The Einstein Affair

Reich, Wilhelm

doi:10.5281/zenodo.23363180

Published 1953 | Version v1

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The Einstein Affair

Reich, Wilhelm

This digital repository preserves the unredacted copy of The Einstein Affair (Documentary Volume A-XI-E), History of the Discovery of the Life Energy, Biographical Material, published in 1953 by the Orgone Institute Press at Orgonon, Rangeley, Maine. This monumental text charts the explosive 1941 meeting, precision laboratory trials, and Albert Einstein’s subsequent choice to cut all communication, completely evading the exhaustive scientific proof offered by Wilhelm Reich. Einstein chose to stonewall any further follow-up and permanently adhere to the erroneous interpretation of his assistant, Leopold Infeld who would later leave to become a founding father of the state-directed nuclear research apparatus behind the Iron Curtain.

Archival Annotation Notice & Restoration Warning: Researchers studying this digital edition are advised that this file represents a rare, unredacted master copy of immense historical and legal significance. Unlike the heavily sanitized "official" commercial translations distributed to the public, this volume preserves the raw physical lineage of the Archives of the Orgone Institute.

This document captures:

Primary Marginalia by Wilhelm Reich: Extensive hand-written postscripts, and personal cross-examination notes dating from 1941 to 1952, including his diagnostic breakdowns of Einstein's motives.
The Eva Reich Restoration Papers: A multi-page handwritten appendix compiled personally by Dr. Eva Reich following her father's death in federal custody. It documents the specific text blocks, critical mathematical unit designations, and translation layers (such as the unedited text of Letter E-8 and the 1941 Einstein meeting postscript) that she offered to publishers.

Because the publishing house refused to honor her requests, this volume stands as the only comprehensive record to restore these missing historical parameters to the public domain. These markings are left entirely intact to maintain absolute structural fidelity to the authentic historical record.

Provenance and Historical Source

This material originates from the historical Reich Orgone Archive / Reich Archive West preservation and microfilm project devoted to preserving and disseminating the published works of Wilhelm Reich, M.D.

Historical microfilm documentation records that Eva Reich Moise, M.D., produced the original silver-base microfilm masters in 1957 at Rangeley, Maine, with the assistance of William Moise. Eva Reich is identified as Compiler and Project Consultant, and Harold Treacy as Production Co-ordinator.

The subsequent microfilm operation was sponsored by the Reich Orgone Archive, with surviving documentation identifying the project with Reich Archive West, San Francisco, 1973.

The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) independently documents the historical existence of Reich Archive West. The Aurora Karrer Reich Collection (MS C 580) contains an archival item specifically catalogued:

“Reich Archive West – year index and automatic title finder, 1975”

Box 2, Folder 19 — Creation: 1975

National Library of Medicine - Reich Archive West

The present digital reproduction forms part of the documented historical transmission and preservation of Wilhelm Reich's published materials through the Reich Orgone Archive / Reich Archive West preservation project.

This provenance information is provided to document the historical chain of preservation and reproduction associated with the material and to assist researchers in understanding its archival history.

Historical microfilm documentation: Wilhelm Reich, M.D. Microfilm Collection — Table of Contents, identifying Eva Reich, M.D., William Moise, Harold Treacy, the Reich Orgone Archive, and Reich Archive West.

Chronology and Summary:

