This volume opens in spring 1914 when Einstein takes up a research
professorship at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin and closes
with the collapse of the German Empire four and one-half years later. A
good portion of the documentation, which comprises more than 675
letters, has only recently been discovered by the editors. The letters
touch on all aspects of Einstein's activities and shed new light on his
inner life, while enriching our understanding of his published papers,
presented in volumes 6 and 7 of this series.
The breakup of Einstein's first marriage and the divorce are presented
here for the first time in all their complexity. New material shows
Einstein maintaining a strong sense of moral urgency throughout the war.
The scientific correspondence documents Einstein's struggle to find
satisfactory field equations for his new gravitational theory--the
general theory of relativity--and his continued discussion with leading
physicists and mathematicians about the implications and further
development of the theory.