Sources
Light quanta
Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt
The receipt for this paper’s scan: which page of the journal each scan page is, what the transcription was compared against, and how far it has got. All the scans · Read the paper
Where this sits in the record
von A. Einstein, Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt. Annalen der Physik, series 4, volume 17 (whole series 322), issue 6, pages 132 to 148. The issue number is taken from Issue 6 masthead (Crossref).
- Dated at the end of the paper
- Bern, den 17. März 1905.. Taken from Printed date-line at end of paper, p. 148., confirmed against the scan.
- Received by the journal
- 1905-03-18. Taken from Annalen der Physik receipt date note recorded in issue, p. 148., confirmed against the scan.
- Issue published
- 1905-06-09. Taken from Issue 6 publication date recorded in journal register (EPP)., confirmed against the scan.
The scan this edition serves
Scanned by Bell & Howell / UMI / Internet Archive and acquired on 18 September 2026. Its rights status is recorded as scan-open-terms, the scanning institution states open terms, which is the reason it is served here rather than linked to. The terms are stated at archive.org.
The file is 17 pages of application/pdf. Its SHA-256 is 494f074dcb7e7def98f16c0196cd01f096b63a924704d53d46ef4f718b54f79e, and that is the digest of the file this site serves, not of a copy of it elsewhere. A scan whose digest differs is a different scan, whatever it is called.
Pages
| Scan page | Journal page | Sections on it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 132 | Opening |
| 2 | 133 | Opening, §1 |
| 3 | 134 | §1 |
| 4 | 135 | §1 |
| 5 | 136 | §1, §2 |
| 6 | 137 | §2, §3 |
| 7 | 138 | §3 |
| 8 | 139 | §3, §4 |
| 9 | 140 | §4, §5 |
| 10 | 141 | §5 |
| 11 | 142 | §5, §6 |
| 12 | 143 | §6 |
| 13 | 144 | §6, §7 |
| 14 | 145 | §7, §8 |
| 15 | 146 | §8 |
| 16 | 147 | §8, §9 |
| 17 | 148 | §9 |
What the transcription is compared against
The scan is the primary source. Each record below is a comparison witness: another edition, transcription or translation that a reading is checked against, and never the source itself.
- Collected Papers, a comparison witness. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 2: The Swiss Years: Writings, 1900-1909, ed. John Stachel et al., Princeton University Press, 1989, Doc. 14, pp. 149-166. Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
in-copyright-witness-only, in copyright, consulted as a witness and never reproduced. Critical apparatus consulted; comparison edition only. - Augsburg facsimile, a comparison witness. Augsburg University Facsimile (bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de). Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
in-copyright-witness-only, in copyright, consulted as a witness and never reproduced. Host on candidate denylist due to harvesting restrictions and unstable deep links; retained as visual comparison witness only. - Wikisource transcription, a comparison witness. de.wikisource page for Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt. Not found when looked for on 17 September 2026. Rights:
public-domain-text, public domain. No transcription found on de.wikisource (author index page lists scan link only, checked 2026-09-17). - Published translation, a comparison witness. A. B. Arons and M. B. Peppard, 'Einstein's Proposal of the Photon Concept: A Translation of the Annalen der Physik Paper of 1905', American Journal of Physics 33, 367-374 (1965). Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
in-copyright-witness-only, in copyright, consulted as a witness and never reproduced. Historical English translation witness only. - Published translation, a comparison witness. Anna Beck, trans., in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 2 (English translation supplement), Doc. 14, Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 86-103. Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
in-copyright-witness-only, in copyright, consulted as a witness and never reproduced. Historical English translation witness only.
How far the transcription has got
Read by machine and corrected by hand against the page images.
Seven printing errors have been recorded against these pages, on pages 133, 135, 142, 144, 146, 147. The source keeps what was printed; a correction is only ever offered beside it. The correction log lists each one.
What has not been established
The German ledger for this scan is recorded as in-progress, and no editor is named against it. The receipt records no digest for the ledger file, so there is nothing here to check a ledger against. No person has reviewed the transcription. A ledger produced by machine and corrected by hand is a draft, and it stays a draft until a qualified reader checks it against the plates; the role that would do that is recorded as open in the project’s owners file.
17 readings are on the watch list for this scan, which is where a reading that looked wrong is kept until somebody settles it. Everything above is what the receipt records. It is a record of what was done, and it is not a claim that the result is correct.