Document ID	Historical Date	Sender / Author	Recipient / Destination	Core Technical & Legal Parameters Registered
E-1 / E-1a	Dec 30, 1940	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Introduces experimental biophysical and cancer-therapy research. • Discloses discovery of "Orgone" energy. • Warns against systemic scientific irrationalism.
E-2 / E-2a	Jan 6, 1941	Prof. Albert Einstein	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	• Spontaneous willingness to discuss scientific matters. • Requests setting up an afternoon appointment.
E-5 / E-5a	Jan 15, 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Confirms manufacturing of a customized 2/5 cubic foot test accumulator. • Outlines observation protocols for the Orgonoscope.
E-8	Feb 6, 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Not Sent / Archived	• Detailed "Control of the Control Thermometer" trial data. • Outlines radiation photography results and strict safety warnings.
E-9 / E-9a	Feb 7, 1941	Prof. Albert Einstein	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	• The Pivot Point: Confirms positive tracking of the 3.3°–0.4° temperature difference. • Attributes effect to standard cellar table-top heat convection.
E-10	Feb 20, 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Full experimental refutation of the table-top objection. • Documents outdoor trials eliminating ceilings and tables entirely.
E-12 / E-12a	May 17, 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Protests three months of silence; highlights critical pressures from spreading human cancer therapy trials.
E-13	Sep 23, 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Submits extensive outdoor data arrays from Rangeley, Maine. • Proves atmospheric Orgone fluctuates inversely to solar ionization.
E-14	Oct 1941	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Not Sent / Archived	• Raw, unedited letter confronting Einstein's sudden silence. • Formulates the choice: open scientific rejection vs. total evasion.
E-24	Feb 15, 1944	Prof. Albert Einstein	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	• The Legal Blockade: Rejects publishing permission. • Threatens legal intervention; states the topic lacks his confidence.
E-27	Feb 18, 1944	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	• Deep analytical brief treating the affair as a major structural collision between Mechanistic and Functional Astrophysics.
E-29	Feb 24, 1944	Prof. Albert Einstein	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	• Denies spreading malicious rumors; demands total confidentiality regarding all his written and verbal statements.
E-33	Mar 15, 1944	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Mr. Obermayer	• Legal deposition of notarized, sealed "Einstein Affair" packets into international preservation archives.
E-35	Mar 17, 1950	New York Times	Archival Clipping	• Tracking of Einstein's associate Leopold Infeld returning to Communist Poland, expelled from Canada where he teached in Colleges.

The Clash of Two Scientific Worldviews

This comparative matrix isolates the core physical and philosophical boundaries separating both scientifc and ethical approach, across the letters of this volume.

Analytical Parameter	The Inorganic Physics of the Dead (Einstein)	The Functional Biophysics of Life (Reich)
Foundational Paradigm	• Space is empty; cosmic phenomena are mapped purely via abstract mathematical formulas.	• Space is alive.
The Temperature Phenomenon	• Interpreted as a localized, routine cellar heat convection from the ceiling to the tabletop.	• Verified as a continuous, autogenous heat genesis tracking directly with weather patterns.
Experimental Testing Boundary	• Confined to enclosed indoor settings; the apparatus is dismantled when data challenges convention.	• Tested outdoors by burying the box in soil, completely eliminating ceilings and tables.
Energy Transfer Direction	• Energy flows strictly from the strong system to the weak system until equalized.	• The Orgonomic Potential: The stronger system naturally attracts and draws energy from the weaker.
Behavioral Modality Observed	• Rigid characterological defense, bureaucratic withdrawal, and administrative silence.	• Urgent, relentless experimental validation to deploy bio-energetic tools to cancer sufferers.

1. The Phase of Convergence and Laboratory Observation (December 1940 – January 1941)

The interaction began under parameters of extreme scientific urgency. Wilhem Reich contacted Einstein to share empirical observations regarding a biologically effective cosmic energy form that did not behave in alignment with the known laws of electromagnetism. During an exhaustive four and a half hours clinical discussion on January 8, 1941, at Einstein's Princeton residence, the core phenomena was introduced.

Wilhelm Reich directly facilitated the visualisation of the mist like undulatory motion of the Orgone, or Life Energy's radiation, by means of the Orgonoscope, an instrument designed to discard subjective impressions from objective visualisation. Einstein explicitly confirmed the visibility of these flickering light paths, stating, "Yes, it is there. I can see it," though he initially questioned whether the optical scintillation could stem from a subjective optical illusion.

To provide absolute, objective, physical proof that could not be written off as a psychological variable, Wilhelm Reich introduced the phenomenon of continuous heat production. He detailed how a basic box composed of inner-layer with iron sheet metal and outer-layer with organic material maintains a continuous temperature difference (To - T), where the temperature registered above the enclosure, as registered by a control thermometer placed atop, remains continuously higher than the surrounding ambient room air as a result of the kinetic energy produced by the concentration of Orgone Radiation within the enclosure (the Orgone Accumulator) This finding challenged classical thermodynamic principles, which dictate that temperature differences within a closed environment must naturally equalize over time.

