Handwritten scientific manuscript in German by Albert Einstein, one page, 8.75 x 11.25, no date but circa 1931. A page from Einstein's draft for his paper 'Einheitliche Theorie von Gravitation und Elektrizität [Unified Theory of Gravitation and Electricity],' published in collaboration with Walther Mayer in 1931 as part of Einstein's long, ultimately unsuccessful quest for a unified field theory.
The page comprises the conclusion of section 7 of the paper, from the paragraph after equation 53 to the end, with a few cancellations and emendations. Einstein pens several mathematical equations throughout, concluding (translated): "The use of special coordinates has the advantage that, as a result of eliminating superfluous field variables, the equations are written more simply. One must, however, pay for this by singling out the index 5, which increases the number of equations and makes it more difficult to recognize the natural formal relationships. We have therefore from the outset used general coordinates in V5, in our presentation; it should, however, be noted that our attention was first drawn to the entire theory by considerations similar to those carried out in this paragraph. We refrain from translating the other considerations and results previously given into the special coordinate system." In fine condition. Accompanied by a custom-made presentation folder with gilt-stamped spine.
The complete paper, which Einstein submitted to the Prussian Academy of Science at its session on October 22, 1931, was published in Sonderausgabe aus den Sitzungberichten der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Physikalische-Mathematische Klasse, 1931, XXV (this page corresponds to pp.555-6 of the printed text).
At the beginning of 1929, Einstein published equations for his unified field theory of gravitation and electro-magnetism, based on the concept of parallelism at a distance with respect to four orthogonal vectors of reference. He continued to pursue the subject of the 'Unified Field Theory' for the rest of his life, though he never satisfactorily mastered the problem.
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