A manuscript co-authored by Albert Einstein, offering rare insight into the legendary physicist’s thinking leading up to his general theory of relativity, was sold at auction this week for €11.7m (about R213m), a record for an autographed scientific document.
Auction house Christie’s had estimated the value of the manuscript at between €2m and €3m. The 54 pages of paper, about half-filled with Einstein’s handwriting, make up one of only two working documents known in which the thinker approaches his famous theory that laid the groundwork for modern cosmology and technology, such as GPS navigation. They had been kept in the custody of Swiss physicist Michele Besso, a close friend and academic partner of Einstein’s, who co-authored the work between 1913 and 1914. ..
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