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ALS in German, signed “A. Einstein,” one page, 3.5 x 5.5, July 8, 1925. Handwritten letter to Professor Albert Wigand at the University of Halle, in full (translated): "I would like to inform you that Prof. Piccard in Brussels has completed those experiments on the accuracy of the electrical neutrality of matter with great precision. The result was clearly negative with an accuracy that shows that mass exerts no electrostatic effect of the order of magnitude e=m√K. My speculation about geomagnetical forces therefore lacks any experimental basis for the time being. Your finding of the non-validity of Gauss's law in the atmosphere cannot be reconciled with Piccard's result either." Addressed on the reverse in Einstein's hand. In fine condition.
In 1925, Auguste Piccard—best known today for his later high-altitude balloon flights and deep-sea explorations—was deeply engaged in precision experimental physics. Along with his collaborator, E. Kessler, Piccard carried out a meticulous experiment in Brussels to test one of the fundamental assumptions of physics: the electrical neutrality of matter. Einstein notes that Piccard’s results were decisively negative, confirming with remarkable accuracy that matter exhibits no detectable electrostatic effect—thereby undermining Einstein’s own speculative ideas regarding geomagnetical forces. The letter captures Einstein engaging directly with contemporary experimental results, candidly reassessing his theoretical conjectures in light of new empirical evidence.
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