Footprints Without Feet

A Truly Beautiful Mind

ALBERT Einstein was born on 14 March 1879 in the German city of Ulm, without any indication that he was destined for greatness. On the contrary, his mother thought Albert was a freak. To her, his head seemed much too large.

Albert Einstein was born on 14th march, 1879. He was born in a city whose name was Ulm. It is a city in Germany. At his birth, no indication were available to show that one day he would become a great person of the world. Opposite to such thoughts, her mother was of the opinion that Albert Einstein was slighted deformed. She thought his head was slightly bigger than usual.

2. At the age of two-and-a-half, Einstein still wasn’t talking. When he finally did learn to speak, he uttered everything twice. Einstein did not know what to do with other children, and his playmates called him “Brother Boring.” So the youngster played by himself much of the time. He especially loved mechanical toys. Looking at his newborn sister, Maja, he is said to have said: “Fine, but where are her wheels?”

Albert Einstein did not start talking till he was two and a half year old. When he started talking he used to speak everything (every word or every line) twice. Einstein did not know how to behave with other children. His playmates used to get bored of him. So they called him “Brother Boring”. Therefore, during his childhood, Einstein usually played alone. He liked mechanical toys more than any other type of toys. Name of his sister was Maja. When Einstein saw her newly born sister for the first time, he had asked “where are her wheels?”

3. A headmaster once told his father that what Einstein chose as a profession wouldn’t matter, because “he’ll never make a success at anything.” Einstein began learning to play the violin at the age of six, because his mother wanted him to; he later became a gifted amateur violinist, maintaining this skill throughout his life.

A principal of the school in which Einstein used to study, once talked to his father. The principal told Einstein’s father that Einstein would be unsuccessful in any career or job he selects. When Einstein was six years old, he started to learn to play violin. Einstein started it because his mother wanted him to learn to play violin. After some time he became a very good player of violin. But playing violin was not his career or his profession. He continued to play violin throughout his life for his own pleasure.

4. But Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to high school in Munich, where Einstein’s family had moved when he was 15 months old, and scored good marks in almost every subject. Einstein hated the school’s regimentation, and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled there that he left the school for good.

Einstein was not considered a weak student. His family had shifted to Munich when Einstein was 15 months old. Munich is a city in Germany. He went to high school in a school situated in Munich city. Einstein scored good marks in every subject. Einstein did not like the rules and the controls of school. Therefore many times his teachers used to scold him. When Einstein became 15 years old, he started feeling very suffocated in the school. So he left the school forever.

5. The previous year, Albert’s parents had moved to Milan, and left their son with relatives. After prolonged discussion, Einstein got his wish to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland, in a city which was more liberal than Munich.

A year ago, parents of Albert Einstein had shifted to Milan. During this period Albert used to live with his relatives. Albert wanted to study in Switzerland. German language was spoken there. Albert and his parent continued the discussion about his education for a long period of time. Finally his parent accepted the desire of Albert. Albert wanted to study in a city that was more easy-going than Munich and where people were open minded.

6. Einstein was highly gifted in mathematics and interested in physics, and after finishing school, he decided to study at a university in Zurich. But science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with the walrus moustache.

Einstein was very expert in mathematics. He was interested to study physics. After completing his school, he decided to shift to Zurich for further study. Einstein had an attractive personality. He used to keep walrus style of moustache. In addition to science, he was attracted towards other things also.

7. He also felt a special interest in a fellow student, Mileva Maric, whom he found to be a “clever creature.” This young Serb had come to Switzerland because the University in Zurich was one of the few in Europe where women could get degrees.

Einstein was especially attracted to a student of his class. Her name was Mileva Maric. He had describe her as a clever living being. This young lady had come to Switzerland from Serbia. In those days women could not study in every university of Europe. But women were allowed to study in University of Zurich.

Einstein saw in her an ally against the “philistines”— those people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds. The couple fell in love.

Some of the family members were against Einstein. Some people in the University of Zurich were always against Einstein. Mileva Maric always supported Einstein. They started liking each other.

Letters survive in which they put their affection into words, mixing science with tenderness. Wrote Einstein: “How happy and proud I shall be when we both have brought our work on relativity to a victorious conclusion.”

Letters written by them to each other are available even now. They used to write words of science as well as their emotions in their letters. Einstein had once written to Mileva Maric that he would be very happy and proud if they both worked together to prove the theory of relativity. According to him, that would be a great victory for both of them.

