INTRODUCTION
xiii
course at present I am only getting things ready, but I feel how
pleasant it will be to have the resources of a good laboratory
at my back. My galvanometer, which at home stood upon
the lathe,' now stands upon an iron bracket let into the wall.
The reading telescope can be adjusted in all directions by screws,
which is certainly more convenient than propping it up on
books. . . . Every morning I hear an interesting lecture, and
then go to the laboratory, where I remain, barring a short in-
terval, until four o'clock. After that I work in the library or in
my rooms; up till now there has been plenty to do in hunting up
the literature on extra-currents. (It seems that there is a paper,
of which, however, I have only seen an extract, in which some one
shows that no such current exists; it is to be hoped that the man
is quite wrong.)
17th November 1878.
My work goes on slowly but steadily. The first thing I found
out was that a bracket in the Dorotheenstrasse is much more
shaky than an ordinary table in the Magdalenenstrasse. At my
request I have been shifted into another room, in which there is
a brick pillar. . . . Helmholtz is very kind; he comes in every
day for a few minutes, and has a look how things are getting on.
The task upon which I am engaged is rather an ungrateful one,
for in all likelihood the result will be negative: i.e. certain things
will not happen, and on the whole this is less exciting than when
something does happen; but it can't be helped in this case.
24th November 1878.
I am now thoroughly happy, and could not wish things better.
I spend the greater part of the day working in the laboratory,
and unfortunately the days are so short that when the greater
part is gone scarcely anything is left. Most of this greater part
is spent upon things which are very useless, or at any rate don't
teach one much, such as cutting corks and filing wires, and the
observations themselves are naturally not very delightful.
Possibly it may be doubtful whether it is quite right for me to
spend so much time at these things when I have still so much to
learn. And yet I feel that it is right; to get information for
myself and for others direct from nature gives me so much more
satisfaction than to be always learning it from others and for my-
self alone so much more that I can scarcely express it. When I
am only studying books I am never free of the feeling that I am
a perfectly useless member of society. It is odd to think that I
am now working at a rather specialised research in electricity,
1 This he obtained when sixteen years old, and made good use of it.