One of Einstein’s most important letters will be auctioned

One of the most important letters from physicist Albert Einstein, in which he warned US President Franklin Roosevelt about the possible development of an atomic bomb, will be auctioned at Christie’s. The lot is tentatively estimated at $4 million, Liter.kz reports with reference to The Wall Street Journal.

In the summer of 1939, several scientists approached Einstein with a request to warn US President Roosevelt about Nazi Germany’s advances in nuclear research. Scientists thought that Germany was going to develop an atomic bomb.

On August 2, 1939, Einstein and Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard composed the text of the letter.

It begins: “Sir, recent research in nuclear physics has shown that uranium can be converted into a new and important source of energy.” In the letter, Einstein wrote that German authorities actively support nuclear research and can create “extremely powerful bombs.” The physicist called on the US government to do the same. And after the letter, Roosevelt formed a committee that was the predecessor of the Manhattan Project headed by Robert Oppenheimer.

The original letter that Einstein sent to Roosevelt is kept in the Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. But the second version of the letter – a little shorter – Szilard kept all his life, and it is this that will soon be put up for auction.

Photo: Christie’s Auctions