137 - Arthur I. Miller [16]
Sadly, there is little personal correspondence on the subject—or on any other subject—among Pauli, his sister, his mother, and his father. There must have been letters and perhaps they are still out there. In the meantime, the closest we can get to the sort of man Pauli was is through information from those who knew him well.
At the gymnasium, Pauli quickly began to find his science classes too easy for him. By now he was receiving private tutoring in advanced physics from professors at the university and was soon discussing his ideas with them. He relieved his boredom by studying Einstein’s latest papers on the general theory of relativity, which he kept hidden under his desk, and was soon in full command of the theory.
Einstein discovered the general theory of relativity in 1915. It explores the motions of objects, from rocks to planets, stars and galaxies, and asserts that the world in which we live actually has not three but four dimensions—the usual length, breadth, and height, fused with time. The surface that light rays course over is a four-dimensional one, sculpted by the objects on it, in the same way that objects resting on a rubber sheet create wells. The indentations on this surface cause objects to roll toward each other and are experienced as gravity. Einstein’s general theory of relativity may have started out as one man’s view of the universe, but it was turning out to be the correct one. Scientists still refer to it as the most beautiful theory ever formulated.
At the time most physicists could not fully understand the theory’s elegant mathematics and wide-ranging concepts. Those who could realized that there was still a great deal of work to be done on it. This included clarifying and broadening aspects of Einstein’s mathematics, applying the theory to special cases—no mean task bearing in mind the abstruse mathematics—and widening it to include electricity. Pauli, at the tender age of seventeen, dived right in.
By this time Pauli was reading mathematics and physics books until two in the morning, like novels. Usually physicists read and reread textbooks, marking them with notes and underlinings. Most of Pauli’s books were unmarked. He only needed to read them once.
Pauli excelled in the courses that interested him—mathematics and physics—but had mediocre grades in nonscience subjects. Later in life he insisted that he had enjoyed them, especially Latin and Greek. In the annals of his school, Pauli’s class is remembered as the “class of geniuses,” and Pauli as the chief genius. Of the twenty-seven boys in Pauli’s class, two went on to win Nobel Prizes, while others made their name as actors, orchestra conductors, university professors, and leaders of industry.
Pauli graduated in 1918 with distinction and a mere two months later submitted a paper on relativity theory for publication. In it he clarified certain fine points of a particular version of Einstein’s theory, extended to include electricity (this had recently been proposed by the renowned mathematician and physicist Hermann Weyl in Zürich). In acknowledgment of his famous father, he signed this maiden paper Wolfgang Pauli Jr. It seemed the world was his oyster.
Meanwhile the Great War was coming to an end. Pauli was forced to undergo a medical examination to join the army and to his relief was found to have a weak heart, thus excusing him from conscription. He was passionately opposed to the