What year did Einstein live. Albert Einstein - genius physicist, Don Juan and truant

Albert Einstein - a brilliant theoretical physicist, one of the most famous founders of modern theoretical physics, a public figure-humanist, Nobel Prize winner, honorary doctor of twenty universities, honorary member of many Academies of Sciences.

Biography

Childhood

Einstein was born into a Jewish family that was not rich. His father, Herman, worked at a feather bed and mattress stuffing company. Mother Paulina (nee Koch) was the daughter of a corn merchant. Albert had a younger sister, Maria. IN hometown the future scientist did not live even a year - the family left to live in Munich in 1880. His mother taught little Albert to play the violin, and he did not leave musical studies until the end of his days.

Education

Albert Einstein studied at a local Catholic school, but he was bored with the education system, and he did not shine at all with his successes. In 1895 he entered the Aarau school in Switzerland and successfully completed it. In Zurich in 1896, Einstein entered the Higher Technical School. After graduating in 1900, the future scientist received a diploma in physics and mathematics.

Career

After graduating from the Polytechnic, Einstein, in need of money, began looking for work in Zurich, but could not even get a job as an ordinary school teacher. This literally hungry period in the life of the great scientist affected his health: hunger became the cause of serious liver disease. Albert was helped with employment by his former classmate, Marcel Grossman. On his recommendations, in 1902 Albert got a job as an expert Class III to the Burne Federal Bureau of Invention Patents. Until 1909, the scientist evaluated applications for inventions.

In 1902, Einstein loses his father.

Since 1905, all physicists of the world recognize Einstein's surname. The journal Annals of Physics published three of his articles at once, which marked the beginning of the scientific revolution. They were devoted to the theory of relativity, quantum theory, statistical physics.

In 1906, Einstein received his Ph.D. By this time, he was already gaining worldwide fame: physicists from all over the world write letters to him, come to meet him. Einstein met Planck, with whom they had a long and strong friendship.

In 1909, he was offered to work at the University of Zurich as an extraordinary professor. However, due to the small salary, Einstein soon agreed to a better offer. He was invited to head the Department of Physics at the German University of Prague.

He participates in all scientific congresses and conferences in physics, lectures at various universities. He was a professor at his native polytechnic in Zurich, headed a new physics research institute, was a professor at the University of Berlin.

During the First World War, the scientist openly expresses his pacifist views and continues scientific discoveries... After 1917, liver disease worsens, stomach ulcers appear and jaundice begins. Without even getting out of bed, Einstein continued his scientific research.

In 1920, after a serious illness, Einstein's mother dies.

In the 20s, the scientist travels with lectures in Europe and the USA, has visited India and Japan.

In 1921, Einstein finally became a Nobel laureate.

With the coming to power of Hitler, a scientist who condemned any war, terrorism and violence, was forced to leave his native and beloved Germany. The Nazis declared all of his work and discoveries a distortion of true science and even promised a reward for his murder.

After settling in the United States, Einstein becomes a respected and honorary citizen there, meets with Roosevelt, holds a post of professor at the Institute for Advanced Study (New Jersey).

Personal life

While studying at the Zurich Polytechnic, Einstein met there a Serbian student Mileva Maric, who studied at the Faculty of Medicine. In 1903 they got married and had three children in the marriage. However, in 1914, the family breaks up: Einstein leaves for Berlin, leaving his wife and children in Zurich. In 1919, an official divorce took place.

In 1919, after receiving a divorce, Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal (nee Einstein), his maternal cousin. He adopts her two children. In 1936, Elsa died of heart disease.

Some talk about Einstein's mutual infatuation with Marilyn Monroe.

Death

Albert Einstein died on the night of April 18, 1955 in Princeton. The cause of death was a ruptured aortic aneurysm. According to his personal will, the funeral took place without wide publicity, only 12 people close and dear to him attended them. The body was burned in the Ewing-Semetery crematorium, the ashes were scattered in the wind.

Einstein's main achievements

Einstein is the author of 300 scientific theoretical works in physics, 150 books in the field of philosophy of science, history and journalism.
Einstein discovered such important theories for physics as:
- theory of relativity;
- light scattering theory;
- quantum theory heat capacity;
- the law of the relationship of mass and energy;
- theory of stimulated radiation;
- quantum theory of the photoelectric effect;
- statistical theory of Brownian motion;
- quantum statistics.

