Articles related to "Albert Einstein"
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
When I was in junior high school we heard that Einstein had failed math in school. I am sure this was told in order to give us hope that if we had a hard time with a subject it didn't need to precede lifetime failure in that area. But the example was false. Einstein had a hard time in school, but it wasn't because he didn't know his math. White and Gribbin [see bibliography] address this same phenomenon in their preface:
"...Writers have made allegations about Albert Einstein's life and character which do not so much suggest that the idol has feet of clay, but imply that it is entirely made of clay. This is surprising, not least because those allegations were made largely on the basis of the same documentary material available to us while we were writing our biography, and we found no evidence for such an extreme view. It has been claimed, for example, that Einstein...treated his children badly, and that he was solely to blame for the divorce from his first wife, who ought to have been given credit for helping him to develop the special theory of relativity.
"All of these stories contain an element of truth.... But the suggestions that these aspects of his character dominated Einstein's entire life...if absurd. Yes, Einstein...was a distant father who did not have a close relationship with his children' yes, but putting his work first he did precipitate the divorce (but gave his ex-wife, Mileva, the financial proceeds of his Nobel Prize, on which she could live securely); yes, Mileva did help develop the special theory of relativity, but only by checking Albert's arithmetic.
"...The most attractive aspect of the man is that he was not a cold, inhuman figure bent over a mass of scribbled calculations--there were many other facets to his personality. He was a man greatly preoccupied with politics, religion, philosophy, and the human condition. He was musical, widely read, and interested in all aspects of life."
albert einstein
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albert einstein
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theoretical physica
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theory of relativity
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scientists
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mathematics