The Young Einstein in Italy and the Annalen der Physik

Abstract

With the help of the Annalen der Physik, we can trace the young Einstein's footsteps in Italy in various ways: the interest in the topic of his first article on capillarity probably dates back to an earlier meeting with Carlo Marangoni in Casteggio; Einstein's reading of articles by Paul Drude and Wilhelm Wien allow us to identify the library of the Lombard Institute, Milan's Academy of Sciences and Letters, where the young man is working on his bibliography; this bibliography provides elements for a better understanding of the turnaround of his thesis, in mid-April 1901, on molecular forces in gases; and finally we see Einstein use his papers in the Annalen in his search for university posts, in connection with Giuseppe Jung, Michele Besso's uncle.