Important dates in Einstein's biography

1879 - birth
1880 moved to Munich
1893 - went to live in Switzerland
1895-1896 - studying at the Aarau school
1896-1900 - Studied at the Polytechnic Zurich
1902-1909 - worked at the Federal Bureau of Patent Inventions
1902 - father's death
1903 - marriage to Mileva Marich
1905 - first discoveries
1906 Doctor of Science Degree in Physics
1909 - Professor at the University of Zurich
1911 - Head of the Department of Physics at the German University of Prague
1914 - return to Germany
1919 - marriage to Elsa Loeventhal
1920 - mother's death
1921 - Nobel Prize
1926 - Honorary Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
1933 - left to live in the USA
1936 - death of his wife Elsa
1955 - death

Einstein loved growing roses.
Charlie Chaplin was among the closest friends of the great scientist.
Hans-Albert, the eldest son of Einstein, became a great specialist in hydraulics, a professor at the University of California.
Edward, the youngest son of the great scientist, was ill with a severe form of schizophrenia and died in a psychiatric hospital in Zurich.
One cousin of Einstein died in Auschwitz, another died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
The famous photograph of Einstein showing his tongue was taken for annoying journalists who asked the great scientist to just smile at the camera.
During World War II, Einstein was a technical consultant in Naval forces USA. It is known for certain that Russian intelligence more than once sent their agents to him for secret information.

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the southern German city of Ulm, into a poor Jewish family.

In 1900 Einstein graduated from the Polytechnic with a diploma in mathematics and physics. He passed the exams successfully, but not brilliantly. Many professors highly appreciated the abilities of Einstein's student, but no one wanted to help him continue his scientific career. Einstein himself later recalled:

"I was bullied by my professors, who did not like me because of my independence and closed my path to science . "

Although next,1901 year , Einstein obtained Swiss citizenship, but until spring1902 year could not find a permanent job - even as a school teacher. Due to the lack of earnings, he literally starved, not eating for several days in a row. This became the cause of liver disease, from which the scientist suffered until the end of his life.

After the convention, Einstein finally got the paid post of professor extraordinary atZurich University (December 1909), where his old friend Marcel Grossman taught geometry. The pay was small, especially for a family with two children, and in 1911 Einstein did not hesitate to accept an invitation to head the physics department atprague German University ... During this period, Einstein continued to publish a series of articles on thermodynamics, relativity and quantum theory. In Prague, he will intensify research on theorygravitation , setting the goal of creating a relativistic theory of gravity and fulfilling the old dream of physicists - to exclude from this areanewtonian long-range action.

At the end of 1913, on the recommendation of Planck and Nernst, Einstein received an invitation to head the physics research institute that was being created in Berlin; he is also credited as a professor at the University of Berlin. In addition to being close to Planck's friend, this position had the advantage that it did not oblige him to be distracted by teaching. He accepted the invitation, and in the pre-war 1914 year, a dedicated pacifist Einstein arrived in Berlin. Mileva and her children remained in Zurich, their family broke up. They officially divorced in February 1919.

The mathematical formalization of these ideas was quite laborious and took several years (1907-1915). Einstein had to master tensor analysis and create its four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian generalization; in this he was helped by consultations and joint work first with Marcel Grossman, who co-authored Einstein's first papers on tensor gravity, and then with the "king of mathematicians" of those years, David Hilbert. In 1915, the main equations of Einstein's general theory of relativity (GR), generalizing Newtonian ones, were published almost simultaneously in the papers of Einstein and Hilbert.

His theories have provoked a stormy controversy around them; no modern scientist, with the exception of Darwin, has faced such controversial assessments as Einstein. Despite this, in 1913 he was appointed professor at the University of Berlin and at the same time became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics and a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

These positions allowed him to do scientific research as much as he desired. The German government had little reason to regret making such a very lucrative offer to Einstein, because only two years later he was able to formulate general relativity and in 1921 was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Einstein lived the second half of his life as a world famous scientist, in all likelihood the most famous scientist in the entire history of science. Since Einstein was Jewish, it was dangerous for him to remain in Germany when Hitler came to power. In 1933 he moved to Princeton, New Jersey, and began working at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1940 he becomes a citizen of the United States.

Einstein's first marriage ended in divorce, and the second, apparently, was happy. He had two children, both boys. He died in 1955 at Princeton.

