11.6 million euros!
This is the price at which flew, this Tuesday, one of the preparatory manuscripts for the theory of general relativity of Albert Einstein.
It was estimated between two and three million euros.
"This is undoubtedly the most precious manuscript of Einstein ever offered for auction," judged in a press release Christie's, at which the sale for the Aguttes company took place.
Previous records for an Einstein manuscript were $ 2.8 million (2.4 million euros) in 2018 for a letter on God, and $ 1.56 million (1.39 million euros) in 2017 in Jerusalem for a letter on the secret of happiness.
The document is an autograph manuscript of 54 pages written in 1913 and 1914, in Zurich (Switzerland), by the famous physicist of German origin and his collaborator and confidant, Michele Besso.
According to Christie's, it is thanks to this Swiss engineer that "the manuscript has, almost miraculously, come down to us: Einstein probably would not have bothered to keep what seemed to him to be a working document".
"Extremely rare" documents
After his special theory of relativity, which made him demonstrate in 1905 the famous formula E = mc2, Einstein began to work on a theory of general relativity. This theory of gravity, finally published in November 1915, revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Died in 1955 at the age of 76, Einstein has become a symbol of scientific genius as much as a pop figure, with the famous 1951 photo where he sticks his tongue out.
"Einstein's scientific autograph documents from this period, and more generally from before 1919, are extremely rare," says Christie's.
"Being one of the only two working manuscripts documenting the genesis of the theory of general relativity that have come down to us, it is an extraordinary testimony to Einstein's work and allows us a fascinating dive into the mind of the greatest scientist. of the 20th century, ”continues the auction house.
