
The Einstein Papers Project (EPP) produces the historical edition of the writings and correspondence of
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
. The EPP collects, transcribes, translates, annotates, and publishes materials from Einstein's
literary estate
The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
and a multitude of other repositories, which hold Einstein-related historical sources. The staff of the project is an international collaborative group of scholars, editors, researchers, and administrators working on the ongoing authoritative edition,
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein' (''CPAE'').
The EPP was established by
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
(PUP) in 1977 at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...
. The founding editor of the project was professor of physics
John Stachel. In 1984, the project moved from Princeton to Stachel's home institution,
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
. The first volume of the ''CPAE'' was published by PUP in 1987. The following year, historian of science
Martin J. Klein of Yale University was appointed senior editor of the project. Volumes 1-6 and 8 of the series were completed during the project's time in Boston.
In 2000, professor of history
Diana Kormos-Buchwald was appointed general editor and director of the EPP and established offices for the project at the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
(Caltech) In
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
. Volumes 7 and 9-16 of the ''CPAE'' have been completed since the project's move to Caltech. (Volume 11 in the series is a comprehensive index and bibliography to Volumes 1–10).
The ''CPAE'' volumes include Einstein's books, his published and unpublished scientific and non-scientific articles, his lecture and research notebooks, travel diaries, book reviews, appeals, and reliable records of his lectures, speeches, interviews with the press, and other oral statements. The volumes also include his professional, personal, and political correspondence. Each annotated volume, referred to as the documentary edition, presents full text documents in their original language, primarily German. Introductions, endnotes, texts selected for inclusion as abstracts, etc. are in English. ''Volume 16'' of the ''CPAE'' is the most recent publication in the series; the first sixteen volumes cover Einstein's life up to May 1929. PUP publishes the series. With each documentary edition, the EPP simultaneously publishes a companion English translation volume.
The EPP collaborates with the
Albert Einstein Archives at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. In his last will and testament, Einstein bequeathed his literary estate and his personal papers to the Hebrew University. The project and the archives maintain and update a shared archival database of 90,000+ records, freely accessible online. Support for the project comes from PUP, endowments from individuals and universities, the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
, and the
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
.
In late 2014, the EPP and PUP launche
The Digital Einstein Papers The website presents the complete contents of
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein', Volumes 1–16. The project volumes are reproduced online as fully searchable
PDF
Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...
s. All documents and endnotes are linked to provide seamless transitions between the original language documentary edition and English translations. Subsequent volumes will be added to the website approximately eighteen months after their release in print. It is projected that there will be thirty volumes in the series. Eventually, the Digital Einstein Papers website will provide access to all of Einstein's writings and correspondence accompanied by scholarly annotation and apparatus.

*
''The Early Years: 1879-1902'' is the first volume in the series.
*
''The Swiss Years: 1900-1914'' and
''The Berlin Years: 1914-1930'' followed through volume 17 in two
parallel and extensively
cross-reference
The term cross-reference (abbreviation: xref) can refer to either:
* An instance within a document which refers to related information elsewhere in the same document. In both printed and online dictionaries cross-references are important because ...
d branches:
**
''Writings:'' published and previously unpublished articles, lecture notes, research notes, accounts of his lectures, speeches, interviews, book reviews, etc.
**
''Correspondence:'' letters, travel diaries, calendars, documents about Einstein by third parties, etc.
The early years: 1879-1902
Volume 1 - Collected Papers 1879-1902
/h2>
Includes many previously unpublished documents, ''e.g.'' class notes for
Heinrich Friedrich Weber
Heinrich Friedrich Weber (; ; 7 November 1843 – 24 May 1912) was a physicist born in the town of Magdala, near Weimar.
Biography
Around 1861 he entered the University of Jena, where Ernst Abbe became the first of two physicists who decisi ...
's lectures on
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...
and
electromagnetism
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
during Einstein's second year at
ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
, etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 1, The Early Years: 1879-1902.''
:Editors:
John Stachel ''et al.'' , 1987.
The Swiss years: 1900-1914
Volume 2 - Writings 1900-1909
/h2>
Includes Einstein's first (1900) published paper after his graduation from
ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
, the
Annus Mirabilis Papers, text of his invited lecture after his first academic appointment to the
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
, etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 2, The Swiss Years: Writings, 1900-1909.''
: Editors:
John Stachel ''et al.'' , 1989.
