Sources
Special relativity
Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper
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
A. Einstein, Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper. Annalen der Physik, series 4, volume 17 (whole series 322), issue 10, pages 891 to 921. The issue number is taken from Issue 10 masthead.
- Dated at the end of the paper
- Bern, Juni 1905. (month precision). Taken from Printed date-line at end of paper, p. 921., confirmed against the scan.
- Received by the journal
- 1905-06-30. Taken from Annalen der Physik receipt date recorded at end of paper, p. 921., confirmed against the scan.
- Issue published
- 1905-09-26. Taken from Issue 10 publication date recorded in journal register., 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 31 pages of application/pdf. Its SHA-256 is 60d21d560f6a3c87e581ac25016306d9bcb748e530fa2751652b84986da5296c, 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 | 891 | Opening |
| 2 | 892 | Opening, §1 |
| 3 | 893 | §1 |
| 4 | 894 | §1 |
| 5 | 895 | §1, §2 |
| 6 | 896 | §2 |
| 7 | 897 | §2, §3 |
| 8 | 898 | §3 |
| 9 | 899 | §3 |
| 10 | 900 | §3 |
| 11 | 901 | §3 |
| 12 | 902 | §3 |
| 13 | 903 | §4 |
| 14 | 904 | §4 |
| 15 | 905 | §4, §5 |
| 16 | 906 | §5 |
| 17 | 907 | §5, §6 |
| 18 | 908 | §6 |
| 19 | 909 | §6 |
| 20 | 910 | §6, §7 |
| 21 | 911 | §7 |
| 22 | 912 | §7 |
| 23 | 913 | §8 |
| 24 | 914 | §8 |
| 25 | 915 | §8 |
| 26 | 916 | §9 |
| 27 | 917 | §9, §10 |
| 28 | 918 | §10 |
| 29 | 919 | §10 |
| 30 | 920 | §10 |
| 31 | 921 | §10 |
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. 23, pp. 275-306. Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
in-copyright-witness-only, in copyright, consulted as a witness and never reproduced. Critical apparatus consulted. - 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; retained as comparison witness only. - Wikisource transcription, a comparison witness. de.wikisource transcription for Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper. Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
public-domain-text, public domain. Transcription on de.wikisource (pageid 723494, revid 4916307, last edited 2026-06-08); comparison witness only. - Published translation, a comparison witness. W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffery, trans., in The Principle of Relativity, Methuen & Co., London, 1923 (reprinted Dover Publications, New York, 1952, pp. 35-65). Consulted on 17 September 2026. Rights:
public-domain-text, public domain. 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. 23, Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 140-171. 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.
15 printing errors have been recorded against these pages, on pages 899, 902, 904, 905, 907, 908, 910, 912, 915, 916, 917, 919, 920; three of them were later withdrawn, and are kept with the reason. 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 not-started, 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.
11 readings are on the watch list for this scan, which is where a reading that looked wrong is kept until somebody settles it. 2 sections of the receipt are marked pending. 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.