2. The Creation of the Control Accumulator and the Table-Top Collision (January 1941 – February 1941)

Wilhelm Reich constructed and hand-delivered a scaled-down (2/5) cubic foot tester accumulator to Princeton to allow Einstein to perform unmonitored baseline validation trials. Initially, Einstein confirmed the phenomenon, verifying a continuous temperature deviation averaging approximately ℃ 0.3 to ℃ 0.4 registered by the control thermometer above the accumulator. Einstein famously recognized the paradigm-shattering nature of this continuous heat genesis, exclaiming, in the first meeting he held with Wilhem Reich, that if the data held true, it would act as "a bomb in physics".

However, the consensus collapsed when Einstein's assistant, Leopold Infeld, proposed a conventional mechanical interpretation to explain away the anomaly without setting up parallel validation controls. The assistant argued that indoor rooms experience a vertical heat convection path running downwards from the ceiling to the floor, and that the horizontal table top simply acted as a storage barrier for this ambient heat flow. Einstein accepted this reasoning, dismantled the test box, and sent a letter to Wilhelm Reich on February 7, 1941, asserting that the tabletop phenomenon solved the matter completely and invalidated the orgone premise, as nothing more than an 'understandable illusion'.

3. The Experimental Refutation and the Strategy of Evasion (February 1941 – 1944)

Wilhelm Reich immediately countered with systematic, rigorous experimental checks designed to isolate and eliminate the room variable. In his extensive February 20, 1941 response, Wilhelm Reich detailed how he removed the apparatus entirely from indoor rooms and buried the test accumulators deep into open soil outdoors, completely eliminating room ceilings, floors, and tabletop barriers.

The outdoor data arrays dramatically refuted the assistant's hypothesis:

Magnified Thermal Anomalies: Instead of disappearing outdoors, the temperature difference (To- T) scaled up significantly.
Weather-Responsive Curves: In open nature, the heat production rose dynamically to over ℃ 1 to ℃ 2 during dry, clear solar conditions and dropped to zero during heavy downpours.

Wilhelm Reich submitted these verified outdoor parameters to Einstein, in addition to a number of alternative experiments covering every possible scenario where heat convention from floor to ceiling, or from ceiling to floor, was discarded as a factor, demonstrating that the heat production fluctuated in direct relation to atmospheric energy changes rather than indoor structural variables. Following the delivery of this definitive data, Einstein completely ceased communication. He chose absolute silence over active scientific engagement, ignoring subsequent technical updates regarding weather modification, electroscopic discharge rates, and human cancer biopathy protocols.

Wilhelm Reich's Experimental Refutation of Einstein's Assistant, Leopold Infeld

This matrix tracks the systematic engineering controls, laboratory trials, and raw data sets compiled by Wilhelm Reich in his exhaustive 25 page technical brief (Letter E-10, February 20, 1941). It breaks down how Wilhelm Reich structurally dismantled the assistant’s indoor "table-top heat convection" hypothesis to prove an autogenous cosmic heat genesis.

