Lecture of German

[Larry Finger]

On 07/31/2011 05:49 AM, Komuro wrote:
>
> Dear expert of German.
>
> In a letter to Max Born, Einstein wrote:
> "Der Alte nicht würfelt."
>
> In English, "He [God] does not throw dice."
>
> Does "der Alte" mean God in German?
>
> According to the dictionary, Alte means old.

I'm not an expert in German, but I'll try here. The word "alte" is an adjective 
meaning old. According to Wikipedia, "der Alte" usually translates as "the old 
man"; however, when taken in context, Einstein was probably referring to some 
kind of supreme being, i.e. God. Note that Einstein himself has been referred to 
as "der Alte".

Larry