Einstein:
The Man Behind the Legend
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
Albert Einstein, one of the
most celebrated scientists in history, died over
half a century ago. Before his death in 1955,
he had become a legend in his own lifetime, having
received numerous prestigious awards, including
the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his contribution to
theoretical physics. Characterized as the greatest
genius of the 20th century, his name has become
synonymous with intellectual brilliance.
A non-observant Jew, he was offered the presidency
of Israel following the country’s creation;
he declined. Always a loner, he once commented
only partly in jest that “physicists call
me a mathematician, and mathematicians call me
a physicist. Though everyone claims to know me,
there are only very few who really know me.”
Today, his 12-foot high bronze statue, showing
the figure of a wrinkled old man staring at his
famous equation, adorns the halls of the National
Academy of Sciences in Washington.
Born a German, Einstein as a child showed no inkling
of the superior intellect he was to demonstrate
in his later life. He did not learn to speak until
he was three, and later at school his grades were
only mediocre, as he quickly got bored with subjects
that did not interest him, often to the annoyance
of his teachers. They thought that he might be
retarded. However, Einstein soon debunked this
perception as he focused his sharp mind on unsolved
riddles of mathematics and physics.
Einstein is principally known to the world as
the genius who in 1905 published five landmark
papers embodying his revolutionary theories to
explain the relationship between time, space,
light and gravity whilst working in the patent
office in Berne, Switzerland, where he had moved
initially to study engineering. His theories were
so original in nature that, unlike established
practice, his publications did not cite the work
of anyone else. These achievements in theoretical
physics secured his name in the hall of fame of
science forever, placing him in the company of
such august stalwarts as Newton, Galileo and Copernicus.
In 2005, many academic and research institutions
around the world celebrated the century of his
momentous publications which in some ways unleashed
the era of nuclear science.
While Einstein’s fame was on the rise worldwide,
the political situation in his country had become
inhospitable. The Nazi takeover of Germany and
the prevailing climate of anti-Semiticism forced
Einstein to migrate to the United States in 1933,
becoming a professor at the prestigious Princeton
University, where he remained until his death.
Einstein had remained a pacifist all his life
and, especially in his later days, he became a
vocal, strong opponent of the development and
use of nuclear weapons. He had been greatly affected
by the destruction and loss of life caused by
the atom bomb in Japan in the closing days of
Second World War. He regretted the contribution
he made to the knowledge that was eventually used
to develop such devastating weapons.
While numerous books and papers have been written
about Einstein’s scientific contributions,
in recent years, attention has been shifting from
his technical achievements and focusing on him
as a person. There is a newfound interest among
literary researchers in discovering who he really
was underneath the luminous exterior. This quest
has been spurred by the fact that he has left
behind a wealth of personal documents and manuscripts
which afford fascinating glimpses into many facets
of his personality at various phases of his life.
In addition, several of his colleagues and close
friends have recorded their impressions of him
and his views on a range of topics from the mundane
to sublime. Before his death, Einstein had made
his long-time German secretary, Helen Dukas, custodian
of all his archival documents during her lifetime.
Thereafter, they were to be donated to the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem to be made available for
scholarly research.
For a long time after Einstein’s death,
these documents remained at Princeton University
and Dukas guarded them with her life, permitting
limited access only to those writers whom she
trusted would present the renowned scientist in
the best light. Not surprising, the book written
about him -- Albert Einstein, the Human Side,
published in 1981 by Princeton University Press
-- showcased him as a kind, compassionate and
tolerant philosopher, free of common human failings,
a picture that it turned out is only partly true.
Helen Dukas died unexpectedly in 1982 and the
vast collection of Einstein’s manuscripts
in her custody was moved from Princeton University
to the University in Jerusalem, where they were
systematically cataloged and selectively made
available for publication. Einstein’s archival
papers were widely distributed. Altogether, it
is estimated that he left some 40,000 written
pieces that are still scattered in the academic
institutions of Europe and America. In recent
years, through various agreements with his legal
heirs, it has been possible to research and evaluate
these documents and to make them available to
the public. The most recent book drawing from
his papers was published in 2005, under the title
The New Quotable Einstein, edited by Alice Calaprice,
the Senior Editor of the Princeton University
Press. This is an updated edition of an earlier
collection of Einstein’s sayings and writings
and represents a remarkable anthology of his thoughts
and musings, distilled from his letters and miscellaneous
writings.
The extraordinary feature of the book is that
it makes no attempt to disguise the unattractive
side of his personality, the difficulties and
turmoil he faced during most of his domestic life,
his inability to stay faithful to his wives, and
his unfair treatment especially of his first wife.
Einstein was married twice; the first wife was
a fellow physicist who worked with him in his
early career, while his second wife was his cousin.
The book reveals that he had stormy and unhappy
relationship with both of them, mostly because
of his extramarital relationships with other women,
who were drawn to him by his fame and celebrity
status. At best, he was an uncaring husband and
father.
Some of his letters released earlier this year
portray his troubled relationship with his first
wife, Mileva Maric, and relate how he lost most
of the money he received from his Nobel Prize.
In her divorce settlement, his first wife, with
remarkable prescience, had included a clause stipulating
that should he win the Nobel Prize, he would hand
over the money to her so she could use it for
the education of their two sons. Einstein eventually
received both the Prize and the money, but he
invested most of it, which amounted to only $34,000
in 1922, in long-term bonds whose value was wiped
out in the economic depression that financially
ruined many Americans in the 1930s.
Of all the known manuscripts and papers related
to Einstein, nothing aroused as much excitement
as a personal diary written in German that was
discovered some two years ago at Princeton University’s
Firestone library. Johanna Fantova was his female
companion and associate and a former librarian,
who spent much time with him during last years
of his life. She kept a meticulous record of his
various activities and pursuits. The 62-page diary,
interestingly, is virtually devoid of any discussion
of physics or mathematics, the life-long passions
of Einstein. Instead, it provides a unique window
into his thoughts as he approached the end of
his life, and his daily struggle with aches and
pains. In many respects, his last days were very
similar to what most elderly people experience
in their twilight years, the infirmities of old
age. However, in some respects he was more than
an ordinary old man.
Fantova notes that Einstein was regularly visited
by a parade of renowned scientists who called
on him to pay their respects. In addition, he
was inundated with letters from around the world
in which people made an infinite variety of requests,
ranging from simple autographs to attempts to
persuade him to convert to Christianity for his
salvation. While his health and memory were fading,
curious visitors and tourists showed up at his
house, asking to have a photograph taken with
him. He occasionally pretended to be sick in bed
in order to avoid being overwhelmed by the demands
of his visitors. On his 75th birthday, his final
year of life, someone sent him a live parrot and
the great scientist took an instantaneous liking
to it. Believing that the bird was depressed,
he tried to cheer it up by telling it his favorite
jokes. Almost until the end, Einstein continued
to take interest in current affairs, while sailing
and music remained his most favorite hobbies.
It is most likely that Einstein did not know that
his close friend was taking notes and keeping
a diary of his activities. Fantova maintained
that she wanted the world to know the human side
of his personality, since it was revealed to only
very few. She died in 1981 at the age of 80, and
until her death her diary remained unpublished,
un-translated and hidden in her personal files.
Discovered recently, it has now been translated
and published by Princeton University Press as
part of the updated version of the book, The New
Quotable Einstein, referred to above. In one of
his published quotations, Einstein while expressing
frustration with the frailties of old age, manages
to remain cheerful: “I feel like an old,
run-down car. But, even old age has some very
beautiful moments.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