The Assistant's Mechanical Objection	Reich's Targeted Experimental Counter-Control	Empirical Data & Vector Results Recorded	The Unassailable Scientific Conclusion
1. The Table-Top Accumulation Error The thermometer above the box is merely reading heat pocketed by the horizontal table top, which catches ambient room air.	• The Open Suspension Protocol: Reich removed the table entirely and suspended the orgone accumulator freely in mid-air in the center of the room.	• Result: The continuous temperature difference (T0 - T) maintained an average of ℃ 0.5 peaking up to ℃ 1.5	• Refuted: The thermal anomaly is entirely independent of any underlying structural furniture or horizontal pooling surfaces.
2. Vertical Room Convection Warm air naturally radiates down from the room ceiling, creating a localized high-temperature zone on top of the apparatus.	• The Dual-Shield Isolation Test: Wilhelm Reich erected a secondary, heavy wooden insulating plate exactly 1 foot above the top of the apparatus to block descending air.	• Result: The temperature difference beneath the shield continued to track continuously without any reduction in value.	• Refuted: Heavy vertical air movements or ceiling radiation paths do not feed or cause the localized box thermal anomaly.
3. Radiation Lag & Thermal Inertia The box materials change temperature slowly, causing the interior thermometer to lag behind standard room changes.	• The Control Interchange Protocol: Reich routinely interchanged the interior box thermometer and the free-air control thermometer multiple times a day.	• Result: The mercury immediately normalized, and the box thermometer consistently rose back up to its elevated baseline.	• Refuted: The readings are not a byproduct of slow thermal lag, component defects, or uncalibrated instrument errors.
4. The Indoor Structural Variable The continuous heat is entirely caused by closed, artificial indoor building parameters (walls, cellar dynamics, vents).	• The Absolute Outdoor Submersion Test: Wilhelm Reich moved the trials completely outdoors into open nature, burying the apparatus two-thirds deep into natural soil.	• and the soil Result: Indoor room lag was entirely eliminated. The outdoor deviation climbed drastically to ℃ 2.0 in the shade and higher in the sun.	• Refuted: Moving outdoors eliminates room dynamics entirely. The phenomenon scales up when secondary wall reflections are gone.
5. Core Energy Erasure The heat observed is temporary and will vanish completely if the apparatus is forced to cool to sub-zero baselines.	• The Open Frost Elimination Test: Wilhelm Reich stripped all insulation blankets off the box overnight, exposing the empty core to a severe hard night frost (℃ 0).	• Result: At 9:30 AM, when recovered with a blanket, the frozen box mercury spontaneously generated an autogenous heat rise up to ℃ 2.3 within minutes, while the air temperature was ℃ - 1 and the soil was ℃ 0.	• Refuted: The sequential layering of organic and inorganic materials in the construction of the box acts as an accumulator of Orgone, or Life Energy's Radiation.

Chronology of the Post-Refutation Letters & Evasion Pipeline (1941–1944)

This table maps the precise sequence of intensive, detailed letters written by Dr. Wilhelm Reich following his exhaustive 10-page experimental refutation on February 20, 1941. It chronicles his increasing bafflement at Einstein's total silence, the internal strategy notes, and the eventual legal and archival preservation measures taken when it became clear that Einstein chose to shield his assistant, Leopold Infeld, rather than engage with the scientifically demonstrated data.

Tracking ID	Document Date	Document Type / Status	Sender / Author	Recipient / Destination	Core Technical Content & Sociological Bafflement Registered
E-11 / E-11a	May 1, 1941	Sent Correspondence	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The Clinical Shift: Documents dramatic biological results in human cancer patients using the human accumulator. • Notes total reversal of severe pain and bone destruction. • Reports massive family interest over the treatment breakthroughs.
E-12 / E-12a	May 17, 1941	Sent Correspondence	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The First Bafflement: Directly confronts Einstein on why his February and May letters remain completely unanswered. • Wants to know if Einstein has tested the data or simply lost interest.
E-13	Sep 23, 1941	Sent Correspondence	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The Rangeley Outdoor Arrays: Submits extensive electroscopic data showing energy patterns fluctuate based on weather patterns, completely shattering the room-convection theory.
E-14	October 1941	Not Sent / Archived	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The Structural Confrontation: A raw, explosive draft tracking Reich's deep confusion over the silence. • Rejects the idea that Einstein is a swindle, given their intense 5-hour meeting. • Directly asks if malicious rumors are pulling the strings behind the scenes.
E-21	Undated Summary	Internal Evaluation Note	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Internal Archives	• The Institutional Reality: Reich documents his shock that a leading physicist completely failed to perform simple outdoor control tests. • Concludes that institutional figures back away to protect their own legacy.
E-22	Jan 8, 1944	Draft Letter	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The Rumor Countermeasure: Informs Einstein that malicious rumors claim his "control tests" failed to confirm the anomaly. • Requests permission to publish their 1941 letters to clear the record.
E-23	Feb 14, 1944	Sent Correspondence	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	Prof. Albert Einstein	• Official Notice: Formally states that due to the toxic, untruthful rumors discrediting the lab, the Institute is forced to publish the true 1941 letters.
E-24	Feb 15, 1944	Einstein’s Defensive Attack	Prof. Albert Einstein	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	• The Insulting Intervention: Einstein breaks his long silence with a blunt legal threat. • Condescendingly refuses publication permission and states he will take legal steps to prevent his name from being used "for advertising purposes" and explicitly demands that Wilhelm Reich treat all of his initial verbal admissions, written utterances, and agreements as absolute, strict secrets. He commands total confidentiality to keep his early enthusiasm and physical verification of the phenomenon permanently erased from public view.
E-25	Feb 16, 1944	Legal Transmittal	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Mr. John P. Chandler (Patent Attorney)	• Transmits the complete package of 1941 letters and the Wolfe brief to the firm's legal team. • Declares that a public cleanup of the entire affair is now completely unavoidable.
E-26	Feb 17, 1944	Internal Strategy Notes	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Internal Archives	• Wilhelm Reich outlines that the Discovery of the Orgone has established itself without Einstein’s validation. • Notes the platform has never been about profit, and that institutional silence represents a severe, unprovoked insult.
E-27	Feb 18, 1944	Briefing Document	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Dr. Theodore P. Wolfe	• Comprehensive review defining the affair as a major clash between functional and dead physics. • States that he will eventually have to defend Einstein's own "Field Theory" against Einstein himself.
E-28 / E-28a	Feb 20, 1944	Sent Protest Letter	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Prof. Albert Einstein	• The Direct Protest: Wilhem Reich strongly objects to Einstein's aggressive, defensive stance. • Reminds him that the data held true, and that if he wanted to protect his name, he should target the rumor-mongers.
E-30 / E-30a	Feb 25, 1944	Legal & Editorial Hold	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Mr. John P. Chandler & Dr. Wolfe	• Follows up on Einstein's sudden, private demand for total confidentiality (E-29). • Commands the legal and editorial teams to place a temporary secret hold on publication to respect the request.
E-33	Mar 15, 1944	Archival Security Pack	Dr. Wilhelm Reich	Mr. Obermayer (Palestine Archives)	• Deposits legally notarized, sealed packets containing the unedited letters into safe custody overseas. • Explains that these steps are vital to safeguard the future of natural science from coordinated censorship.

