N. 3 - 21 aprile 2001 - Giano Bifronte

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Introduction
Albert Einstein and Walther Nernst:
Comparative Cosmology
(Roberto A. Monti)
When Walther Nernst passed away in 1942, Albert Einstein dedicated
one of his "thoughts about difficult years" to him, which may be
summarized as follows [1]:
"The late Walther Nernst was one of the the most eminent and
interesting scientists with whom I came into contact. His scientific
instinct was truly amazing - apart from a masterly acquaintance with a
vast amount of facts that he could always readily bring to mind, he also
possessed a rare command of methods and experimental findings which
he excelled in ... As long as his egocentric weakness did not come
into play, he demonstrated an objectivity that was seldom to be found,
an infallible sense for the essential, and a genuine thirst for knowledge
of the profound interrelations that exist in nature. This, along with an
unusual creative productivity, formed the basis of the considerable
influence that he exercised upon scientific life in the first thirty years of
the century. ... After Arrhenius, Ostwald and Van't Hoff, he was the last
of a scientific dynasty" etc. etc.
After listing his various merits in the fields of physics and physical
chemistry, Einstein concluded as follows:
"As a scientist Nernst did not limit himself to one field. His healthy
common sense successfully involved him in all the spheres of practical
life, and any conversation held with him always cast light on something
of interest. What distinguished him from almost all of his fellow
countrymen was his remarkable lack of prejudice. He displayed neither
nationalist nor militarist tendencies. He judged people and things almost
exclusively through their direct success, and not through social or
ethical ideals … yet he was also interested in literature and had a sense
of humour that can rarely be found in people involved in such a quantity