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JI. A. LORENTZ, CREATOR AND PERSONALITY 75
theory of all electromagnetic phenomena known at the time,
including those of the electrodynamics of moving bodies. It is
a work of such consistency, lucidity, and beauty as has only
rarely been attained in an empirical science. The only phenomenon
that could not be entirely explained on this basis, i.e.,
without additional assumptions, was the famous Michelson­
Morley experiment. Without the localization of the electromagnetic
field in empty space this experiment could not conceivably
have led to the theory of special relativity. Indeed, the
essential step was just the reduction of electromagnetism to
Maxwell's equations in empty space or-as it was expressed at
that time-in ether.
H. A. Lorentz even discovered the "Lorentz transformation,"
later called after him, though without recognizing its group
character. To him Maxwell's equations in empty space held
only for a particular coordinate system distinguished from all
other coordinate systems by its state of rest. This was a truly
paradoxical situation because the theory seemed to restrict the
inertial system more strongly than did classical mechanics. This
ciicumstance, which from the empirical point of view appeared
completely unmotivated, was bound to lead to the theory of
special relativity.
Thanks to the generosity of the University of Leiden, I frequently
spent some time there staying with my dear and unforgettable
friend, Paul Ehrenfest. Thus I had often the opportunity
to attend Lorentz's lectures which he gave regularly to
a small circle of young colleagues after he had already retired
from his professorship. Whatever came from this supreme mind
was as lucid and beautiful as a good work of art and was presented
with such facility and ease as I have never experienced in
anybody else.
If we younger people had known H. A. Lorentz only as a
sublime mind, our admiration and respect for him would have
been unique. But what I feel when I think of H. A. Lorentz is
far more than that. He meant more to me personally than anybody
else I have met in my lifetime.
Just as he was in command of physics and of the mathematical