Prof. Albert Einstein, in a 1,300-word letter, took issue with Viscount Samuel, President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy in England, who last Friday described Einstein’s space-time concepts as abstractions which were unsound as a basis for scientific observation that any philosopher would accept.
The letter, it was revealed here last night by Prof. Einstein’s secretary, Miss Helene Dukas, was written last October in reply to a request from Lord Samuel. In it, Prof. Einstein outlines his view that mind evolves concepts that senses confirm. He chides Lord Samuel for holding the impression that “contemporary physics are based on concepts somewhat analogous to the ‘smile of the absent cat.'”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
