11 Fact about Albert Einstein you may not know about

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein is known for developing the theory of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.

Here are 11 fact about Albert Einstein you probably haven't heard about

• The doctor who performed Einstein's autopsy stole his brain and kept it in a jar for 20 years. Thomas Harvey while performing an autopsy on Einstein, removed his brain without permission and kept it aside in the hope of unlocking the secrets of his genius. Experiments were carried out on his brain and it was deducted that Einstein had an abnormal folding pattern in parts of his parietal lobe, which could explain his amazing Mathematical ability.
  

  

• His great ideas and discoveries came from scenarios that he created in his mind, and not in the laboratory.

  

• Einstein did not consider himself an atheist, but an agnostic or a "religious nonbeliever." Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me." Einstein read the philosopher Eric Gutkind's book Choose Life, a discussion of the relationship between Jewish revelation and the modern world. On January 3, 1954, Einstein sent the following reply to Gutkind
  

      The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends aplenty. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this (for me). Such refined interpretations are naturally highly varied and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the unmodified Jewish religion, like all other religions, is an incarnation of primitive superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mindset I have a deep affinity, have no different quality for me than other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better at anything than other human groups, though at least a lack of power keeps them from the worst excesses. Thus I can ascertain nothing “Chosen” about them.
  
      Overall, I find it painful that you claim a privileged position and seek to defend it with two walls of pride: an outer one as a man, and an inner one as a Jew. As a man you claim a certain exemption from otherwise valid causality; as a Jew, a privilege for monotheism. But a limited causality is no longer causality, as our wonderful Spinoza had first said in the strongest terms. And the animistic interpretations of natural religions are also through monopolization not invalid. With such walls we fall essentially into self-deception, but they do not help us in our search for a higher morality. On the contrary.
  
      Now, though I have in all honesty expressed our different beliefs, I still have the certainty that we largely agree on important matters, e.g. in our assessment of human conduct. What separates us, in Freud’s terms, are intellectual “supports” and “rationalizations.” I therefore believe that we would understand each other well if we were to talk about concrete things.
  
      With friendly thanks and best wishes,
  
      your
  
      A. Einstein.

   In 2018 his letter to Gutkind was sold for $2.9 million.
  
• Israel wanted the scientist to be president of the country, but he refused to assume that position.

  

• Known to have a bad memory, Einstein struggled to remember names, dates and phone numbers.
• Einstein's eyes are still kept in New York; Thomas Harvey didn't only take Einstein brain during autopsy, he also removed his eyeballs, which he gifted to Einstein’s eye doctor, Henry Abrams. Henry Abrams kept Einstein eyes in a safe deposit box,where its said to remain till this day.
  

  

• Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda was inspired by Albert Einstein.
• During his lifetime, Albert Einstein apparently never learned to drive a car. But he did manage to experience the thrill of getting behind the wheel, at least once.

Above, watch a newly-discovered home movie of Einstein and his second wife, Elsa, visiting the Warner Bros. sound-stage on February 3, 1931.

• Einstein was totally against racial segregation, and called the phenomenon "white people's disease". He worked as an activist for causes against racism during his lifetime.
• The physicist was one of the people to sign a petition against German law banning homosexuals.
• In order not to have to enlist, Einstein renounced his German citizenship in 1896 and spent five years without any citizenship. Then he acquired Swiss citizenship in 1901, Austrian in 1911 and American in 1940.

 

Footnotes

Was Einstein Really Religious?