看來這孩子還是住在她母親的故鄉了。在通信中有關這女孩的最后情況只是提到了猩紅熱。SupplementaryReadingAsfarastheprofessionalstaffoftheETH(theSwissFederalPolytechnicSchool)wasconcerned,AlbertEinsteinwasoneoftheawkwardscholarswhomightormightnotgraduate,butwhoineithercasewasagreatdealoftrouble.Andinaccordancewiththeiropinions,whenEinsteindidgraduateafterfouryears,ETHdidnotofferhimapositionaswasthecustomofthetime.Forthedifficultfellow,noopeningontheacademicladdercouldbefound.Yetitcannothavebeenentirelyunexpectedanditwascertainlynotunnatural.Intheautumnof1900AlbertEinsteinwasagraduatewhodeniedratherthandefiedauthority;ayoungmanwhowaswrittenoffasvirtuallyunemployablebymanyself-respectingcitizens.ItwastobetwoyearslaterbeforeEinsteinwasabletoobtainhisfirstregularalbeitnonacademicposition.EvensoEinstein'spositionwiththeSwissPatentOfficewasobtainedthroughtheinterventionoffriendsonhisbehalf.TheworkofthePatentOfficeattheturnofthecenturywasstrikinglydifferentfromwhatitlaterbecame.Thedifferenceisillustratedbyonefact:until1908patentsweregrantedonlyforinventionswhichcouldberepresentedbyamodel.Themodelmayhavebeenasimportantasthespecificationwhichdescribed,inwordswhichideallyshouldallowofnodispute,thedutieswhichthedevicewasintendedtoperform.Theseinventions,ideas,andproposalswhichweredirectedtotheofficeconsistedlargelyofsuggestionsforpractical,utilitarian,basicallysimple,andoftenhomelyapplicationsoftechnologytothemundaneaffairsofeverydaylife.Atfirstglance,allthisappearstobesingularlyunrelatedtoEinstein'sspecialgenius.Yetdespitetheapparentlyesotericqualityofthetheoriesonwhichhisfamewasfounded,thesetheoriessprang,ashewasnevertiredofstressing,fromobservationoffactsandfromdeductionswhichwouldaccountforthesefacts.Thisdemandedanintuitivediscernmentofessentials,anditwasjustthiswhichwassharpenedduringhisdaysatthePatentOffice.Fortheworkfrequentlyinvolvedrewritinginventors'vagueapplicationstogivethemlegalprotection;thisinturnrequiredanabilitytosee,amongsometimestortuousdescriptions,thebasicideaorideasonwhichanapplicationrested.Thedemandwasnotsomuchfort