Einstein's visit to Manchester in 1921

[pinball1970]

I found out a little bit about Einstein recently regarding his trip to Manchester June 9th 1921. I was surprised to find out that he visited my city in the UK first.
He gave a lecture on relativity in German and received an honorary doctorate from the University.

The motivation for the visit was not entirely scientific but this is what the University had to say about it.

https://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.u...einstein-came-to-the-university-of-manchester

I like the story regarding the black board.

An article from the "Manchester" Guardian on the visit as it was known then.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/1921/oct/01/peopleinscience

Even though the Guardian was there this is the only confirmed image.

After Manchester he went onto London and Cambridge.

 

[Astronuc]

A little bit of trivia, "The Langworthy Professorship, an endowed chair at the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been historically given to a long line of academic luminaries, including Ernest Rutherford (1907–19), Lawrence Bragg (1919–37), Patrick Blackett (1937–53) and more recently Konstantin Novoselov, all of whom have won the Nobel Prize."
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Manchester#Research

Lawrence Bragg held the Langworthy Professorship chair when Einstein visited the campus in 1921.

Another piece of trivia, British chemist John Dalton, was one of the founders of the original insitution, Mechanics' Institution.
"The English chemist John Dalton, together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists, established the Mechanics' Institution to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science."
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Manchester#History

The University of Manchester established the Dalton Nuclear Institute in 2005. I managed to visit the Institute in 2012.
https://www.dalton.manchester.ac.uk/

 

[pinball1970]

A little bit of trivia, "The Langworthy Professorship, an endowed chair at the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been historically given to a long line of academic luminaries, including Ernest Rutherford (1907–19), Lawrence Bragg (1919–37), Patrick Blackett (1937–53) and more recently Konstantin Novoselov, all of whom have won the Nobel Prize."
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Manchester#Research

Lawrence Bragg held the Langworthy Professorship chair when Einstein visited the campus in 1921.

Another piece of trivia, British chemist John Dalton, was one of the founders of the original insitution, Mechanics' Institution.
"The English chemist John Dalton, together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists, established the Mechanics' Institution to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science."
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Manchester#History

The University of Manchester established the Dalton Nuclear Institute in 2005. I managed to visit the Institute in 2012.
https://www.dalton.manchester.ac.uk/

Yes some important physics history here, Bohr did a stint also.

 

[robphy]

https://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.u...einstein-came-to-the-university-of-manchester

links to this Facebook post by the University of Manchester featuring a video of their re-enactment in English
(navigate to 3m45s)

An article from the "Manchester" Guardian on the visit as it was known then.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/1921/oct/01/peopleinscience

This blog post
https://telescoper.blog/2025/09/12/einsteins-first-lecture-in-britain/
had an image of the printed article
https://telescoper.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-61.jpg

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A little bit of trivia...
...
[snip]
...
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Manchester#Research

possibly interesting:

Three Centuries of Manchester Physics (5 book series)
Kindle edition
by Robin Marshall (Author)

• Vol. 1: 1641–1870 (Three Centuries of Manchester Physics)
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vol-1641-1870-Centuries-Manchester-Physics/dp/1973260956
• Vol. 2: 1870-1907 (Three Centuries of Manchester Physics)
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vol-1870-1907-Centuries-Manchester-Physics-ebook/dp/B079ZXP66Q
• Vol. 3: 1907–1937 (Three Centuries of Manchester Physics)
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vol-1907-1937-Centuries-Manchester-Physics-ebook/dp/B07G2N24TC
• Vol. 4: 1937–1967 (Three Centuries of Manchester Physics)
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vol-1937-1967-Centuries-Manchester-Physics-ebook/dp/B0855T1MJR
• Vol. 5: Students and Staff (Three Centuries of Manchester Physics)
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vol-Students-Centuries-Manchester-Physics-ebook/dp/B0853483MD

 

[pines-demon]

@Greg Bernhardt post like these are why we need a history of science forum , if not it gets lost with the lastest wordle or YouTube music videoclip

 

[berkeman]

post like these are why we need a history of science forum

Well, it is in the "History" forum after all...