Einstein's fountain pen

[nicoledb]

Today I stumbled upon a small Dutch news flash about the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden. This Science Museum is in possession of Einstein's fountain pen, the one that he apparently used in the period that he was working out the details of the General Theory of Relativity and Gravity. The item is in Dutch, but I thought it would be fun for non-dutchies also:

[Breck]

Cool!!

 

Looks like a slip-cap eyedropper, but that's all I can tell.

[gregamckinney]

That definitely looks like a Waterman box, but the gold band looks weird. It is hard to tell, but it looks like it might be a 22 or 24 with a loose barrel band.

 

Regards, greg

[Journaleur]

Thank you very much for this choice touch of the conjunction of the history of science and the world of the fountain pen.

 

I have had no interest in speaking Dutch earlier, but now wish I did. I wonder if anyone here can translate and provide a transcript for us. I, and I am sure others, would like to know what is being said.

[MizzouCowboy]

Here is a link to a small picture of the pen. Can't make much out of it though.

 

His Nibs: Einstein's pen

 

[eilu]

Does the pen moving over paper or does the paper moving under the pen?

 

 

 

...not THAT is a historical pen. Imagine the tales it would tell if it could talk!

[Zekay]

 

A very nice movie, and indeed, if that pen could talk, what stories it would tell!

 

I will give a small summary of the movie for those interested, however, there is no information about what kind of pen it is, only that Einstein used it while working on his theories.

 

The guy being interviewed is the director of the museum, and he tells that all the great minds, like Einstein, encountered setbacks during their research, and also used seemingly standard, everyday objects. He thinks the museum should show the context in which their inventions/discoveries were made by displaying these objects and failed experiments, and not only focus on the inventions/discovery themselves. Einsteins pen is currently stored in the museums depot, and he thinks it should get displayed in the museum, because he thinks it is a great item, and that this simple object can tell a great story.

 

I agree with the man, I also think that something as simple as a pen, a pair of glasses or another personal item like that, can tell great stories. I think it is a shame they kept the pen in the depot so long, If I was the director of the museum I would definitely put it on display! (Well, I am an FP addict, so nobody in their right mind would give me access to Einstein's pen, cause I probably would ink it, and write a review about it on FPN!)

 

Greetings,

 

Kay

[Jared]

A previous thread on this topic was discussed, and I think the consensus was that it's a Pelikan.

[Frits B]

A previous thread on this topic was discussed, and I think the consensus was that it's a Pelikan.

The Pelikan is a later pen, when Einstein received his doctorate. In the previous thread the earlier pen is identified as a taper cap Waterman, probably a 22 or 24.

 

For those interested, the museum director Dirk van Delft appearing in this movie, wrote a piece in a newspaper in which he says much the same as in the movie. The Dutch text can be found in the previous thread, and in translation it reads as follows:

 

Einstein’s fountain pen

2002_October

 

Paul Ehrenfest, Lorentz’ successor in Leiden, and Albert Einstein were best friends. In the winter of 1924, shortly before his appointment in Leiden, Ehrenfest had visited Einstein in Prague and had been deeply impressed. Einstein in turn liked to visit the Ehrenfests at their home in the Witte Rozenstraat where they had moved into a white villa in 1914. There they discussed the quantum theory, played duets for piano and violin and visited Lorentz whom they both admired. Einstein was even allowed to smoke his pipe in the Ehrenfests’ home. In 1919 Ehrenfest, after consulting with his colleagues, invited Einstein to joint the Leiden university. Money was not an item - “Our maximum pay of 7,500 guilders is your minimum” - and Einstein wouldn’t be obliged to teach. He could also travel as much as he wanted and there was no need to worry about the language: whatever Dutch he needed to know could be learnt in two weeks. Ehrenfest: “Just reply by return ‘hm, not a bad proposal at all’”. But Einstein didn’t want to offend Max Planck and stayed in Berlin. Ehrenfest then offered him a position as a visiting professor which would require him to be in Leiden for three to four weeks every year. Einstein liked the idea of a “comet-like existence in Leiden” and accepted.

 

It took a while to finalize the paperwork – during which time Einstein was accused at a meeting in the Berlin Philharmonie of being a publicity seeking dog, a plagiarist, fraud and scientific Dadaist – but on October 27, 1920 Einstein could deliver his inaugural speech in the Academy on Rapenburg.

 

From that time on Einstein regularly came to Leiden for a short period. On one of the first occasions, in 1921, he presented Ehrenfest with his fountain pen. Ehrenfest felt much honored and wrote in an accompanying note [in the museum library]: “This fountain pen has been used by Einstein for years, definitely from 1912 till 1921, so all his designs and calculations with regard to the general relativity theory and gravitation during this time were written with this pen. He presented me with it in 1921”.

 

 

 

 

[Lloyd]

Pretty neat that Albert only used one FP for all those years and all those calculations, notes, and letters. He'd NEVER be a member of FPN!

[Possum Hill]

Pretty neat that Albert only used one FP for all those years and all those calculations, notes, and letters. He'd NEVER be a member of FPN!

Alas, most members of FPN will never be Einstein.

[penmanila]

and if he were, there'd be no theory of relativity, because he'd be spending most of his time on ebay looking for great deals on FPs, or carrying on an argument in the chatter section

 

Pretty neat that Albert only used one FP for all those years and all those calculations, notes, and letters. He'd NEVER be a member of FPN!

 

[southpaw]

Pretty neat that Albert only used one FP for all those years and all those calculations, notes, and letters. He'd NEVER be a member of FPN!

 

and if he were, there'd be no theory of relativity, because he'd be spending most of his time on ebay looking for great deals on FPs, or carrying on an argument in the chatter section

 

 

Hmmm . . . is that an argument for or against Chatter? :hmm1:

[penmanila]

no criticism of chatter intended. i actually like the "new" chatter much more than the old one, without all the vexatious (and often US-centric) political stuff that sometimes made me wonder where i was

 

Pretty neat that Albert only used one FP for all those years and all those calculations, notes, and letters. He'd NEVER be a member of FPN!

 

and if he were, there'd be no theory of relativity, because he'd be spending most of his time on ebay looking for great deals on FPs, or carrying on an argument in the chatter section

 

 

Hmmm . . . is that an argument for or against Chatter? :hmm1: