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Laue, Max von (1879-1960). (1) Typed letter signed, in German with typed and ms. corrections, dated 12.6.54 (June 12, 1954), to Rolf Hosemann (b. 1912), addressed to "Lieber Kollege" (dear colleague). 1-1/3pp., on single sheet with letterhead of the Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin. (2) Typed letter signed, in German to Hosemann dated 19.7.54 (July 19, 1954). 1 page, on letterhead of the Institut as above. (3) Undated typed letter signed (draft) in German, written in 1954 or later, to an unnamed member of the Stiftenverband fur die Deutsche Wissenschaft. 2-1/4pp., on 2 sheets. (4) Printed circular letter in German dated 1.11.53 (November 1, 1953) with von Laue's autograph signature at the foot and Hosemann's name and the date "3.5.1952" filled in by typewriter. 1 sheet, on letterhead of the Institut as above. (5) Printed thank-you note in German dated 9 October 1953, signed in ink by von Laue, with a portrait photograph of von Laue (85 x 114 mm.) attached. 4pp. 211 x 149 mm. Together 5 items, comprising the thank-you note and 4 letters on 5 sheets total, all measuring 292 x 211 mm.; all sheets punched for a two-hole binder. Letters creased where previously folded, slight soiling and wear, thank-you note a little dust-soiled and browned with thumbtack holes in each corner, but very good. English translations included. Max von Laue received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of x-rays in crystals, a discovery that Einstein called one of the most beautiful in physics. "Subsequently it was possible to investigate X radiation itself by means of wavelength determination as well as to study the structure of the irradiated material. . . . The new field of X-ray structural analysis that Laue established developed into an important branch of physics and chemistry" (DSB). Laue continued to develop his theory of X-ray interference in the following decades, and did some important work on superconductivity as well. An early supporter of Einstein's theory of relativity, Laue was one of the few members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences to protest Einstein's dismissal from that organization in 1933 following the Nazi rise to power; that same year, Laue also successfully prevented the Academy from admitting Johannes Stark, the pro-Hitler physicist who believed relativity to be a "world-wide Jewish trick." After World War II Laue played an active role in rebuilding German science, founding the German Physical Society and re-establishing both the German Research Association and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. In April 1951, at the age of 71, Laue took over the directorship of the Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, a post he occupied until his death nine years later. This collection of materials contains two letters from Laue to Rolf Hosemann, his chief assistant at the Fritz-Haber-Institut. Hosemann had submitted a paper to Laue for review, and in (1), the first of his letters to Hosemann, von Laue critiques it thoroughly: I have gone to a lot of trouble with the second section of your work, "Lorentz-invariant deduction of Hamiltonian mechanics, Maxwellian electrodynamics and Schroedinger wave mechanics from the so-called general wave equation. Clarification of the wave-particle dualism." I have objections in many places. . . . What do you want to do in this second section? The fact that you present the reader the mechanics of the mass point, which are well known to him, in a peculiar and most unpleasant notation, in my opinion, is rather superfluous. You want to begin with Equations (36) and (28), which are known to lead to the Hamiltonian equations of mechanics. What is the rest for? . . . You refer to de Broglie's agreement. Are you sure that he has actually studied your manuscript? Being French, he has a strong tendency to avoid an uncomfortable discussion by using some pleasing phrases. In any case, I cannot accept your manuscript as submitted for the Z.
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