Wilhelm Reich concluded that Einstein could not acknowledge a functional, demonstrable, mass-free cosmic energy ocean without completely overthrowing his own Theory of Relativity, which was mathematically built on the rigid premise that a physical ether does not exist.

The Post-Custody Eva Reich Annotations

The final pages of the document carry deep emotional weight, tracking the quiet, unvetted history of the manuscript itself. Following Wilhelm Reich's death in federal prison in 1957, his daughter, Dr. Eva Reich, conducted a detailed review of the original German files.

Eva discovered that the "official" English commercial releases completely omitted a crucial, handwritten German postscript on page 7. This footnote documented the definitive February 1, 1941 meeting at Princeton, explicitly recording that Einstein had physically cross-checked the thermometers, switched the instruments, and verified the temperature anomalies with his own hands before changing his stance under institutional pressure.

Eva Reich painstakingly translated these missing fragments, mapped out the precise structural conversions (such as the missing micron and metric mass indicators on pages 16 and 23), and offered these missing keys to the estate's publishing trust to ensure total transparency for future students. The publishing house rejected these corrections. Consequently, this specific unredacted document layer stands as the only structural vehicle to restore these missing historical parameters to the public domain.

Notes

This project exists to shatter the obscurity surrounding the original works and documents of Wilhelm Reich, M.D.—the pioneer who discovered The Orgone, Earth's vital Life Energy Radiation.

It is absolutely paramount that an honest, uncompromising, and unfettered intellectual exploration of Reich’s legacy be energetically pursued.

The very trajectory of human and planetary evolution hangs in the balance.

Technical info

Technical Notes, Image Optimisation Cautions & Project Scope

Archival Condition & Scanning Status:

The current visual status of these digital reproductions is the direct result of manual operations executed under a historical lack of modern technical aids during the period when the scans were originally performed.

Meticulous Preservation Vigilance Warning:

While numerous contemporary options exist for sharpening, filtering, and increasing the legibility of these images, future researchers and digital archivists must maintain strict, meticulous vigilance if these copies are submitted to any automated online enhancement services or optical character recognition (OCR) platforms.

Because the central subject matter—the Orgone, or Life Energy's Radiation—functions as an extraordinary, indivisible dynamic unity holding the entire text together as a single Entity, the transformation or alteration of even a single word completely nullifies the integrity of the entire Volume.

All text optimisation must prioritise absolute fidelity over superficial digital clarity.

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