wan, lignify, ossify, unbowed. Einstein letter to a friend just before 1905 papers

Einstein letter to a friend just before 1905 papers

Just as his papers are in the process of being completed published Einstein writes a playful letter to a friend, Conrad Habicht (18th or 25th of May, 1905) describing his upcoming work.

This shows a less formal and more human side of Einstein and his attitude in the day (he would have been 26 years old).

Dear Habicht,

Such a solemn air of silence has descended between us that I almost feel as if I am committing a sacrilege when I break it now with some inconsequential babble. But is this not always the fate of the exalted ones of this world?

So, what are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of soul, or whatever else I would like to hurl at your head, filled as I am with 70% anger and 30% pity! You have only the latter 30% to thank for my not having sent you a can full of minced onions and garlic after you so cravenly did not show up on Easter. But why have you still not sent me your dissertation? Don't you know that I am one of the 1½ fellows who would read it with interest and pleasure, you wretched man? I promise you four papers in return, the first of which I might send you soon, since I will soon get the complimentary reprints. The paper deals with radiation and the energy properties of light and is very revolutionary, as you will see if you send me your work first. The second paper is a determination of the true sizes of atoms from the diffusion and the viscosity of dilute solutions of neutral substances. The third proves that, on the assumption of the molecular theory of heat, bodies of the order of magnitude 1/1000 mm, suspended in liquids, must already perform an observable random motion that is produced by thermal motion; in fact, physiologists have observed (unexplained) motions of suspended small, inanimate, bodies, which motions they designate as "Brownian molecular motion." The fourth paper is only a rough draft at this point, and is an electrodynamics of moving bodies which employs a modification of the theory of space and time.

[Image from Wikipedia]

He still tells the story about the call he got at 2 a.m. from the woman in Chandler who was upset about changes in her garbage pick up, and the ossified joke concerning two Irish brothers (“The only ethnic group in America you can still joke about”) boozed up at a bar.


Spain Unbowed on Cajas

Despite complaints from Spain's ailing savings banks that reform efforts are moving too swiftly, the Spanish government is standing firm in its push to quickly convert the local institutions into traditional banks.

unbowed

(ŭn-boud')
adj.

1. Not bowed; unbent.
2. Not subdued; unyielding: "My head is bloody but unbowed" (W.E. Henley).

os·si·fy (ŏs'ə-fī')
v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies. v.intr.

1. To change into bone; become bony.
2. To become set in a rigidly conventional pattern: "The central ideas of liberalism have ossified" (Jeffrey Hart).

v.tr.

1. To convert (a membrane or cartilage, for example) into bone.
2. To mold into a rigidly conventional pattern.

[Latin os, oss-, bone + -FY.]

ossific os·sif'ic (ŏ-sĭf'ĭk) adj.
lignify (LIG-nuh-fy)

verb tr.: To convert into wood.
verb intr.: To become wood or woody.

Etymology
From Latin lignum (wood). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leg- (to collect), which is also the source of lexicon, legal, dialogue, lecture, logic, legend, logarithm, intelligent, diligent, sacrilege, elect, and loyal. Earliest documented use: 1828.

Usage
"Many leguminous plants offer edible products in addition to their seeds. Many of their immature pods are edible two or three weeks before the fibres lignify to render them inedible." — Lam Peng Sam; Make Your Landscape Edible; The New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia); Dec 2, 2000.


wan

adjective wanner, wannest LITERARY
(of a person's face) paler than usual and tired-looking

wanly

adverb LITERARY


(wŏn)
adj., wan·ner, wan·nest.

1. Unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.
2. Suggestive or indicative of weariness, illness, or unhappiness; melancholy: a wan expression.

intr.v., wanned, wan·ning, wans.
To become pale.

[Middle English, pale, gloomy, from Old English wann, gloomy, dark.]

wanly wan'ly adv.
wanness wan'ness n.