Volume 3 - Writings 1909-1911
/h2>
Includes Einstein's report to the first
Solvay Conference
The Solvay Conferences () have been devoted to preeminent unsolved problems in both physics and chemistry. They began with the historic invitation-only 1911 Solvay Conference on Physics, considered a turning point in the world of physics, and ar ...
, his appointment to the
Charles University in Prague
Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...
, his paper calculating
gravitational bending of light, previously unpublished lecture notes, etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 3, The Swiss Years: Writings, 1909-1911.''
: Editors:
Martin J. Klein ''et al.'' , 1993.
Volume 4 - Writings 1912-1914
/h2>
Includes a previously unpublished manuscript on
relativity and
electrodynamics
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
, a notebook documenting his preparation for his first joint paper (1913, with
Marcel Grossmann), previously unknown calculations with
Michele Besso
Michele Angelo Besso (25May 187315March 1955) was a Swiss-Italian engineer who worked closely with Albert Einstein.
Biography
Besso was born in Riesbach from a family of Italian Jewish ( Sephardi) descent. He was a close friend of Albert Ei ...
on the motion of the
perihelion
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
of
Mercury, etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 4, The Swiss Years: Writings, 1912-1914.''
: Editors:
Martin J. Klein ''et al.'' , 1995.
Volume 5 - Correspondence 1902-1914
/h2>
Includes more than five hundred previously unpublished letters to and from Einstein in his early adulthood, from his first employment at the
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
patent office
A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the applicati ...
in 1902 through his appointment to the
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...
in 1914. Correspondents included
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue (; 9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 "for his discovery of the X-ray diffraction, diffraction of X-rays by crystals".
In addition to his scientifi ...
,
Paul Ehrenfest
Paul Ehrenfest (; 18 January 1880 – 25 September 1933) was an Austrian Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who made major contributions to statistical mechanics and its relation to quantum physics, quantum mechanics, including the theory ...
,
Alfred Kleiner
Alfred Kleiner (24 April 1849 – 3 July 1916) was a Swiss physicist and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Zurich. He was Albert Einstein's doctoral advisor or ''Doktorvater.'' Initially Einstein's advisor was Heinrich F ...
,
Fritz Haber
Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...
,
Walther Nernst
Walther Hermann Nernst (; 25 June 1864 – 18 November 1941) was a German physical chemist known for his work in thermodynamics, physical chemistry, electrochemistry, and solid-state physics. His formulation of the Nernst heat theorem helped ...
, etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 5, The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914.''
: Editors:
Martin J. Klein ''et al.'' , 1993.
The Berlin years: 1914-1930
Volume 6 - Writings 1914-1917
/h2>
Includes papers describing Einstein's only
experimental physics
Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...
investigation, a study of
André-Marie Ampère
André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as ''electrodynamics''. He is also the inventor of ...
's molecular current theory of
electromagnetism
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
with
Wander Johannes de Haas; etc.
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 6, The Berlin Years: Writings, 1914-1917.''
: Editors: A. J. Kox ''et al.'' , 1996.
Volume 7 - Writings 1918-1921
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 7, The Berlin Years: Writings, 1918-1921.''
: Editors: Michel Janssen ''et al.'' , 2002.
Volume 8 - Correspondence 1914-1918
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 8, The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918.''
: Editors: R. Schulmann ''et al.'' In two volumes. , 1997.
Volume 9 - Correspondence January 1919-April 1920
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 9, The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January 1919 - April 1920.''
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2004.
Volume 10 - Correspondence May–December 1920, Supplementary Correspondence 1909-1920
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 10, The Berlin Years: Correspondence, May–December 1920, and Supplementary Correspondence, 1909-1920.''
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2006.
Volume 11 - Cumulative Index, Bibliography, List of Correspondence, Chronology, and Errata to Volumes 1 - 10
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 11, Cumulative Index, Bibliography, List of Correspondence, Chronology, and Errata to Volumes 1 - 10.''
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2009.
Volume 12 - The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January - December 1921
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 12, The Berlin Years: Correspondence, January - December 1921.''
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2009.
Volume 13 - The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, January 1922 - March 1923
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 13, The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, January 1922 - March 1923.''
:Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2012.
Volume 14 - The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, April 1923 - May 1925
/h2>
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 14, The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, April 1923 - May 1925.''
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al.'' , 2015.
Volume 15 - The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1925 - May 1927
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 15, The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1925 - May 1927''.
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al''. , 2018.
Volume 16 - The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1927 - May 1929
* ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 16, The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1927 - May 1929''.
