Albert Einstein is one of the most important figures of the 20th
century. It is through his theories that modern physics was born. Feel
like you don’t know enough about this important scientific figure?
Well then read on….
1. Einstein failed his first entrance exam to college in the Swiss
Federal Polytechnical School. He was able to pass the math and science
portions, but he failed the English and history portions of the exam.
His father blamed lack of preparation on his failure. A year later,
after studying, he was able to pass the exams.
2. It is a widely held belief that Albert Einstein had a speech delay. According to many there is not enough evidence to
suggest that this is true. On the contrary, there is evidence that by
two years old he could express himself clearly. In addition to a speech
delay, many sources also believe he had Asperger’s syndrome or
dyslexia. None of these beliefs can be substantiated.
3. One of Einstein’s early theories was that gravity bends light.
He was able to test this theory and prove it correct during a solar
eclipse. During the eclipse he was able to see stars through his
telescope that should have been unseen.
4. Einstein was married twice. He was married to his first wife, Mileva Maric, from 1903 until 1919. As part of their divorce agreement, Einstein promised Mileva his Nobel Prize winnings, if he ever won.
5. Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize
for Physics in 1921 for “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and
especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”.
He never won a Nobel Prize for his most famous work, the Theory of
Relativity. He gave his first wife the money he won from the prize.
6. Einstein wanted to create a “Unified Field Theory”
that would be used to tie together the different forces in physics.
The search for this theory alienated Einstein from his peers and he was
never able to develop one. Decades after his death, physicists are
still trying to develop this theory.
7. Einstein was a pacifist, however the rise of Hitler had tested
his beliefs and lead to him to immigrate to the United States in 1933.
He would become an American Citizen in 1940.
8.
Despite his pacifism, it was Einstein’s theories that helped lead the
path to the creation of the atom bombs that were dropped on Japan at the
end of World War II. Though he did not directly work on the Manhattan
Project, he did join in with other scientist in urging its creation. He
would regret his participation and would be quoted as saying,
“I made one great mistake in my life… when I signed the letter to
President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was
some justification – the danger that the Germans would make them.”
9. After his death on April 17, 1955 an autopsy was performed on his brain.
This autopsy was done without the prior permission of the family,
though Einstein’s son Hans Albert Einstein offered it after the fact,
and against the express wishes of Einstein himself. The pathologist who
did the autopsy, Thomas Harvey, was fired for his actions but, upon
leaving, would not relinquish the brain.
In subsequent years there were studies done to parts of Einstein’s brain. A 1999 study
of the brain determined that it was smaller than average but the
parietal lobes were 15% wider than usual. Another study done in 2009
by anthropologist Dean Falk
discovered groves and ridges in Einstein’s brain that may be
responsible for his superior ability to conceptualize physics theories.
10. The 99th element, , which was discovered in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, was named after him.
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