A handwritten letter signed by the Jewish-German physicist Albert Einstein and which includes complex details of evidence regarding his efforts to discover the “Theory of Everything” has been revealed. The letter was sent by Einstein in June of 1950 to a mathematician, Ernst Gabor Strauss, who was also an assistant and partner of his with whom he established correspondence with. The letter will go up for auction next week at the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem at a starting price of $20,000.

In the letter, Albert Einstein responds to Ernst Gabor Strauss’s critiques of his work, providing an interesting glimpse into the ongoing work of the two. At the time the letter was written, Einstein was developing a unified field theory – one theoretical framework that could describe the fundamental forces operating in nature – gravity and electromagnetic power.

Einstein begins the letter, writing: “I am glad that you are working so hard on the question of compatibility. But I do not think your concerns are justified. I would like to formulate the proof so that your letters are taken into account.” He goes on to compose a lengthy scientific explanation, or proof for Strauss, interpreting Strauss’ equations and solutions, to distinguish real degrees of freedom from coordinate effects, in order to understand the meaning of the equations’ solutions.

Einstein devoted the last thirty years of his life to the development of unified field theory, which was to consolidate all the fundamental laws governing nature into a single theoretical framework. Although ultimately unable to formulate such a theory, his efforts prompted other scholars to search for “the theory of everything.” His work in this field is one of his most important contributions to the world of science.

Strauss was Einstein’s assistant at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Research from 1944-1948, working alongside him on United Field Theory and assisting him in formulating mathematical models for his ideas. The two even published three papers together.

Strauss, especially remembered for his contribution to the development of “Ramsey Theory”, was born in Munich to a Jewish and Zionist family. He fled with his family to the British mandate of Palestine in 1933. After a brief period of study at the Hebrew University, he emigrated to the United States and completed his studies at Columbia University. From 1944 to 1948, he was Albert Einstein’s assistant and later worked with some of the most prominent mathematicians of his era (Paul Erdesh, Richard Bellman, Leslow Lobas and many others).

Meron Eren, co-owner of the Kedem auction house, points out: “this is a historical item of extraordinary value that has made its way to us. Albert Einstein is considered by many to be the leading physicists of the 20th century. His theory of relativity at first met with great skepticism in the scientific world but was eventually accepted, making Einstein famous. This letter deals with the unified field theory, an incomplete theory. However, Einstein’s contribution to science in this field is one of the most important in the field of science.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)