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald ''et al''. , 2021.
Volume 17 - The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1929 - November 1930
: Editors: Diana Kormos-Buchwald. , 2024.
The Digital Einstein Papers
''The Digital Einstein Papers'' is an
open-access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
site for ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein''. The site presents volumes 1–16 and will add subsequent volumes in the series roughly two years after original book publication. The volumes are presented in the original language version with in-depth
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
annotation and other scholarly apparatus. In addition, the reader can toggle to an English language translation of most documents. By clicking on the unique archival identifier number below each text, readers can access the archival record of each published document at the Einstein Archives Online and in some cases, the digitized manuscript. The launch of ''The Digital Einstein Papers'' has attracted broad attention in the press so far, with coverage ranging from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' to ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''.
Trustees
The trustees of Einstein's
literary estate
The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
were:
*
Otto Nathan
Otto Nathan (1893–1987) was an economist who taught at Princeton University (1933–35), New York University (1935–42), Vassar College (1942–44), and Howard University (1946–52).
Nathan was a close friend of Albert Einstein for many year ...
: executor and co-trustee, professor of
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
, author and friend.
*
Helen Dukas: co-trustee, Einstein's secretary for nearly thirty years.
Editors
The editors of ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein'' were:
*
John Stachel: First editor, volumes 1, 2
*
Martin J. Klein: Editor, volumes 3, 4, 5, 6
* Robert Schulmann: Editor, volumes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; associate editor, volumes 1, 2
* A. J. Kox: Editor, volumes 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15, 16; associate editor, volumes 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
* Tilman Sauer: Editor, volumes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16; contributing editor, volume 4
*
Jürgen Renn: Editor, volumes 3, 4; assistant editor, volumes 1, 2
* Michel Janssen: Editor, volumes 7, 8
* Christoph Lehner: Editor, volume 7
* Virginia Iris Holmes: Editor, volumes 10, 12
* Osik Moses: Editor, volumes 11, 14; associate editor, volumes 12, 13
* Dennis Lehmkuhl: Editor, volumes 15, 16; associate editor, volumes 13, 14
*
Issachar Unna, associate editor, volumes 13, 14, 15
* József Illy: Editor, volumes 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; contributing editor, volumes 4, 6
* Daniel J. Kennefick: Editor, volumes 9, 16; associate editor, volumes 7, 10, 12, 13, 15
Current editors of ''The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein'' are:
* Diana Kormos-Buchwald: director and general editor, Robert M. Abbey Professor of History at Caltech. A historian of modern physical science.
* Ze'ev Rosenkranz: senior editor and assistant director, past curator of the Albert Einstein Archives, Jerusalem.
* Emily de Araújo: assistant editor and public relations administrator.
* Rudy Hirschmann: IT manager.
* Jennifer Nollar James: associate editor.
Executive committee
The current executive committee members of the project are:
*
Yemima Ben Menahem: Professor, Department of Philosophy (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
*
Michael Gordin: Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Director, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts (Princeton University)
*
John L. Heilbron: Visiting Associate in History, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (California Institute of Technology)
*
Daniel J. Kevles: Professor Emeritus, Department of History (Yale University)
*
John D. Norton: Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science (University of Pittsburgh)
* Barbara Oberg: Professor, Department of History (Princeton University)
* Moshe Sluhovsky: Professor and chair, Department of History, Vigevani Chair in European Studies (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
*
Joseph H. Taylor: Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics (Princeton University)
*
Kip S. Thorne: Professor Emeritus, Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy (California Institute of Technology)
*
Sean Wilentz: Professor, Department of History (Princeton University)
See also
*
Albert Einstein Archives
*
List of scientific publications by Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was a renowned theoretical physics, theoretical physicist of the 20th century, best known for his Special relativity, special and General relativity, general theories of relativity. He also made important contributio ...
*
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
*
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
References
External links
The Einstein Papers Projectat the California Institute of Technology.
Digital Einstein Papersat
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
.
The Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists in Post-War America (Project of the Oregon State University)*
*
*
*Hirschmann, Rudolf (September 2011
"After the Prize: Indexing at the Einstein Papers Project" ''The Indexer'', Volume 29, No. 3.
*Dietrich, Jane S. (2000)
Einstein Redux" ''Engineering and Science'', No. 3. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.
{{coord, 34.13967, N, 118.12163, W, type:landmark, display=title
1986 establishments in California
Organizations established in 1986
Albert Einstein
History of physics
Organizations based in Pasadena, California