Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt

Edition

Scan of Annalen der Physik, 4th series, vol. 17 (Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1905), no. 6, pp. 132-148, on the Internet Archive (sim_annalen-der-physik_1905_17_1, leaves 143 to 159). No proofread transcription was found (German Wikisource lists the paper with a scan link only): the text was built from the OCR of that scan and checked word by word, and every formula set from reading the page images, with a second scan of the same volume (annalenderphysi108unkngoog, digitized by Google) and its OCR as a cross-check, notably where the first scan cuts the outer edge of the pages or its OCR lost lines (pp. 137, 138, 141, 144, 148). The title and “von A. Einstein.” are in the header; the byline restates in English the closing lines “Bern, den 17. März 1905.” and “(Eingegangen 18. März 1905.)”, which are also kept at the end of the text. The article number “6.” before the title, the running heads, page numbers and the signature line “Annalen der Physik. IV. Folge. 17.” of p. 145 are left out, and hyphens at line ends are rejoined. The footnotes, numbered 1) on each page of the print, are numbered 1 to 13 and follow the text; the formulas of footnote 2 of p. 135 and footnote 1 of p. 142 are set on their own lines within the notes. Names set letter-spaced in the print are letter-spaced; the two numbered cases of p. 145 are set as paragraphs. Spelling, punctuation and wording of the print are kept, for instance “eingeschlossenen Raumes” (p. 133), the sentence “daß durch adiabatische Kompression ... nicht geändert wird” (p. 138), “Größen A bez. x” in footnote 2 of p. 135, “nachdem” (p. 142), “Bezeichnung” (p. 144), and “Pi . 10^7 = 4,3 Volt” after “Pi . 10^-8” (p. 146). The superscript of nu^3 in the formulas of pp. 136 and 139 is read as 3: its glyph matches the 3 of L^3 on the same pages in both scans. In the print the Latin v of the volume and the Greek nu of the frequency look almost alike; they are set as v and nu where the text defines them. The equations are set with KaTeX.

Rights

Albert Einstein died on 18 April 1955: his works are in the public domain in France since 1 January 2026 (70 years counted from 1 January 1956). The paper was published in 1905, before 1 January 1931, so it is in the public domain in the United States.

The Internet Archive scans used (sim_annalen-der-physik_1905_17_1, and annalenderphysi108unkngoog, marked “NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT”) are of the 1905 print; no image of them is reproduced.