Einstein: A Life of Genius (The True Story of Albert Einstein) Read online

  After the War

  Einstein wrote a fourth letter to Roosevelt in 1945, counseling against the use of the bomb unless it was absolutely necessary, since it appeared that Germany was near collapse and Japan was near defeat in the Pacific. Roosevelt died before the letter was delivered, and his successor, Harry Truman, forwarded the letter to his Secretary of State, evidently unread.

  In 1952, Einstein wrote a short essay, which appeared in the Japanese publication Kaizo. In it, he wrote, “I was well aware of the dreadful danger for all mankind, if these experiments would succeed…I did not see any other way out, although I always was a convinced pacifist. To kill in war time, it seems to me, is in no ways better than common murder.”

  Einstein’s regrets over his marginal role in the development of the atomic bomb were heartfelt, and he carried them for the rest of his life. Shortly before he died, he told Paulding, “Perhaps I can be forgiven because we all felt that there was a high probability that the Germans were working on this problem and they might succeed and use the atomic bomb and become the master race.”

  Einstein and the Creation of the State of Israel

  In 1946, in the aftermath of the war and as the enormity of the holocaust was being exposed to the world, he testified that he was not in favor of the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, although he favored unlimited Jewish migration to the region. In 1948, after the United States recognized the State of Israel, Einstein said it was the “fulfillment of our dreams.”

  When Chaim Weizmann, with whom Einstein had first visited the United States in the 1920s and the first president of Israel, died, Einstein was offered the position as that nation’s second president, which he declined.

  Human Rights

  Einstein became prominently active in the cause of civil rights, and he joined and worked with the Princeton branch of the NAACP, and publicly denounced racism and racial segregation. He wrote a personal letter to President Truman encouraging the president to introduce legislation that would make lynching a federal crime, which would remove lynching cases from frequently indifferent southern courtrooms into impartial federal courts. This activism was not new to Einstein; he had joined in the protests against legislation in Germany which made homosexuality a crime, an indication of his dedication to human rights in all areas.

  Einstein’s pacifism, his support of liberal causes, and his outright condemnation of capitalism all contributed to him being considered subversive by the FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover. His staunch support of socialism supported this assessment. Einstein also publicly praised the communist Lenin, describing him as one who had “completely sacrificed himself and devoted all his energy to the realization of social justice.”

  Late in his life, Einstein redefined his pacifism, comparing absolute pacifism to his personally held convinced pacifism. “While I am a convinced pacifist, there are circumstances in which I believe the use of force is appropriate — namely, in the face of an enemy unconditionally bent on destroying me and my people.”

  Thus, the little boy who ran away from parades, the young idealist who recommended refusing to submit to conscription, and the esteemed scientist who pushed for disarmament allowed his views and attitudes to change throughout his life. Einstein reached conclusions based on what he could observe, rather than on what he was told, and he allowed his observations to alter his beliefs, as the events of his life unfolded before him.

  Epilogue

  “The difference between genius and stupidity,” wrote the man whose name has become synonymous with genius, “is that genius has its limits.” Einstein knew his limits and welcomed them, living comfortably with them. “It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

  The myths that surrounds Albert Einstein includes the widely accepted belief that he had failed math in his youth; that he split the atom; that he helped build the atomic bomb; that he was an atheist; that he was a communist sympathizer; that he was an anarchist; the list is nearly endless. None of these are true.

  What is true is that he was both a complex and simple man, and was gifted with a singularly fascinating mind. He used that mind to author theories that changed physics, and shaped the way we see world and the universe in which it resides.

  He remained intensely private, yet was always accessible, to students, colleagues, and total strangers. He both sought out the limelight and hid from it. He hated war, yet when its inevitability was evident, proposed military solutions. He urged the United States to build an atomic bomb, then argued against its use. He wrote with equal aplomb to the King of Belgium and to grade school students who sought his advice. Einstein once described himself as “a horse for a single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work.”

  When Albert Einstein died from the complications of a stomach aneurysm in April of 1955, he was eulogized in newspapers and other media outlets throughout the world. President Eisenhower said of Einstein, “No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of the 20th century knowledge. Yet no other man was more modest in the possession of the power that is knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom is deadly.”

  In 1999, Time Magazine named Einstein as the Person of the Century as the world moved towards a new millennium, honoring this fascinating person.

  Albert Einstein’s brain was removed after his death and preserved. It was later found that the region responsible for mathematical thought and the ability to think in terms of time and space, was 15% wider than average, and wired differently than an average brain. What this demonstrates about this remarkable man is unclear, but it illustrates what we already knew: Albert Einstein was unlike any other man of his generation.

  Leave Your Amazon Review

  Writing a review is an easy way to share your thoughts with other customers and help them decide what to read next. Use the link below to leave your review now on Amazon:

  Your review only needs to be a couple sentences and include why you liked the book. If you want to include more, please consider:

  What was your favorite part?

  What was the most interesting thing you learned?

  What surprised you most about this person?

  Are you happy with your purchase?

  Would you recommend this to family and friends?

  Who should we write about next?

  View Other Customer Reviews

  Sources

  The Albert Einstein Archives at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, www.albert-einstein.org.

  Einstein’s Studies at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich (1896-1900) ETH Bibliothek. Digital Library of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland. www.library.ethz.ch/en

  Einstein at Princeton – Princeton University, www.princeton.edu

  Albert Einstein, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University. www.ias.edu/people/einstein

  The Year of Albert Einstein, Richard Panek, Smithsonian Magazine, June 2005. www.smithsonianmag.com

  Einstein’s Other Theory, Benny Morris, The Guardian, Feb 15th 2005. www.theguardian.com.

  Einstein’s pacifist dilemma revealed, Shingo Ito, The Guardian, July 5th 2005. www.theguardian.com.

  Einstein’s quest for a unified field theory, American Physical Society, APS News, Volume 14, Number 11, December, 2005. www.aps.org/publications

  Albert Einstein: Death of a Genius, Time Magazine, May 2nd 1955. www.time.com

  Einstein, Albert (1979) Autobiographical Notes, ed. Paul Arthur Schilpp. ISBN 0-87548-352-6.

  Einstein, Albert (1954) Ideas and Opinions, Random House, ISBN 0-517-00393-7.

  Isaacson, Walter (2007) Einstein, His Life and Universe, Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, ISBN 978-0-7432-6473-0

  Stone, Douglas (2013) Einstein and the Quantum, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-13968-5

  Calle, Carlos (2005) Einstein for Dummies, Wiley Publishing Inc. ISBN 13: 978-0-7645-8348-3

  ; Kennedy, Alexander, Einstein: A Life of Genius (The True Story of Albert Einstein)