8. In 1900, at the age of 21, Albert Einstein was a university graduate and unemployed. He worked as a teaching assistant, gave private lessons and finally secured a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern.

Einstein completed his graduation in 1900. At that time his age was 21 years. He did not have a regular job. He worked as a teaching assistant. He starting taking private tuitions. Finally he got a job in 1902. He started working as a technical expert in the patent office. This office was situated in Bern.

While he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions, Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret. He is said to have jokingly called his desk drawer at work the “bureau of theoretical physics.”

In his office, Einstein was required to evaluate inventions done by others. By doing this work, he unknowingly started developing his own ideas. As matter of joke, he had named the drawer of his desk as the ‘desk or office of practical physics’.

9. One of the famous papers of 1905 was Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, according to which time and distance are not absolute.

In the years 1905, one of the famous research was Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. In his research Einstein tried to prove that time and distance are not independent quantities. These change relative to other values. Therefore we perceive the change.

Indeed, two perfectly accurate clocks will not continue to show the same time if they come together again after a journey if one of them has been moving very fast relative to the other.

Let us assume that two clocks show same time at one particular instant. But one clock is running slightly faster than the other clock. Then after 24 hours both clocks will not show the same time. This is because one clock is moving faster relative to another.

From this followed the world’s most famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy: E = mc2 * * * ally: a friend or an associate philistines: a word used disapprovingly to talk about people who do not like art, literature or music (In this mathematical equation, E stands for energy, m for mass and c for the speed of the light in a vacuum (about 300,000 km/s).

From theory of relativity, the most famous formula of the world was developed. This formula describes relationship between energy and mass.

10. While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in physics, his private life was unravelling. Albert had wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, but his mother was against it.

Word Meaning

Einstein was busy in finding solution to the most difficult problem of physics. During the same time some developments were taking place in his personal life also. Albert wanted to marry Mileva immediately after completing his studies. But his mother was against their marriage.

She thought Mileva, who was three years older than her son, was too old for him. She was also bothered by Mileva’s intelligence. “She is a book like you,” his mother said. Einstein put the wedding off.

Mileva was three years older than Einstein. Mother of Einstein was therefore not in favour of this marriage. Mother was also worried by the intelligence of Mileva. Meaning that Mileva was more educated than Einstein’s mother. The mother was not able to accept this fact. The mother told Einstein that Mileva was also like a book. She considered Einstein also a book. Because they both were busy studying. Owing to resistance from his mother, Einstein postponed his marriage with Mileva.

11. The pair finally married in January 1903, and had two sons. But a few years later, the marriage faltered. Mileva, meanwhile, was losing her intellectual ambition and becoming an unhappy housewife. After years of constant fighting, the couple finally divorced in 1919. Einstein married his cousin Elsa the same year.

In January 1903, Einstein and Mileva finally got married. They were blessed with two sons. But after some years troubles started in their marriage. Their marred life was not successful. They were not happy living together. In the meanwhile Mileva lost interest in her studies. They started fighting with each other. They finally divorced each other in 1919. In the year 1919 itself Einstein married with Elsa. She was cousin of Eistein.

12.Einstein’s new personal chapter coincided with his rise to world fame. In 1915, he had published his General Theory of Relativity, which provided a new interpretation of gravity. An eclipse of the sun in 1919 brought proof that it was accurate.

The new phase of personal life of Einstein started in the same year. Einstein become famous throughout the world. In 1915 he had written his General Theory of Relativity. This paper gave a new explanation to force of gravity. This theory was proved correct when an eclipse of sun occurred in 1919 as per his prediction.

Einstein had correctly calculated in advance the extent to which the light from fixed stars would be deflected through the sun’s gravitational field. The newspapers proclaimed his work as “a scientific revolution.”

Einstein had accurately predicted to what amount the light from a fixed star would change direction because of gravitation of the Sun. The newspapers announced this prediction as a new invention in the field of science.

13. Einstein received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. He was showered with honours and invitations from all over the world, and lauded by the press.

Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Einstein in 1921. Many more hounours were given to him. He was invited by many organisations of the world to honour him. His research was highly appreciated by the press.

14. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Einstein emigrated to the United States. Five years later, the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American physicists in an uproar.

In 1933, Nazis started ruling Germany. That year Einstein shifted to United States. After five years, nuclear fission was invented in Berlin. American scientists of Physics made lot of protests and objections to this invention.

