"E=mc^2, the most urgent problem of our time" in "Science Illustrated", April 1946.

EINSTEIN, Albert. ++The First Published Appearance of the Exact Formula E=mc^2 written by Einstein++

Published by McGraw-Hill, New York, 1946

About this Item

EINSTEIN, Albert. "E=mc^2, the most urgent problem of our time" in "Science Illustrated", April 1946, issue 1/1, 128pp. Original wrappers. Near-fine copy. Uncommon. The Einstein appears on pp 16-17. [++] This is a near-Fine copy in the original wrappers. Much like the other copy I am offering on ABE a VG copy for a hundred dollars less this publication looks better in real life as it were, nicer than the way it looks here in the pics with the reflective problem on the jet-black cover. [++] This seems like an easy and probably unnecessary non-trivia question, but it isn't. When was the first time that the equation that every school child knows E=mc^2 appears in print in this exact form under Einstein's name? Folks naturally say 1905 and 1915 and 1916 and 1919 and 1922 (etc.), but that's not quite right. Even photos showing Einstein lecturing at a blackboard purporting to show the first public appearance of the formula with Einstein are not correct. The very first time that E=mc^2 (in this exact form) appearing under Einstein's name doesn't make its appearance until very late in the game, in the inaugural issue of "Science Illustrated" in April 1946. (It appears not only in the title but in the text as well, on page 17 first column 11 lines from the bottom.) Sounds a bit meshugge, but so far as I can tell it isn't, and that this is it. (I have an email to Gerald Holton asking this question, and the great man and Einstein (among many other things) scholar just flat-out said that he didn't know, which is a fundamental statement in the beginning of building knowledge.) If you know otherwise, please let me know.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1726975036543

Bibliographic Details

• Title: "E=mc^2, the most urgent problem of our time" in "Science Illustrated", April 1946.
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill, New York
• Publication Date: 1946
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Weight: 15 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • Physics