Albert Einstein, as everyone knows about him, was the biggest mad scientist of the early 20th century. He has many achievements under his name like the theory of relativity, discovery of photons and the connection between mass and energy in the form of E=mc2. He was born in 14 March, 1879 in a German city of Ulm.
He was very romantic
by nature. He was married twice and both of them were love marriage. The first
marriage with Mileva was not very successful, after a separation of about 5
years they divorced and Einstein married Elsa. It was reported that Einstein
promised Mileva that when he will win the Nobel Prize he will give her all of
the winnings from the prize; this is because she was hesitant to sign the final
divorce paper. With that offer she agreed to fill the divorce papers. When he
received the Nobel Prize, he gave her all the prize money as promised. His
level of romantic personality can be judged by one of his quotes which go on
like this: “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a
pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”
When he published
his theory of relativity most of the public couldn’t understand it but they had
fallen in love with this man for one reason or the other. They seemed to love
the idea that his theory was so incomprehensive. As Einstien put it, “now every
coachman and waiter argues about whether or not relativity theory is correct.” According
to one story when Einstein’s theory of relativity was announced, Eddington, an
astronomer who confronted Einstein’s theory was leaving the Royal Society
meeting where it was announced. He was stopped by some fellow scientists who
told him, “There’s rumor that only three of the people in the world understand Einstein’s
theory. You must be one of them.” When the astronomer paused but didn’t say
anything, the other scientist went on, “Don’t be modest Eddington.” Eddington
simply looked at him and said, “Not at all. I was wandering who the third
person might be.”
When Einstein was in
Oxford an American Educator, Abraham Flexner paid him a visit and offered him a
position at his new Institute. It was called the Institute of Advanced Studies.
It was established near Princeton University, although not affiliated with the
school itself. It was designed as a sort of haven where gifted scholars could
work without the pressure of academic demands and teaching duties. In the
course of their discussions, Flexner asked Einstein how much he thought he
should make. Einstein suggested three thousand per year. Flexner was quite
amused because he had more in mind. Flexner told him, “Let Mrs. Einstein and me
arrange it.” When they were done, an annual salary of 15 thousand dollars was
given to the scientist. They were on their way to New Jersey.
Einstein was famous
for his absentminded attitude. He was most of the times completely lost in his
thoughts. One famous story recounts someone calling the institute. The
unidentified caller asked to talk to the dean. When the secretary told him he
wasn’t there, the caller asked if he could give him Dr. Einstein’s home
address. She of course said she couldn’t, at which point the caller whispered,
“Please don’t tell anyone, but I am Dr. Einstein. I am on my way back home and
I have forgotten where my house is.”
Einstein died at the
age of 76. Newspaper around the world noted his death and the USA president,
Eisenhover declared: “No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of
the 20th century knowledge. Yet no man was more modest in the
possession of the power that is knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom
is deadly.”
Source: From the
book “They called me Mad” by John Monaham.
By: Ahmed Ahsan Khan.
wao.
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