Many of them had fled from Fascism, just as Einstein had, and now they were afraid the Nazis could build and use an atomic bomb.

Many of these scientists had run away from Germany because they did not want to live in country that was ruled by Nazis. Einstein had also shifted to America because of this reason. Now they all were afraid that Nazis could make an atomic bomb. They also had doubts that Nazis could use the atomic bomb.

15. At the urging of a colleague, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on 2 August 1939, in which he warned: “A single bomb of this type . . . exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.”

Friends of Einstein strongly requested him to write a letter to American President. At that time president of USA was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein wrote a letter to him on 2 August 1939. Einstein wrote that even if only one atomic bomb is dropped at any of the ports, it would certainly destroy the entire port. It will also destroy some of the areas around the port.

His words did not fail to have an effect. The Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project of their own, and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Letter of Einstein had an effect on the policy of USA. Secretly America developed their own atomic bomb. In August 1945, two such bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

16. Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. This time he wrote a public missive to the United Nations. In it he proposed the formation of a world government.

Einstein was highly shocked by the amount of damage caused by these two bombs. So he wrote a lengthy letter to the United Nations. He proposed that the world should have only one government. There should not be separate government for separate nations.

Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact. But over the next decade, Einstein got ever more involved in politics — agitating for an end to the arms buildup and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.

This letter of Einstein had no effect on any one. During the next 10 years, Einstein increased his involvement in politics. He started a movement to stop building and collection of arms. He used his popularity to make efforts for peace and democracy in the world.

17. When Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76, he was celebrated as a visionary and world citizen as much as a scientific genius.

Einstein died in 1955. At that time his age was 76 years. He was highly respected as a person who had original ideas about future. He was also regarded as a citizen of the whole world rather than a citizen of one country. Certainly he was a genius of science.

Summary

This chapter throws some light on the life and work of Albert Einstein. He was one of the greatest scientists of the world. He was born in Germany on March 14, 1879. Even as a child, he was much different from other children. He loved to play with mechanical toys. He got his education in Switzerland. After completing his education, he came back to Germany. In 1903, he married a girl named Mileva whom he loved dearly. But their marriage broke in 1919 and Albert married a cousin of his. By this time Albert had become very famous because of his Theory of Relativity. He was honored all over the world. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany. Now Einstein left Germany and went to the USA. In 1938 , it was known that the Nazis could make an atom bomb. Einstein warned the American government about the dangers of such a bomb. Now Americans secretly developed an atom bomb of their own. In August 1945, this bomb was dropped on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The extent of destruction caused by it shocked Einstein deeply. Now he started campaigning for peace and democracy in the world. He proposed to the United Nations that a world government should be formed. Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76. He was not only a scientific genius but also a great visionary and a world citizen.

Textual Questions

3. Explain what the reasons for the following are: (a) Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good. Ans. Einstein did not like the strict discipline of the school in Munich. He was feeling suffocating. There he often got into arguments with the teachers. He wanted to breathe in the open air. So, he left the school in Munich for good. (b) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than Munich. Ans. Einstein felt suffocated in Munich. He did not like the strict discipline of Munich. But on the other hand in Switzerland the atmosphere was more free. So, he wanted to study in Switzerland rather than Munich. (c) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally. Ans. Mileva was a fellow student of Einstein in Zurich. She was a young woman from the country of Servia. She was very intelligent. Einstein saw in her an ally against all philistines. 4. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why? Ans. In 1902, Einstein got a job of technical expert in a patent office. His job was to evaluate inventions made by other people. But actually, he was developing his ideas in secret. He called his desk drawer “bureau of theoretical physics.” 5. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt? Ans. The Nazis in Germany started developing nuclear fission. Einstein knew the extent of destruction that an atom bomb could make. So, he wrote a letter to the President of the U.S.A. Franklin Roosevelt to warn him about the destruction caused by this bomb. 6. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Ans. Einstein was deeply moved by the devastation caused by the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He wrote a long letter to the United Nations asking for the formation of a world government. After this incident he "became more interested in politics" and worked for peace and democracy in the world. 7. Why does the world remember Einstein as a 'world citizen'? Ans. Einstein worked for the development of peace and democracy in the world. He wanted all the world to work as a unit. So, he proposed for the formation of the world government. That is why the world remembers him as a ' world citizen'. He worked for the development of peace and democracy. He wanted the whole world to be one unit.