Einstein was always interested in what was happening in the world and often expressed his point of view on political issues. He was a consistent opponent of political tyranny, a passionate pacifist and an ardent supporter of Zionism. In matters of dress and social convention, he was a clear individualist. He had an excellent sense of humor, humility befitting his age, and was noted for some talent in playing the violin. The inscription on Newton's grave could with great success be addressed to Einstein: "Let mortals rejoice that such a magnificent adornment of the human race existed in the world."

Interesting Facts:

Einstein began speaking only at the age of four, and writing at seven. The teachers called him "slow" and "mentally underdeveloped." But Einstein simply had a special mindset, which is confirmed by his Nobel Prize in physics.

Albert Einstein - the great German theoretical physicist who made a huge contribution to the development of physics, in 1921 - Nobel Prize Laureate. His legacy is more than 300 works on physics, 150 books, several theories that were of great importance for modern science.

early years

The future great physicist was born into an ordinary Jewish family in southern Germany in 1879. After moving to Munich, Albert began studying at a local Catholic school. At the age of 12, he realized that what is written in the Bible cannot be true, science cannot confirm this. From an early age he began to play the violin, and this love of music he had throughout his life.
In 1895 he tried to enter the Technical School, passed mathematics brilliantly, but failed botany and French. The following year, he nevertheless entered the school at the pedagogical faculty.

Scientific activity

In 1900, Albert Einstein graduated from college and received a diploma in physics and mathematics teacher. The following year, he received Swiss citizenship, finally collecting the required amount. But then he had serious problems with money and even had to starve for several days, which hit his liver hard, from which he suffered for the rest of his life.
But despite this, he continues to study physics, and in 1901 his first article was published. But in 1902 he was helped to find an excellent job, paying 3,500 francs a year, or slightly less than 300 francs a month.
In January 1903, Einstein married a girl whom he had met while still studying. 1905 became a year of revolution for all science and for Einstein himself. This year, three of his articles were published, which made an immense contribution to science. These are the theory of relativity, quantum theory and Brownian motion.
These works brought him worldwide fame, and the next year he received his doctorate in physics. In 1911 he became head of the Department of Physics at the German University. In 1913 he became a professor at the prestigious Berlin University. In 1919, he divorced his wife.
In 1922 he received Nobel Prize... Interestingly, before that, he was nominated for it several times, almost from the beginning of his scientific activitiesexcept for a couple of years.
Albert Einstein also traveled around the world and gave lectures at the most famous universities. Because of Nazism in Germany, the great physicist left his country forever and received citizenship in the United States. Almost instantly, he became one of the most famous people in this country.
The scientist has always stood for peace and was an ardent opponent of any manifestation of violence, especially war. Einstein himself, as a person, was very kind, friendly, always happily communicated with all his fans, answered all letters, even children's ones.
Interestingly, being a very rich man, he never bought himself a TV and a car.
Most violently he opposed nuclear war and even in his last letter he begged all his friends not to admit the possibility of its beginning. In 1955, his health deteriorated greatly, at the same time he wrote that his role on Earth was fulfilled.
The great physicist died on April 18, 1955. Before his death, he refused a lavish funeral, his ashes were scattered in the circle of twelve friends.

The famous figure in the world of natural sciences Albert Einstein (years of life: 1879-1955) is known even to the humanities who do not like precise subjects, because the surname of this person has become a common name for people with incredible mental abilities.

Einstein is the founder of physics in its modern sense: the great scientist - the founder of the theory of relativity and the author of more than three hundred scientific papers. Albert is also known as a publicist and public figure, who is an honorary doctor of about twenty higher educational institutions of the world. This man attracts with ambiguity: the facts say that, despite his incredible ingenuity, he was foolish in solving everyday issues, which makes him an interesting figure in the eyes of the public.

Childhood and youth

The biography of the great scientist begins with the small German city of Ulm, located on the Danube River - this is the place where Albert was born on March 14, 1879 in a poor family of Jewish origin.

The father of the genius physicist Herman was engaged in the production of filling mattresses with feather stuffing, but soon the Albert family moved to the city of Munich. Herman, along with his brother Jacob, took up a small company selling electrical equipment, which at first developed successfully, but soon could not withstand the competition of large firms.

As a child, Albert was considered a dim child, for example, he did not speak until the age of three. Parents were even afraid that their child would never learn to pronounce the words, when at the age of 7, Albert barely moved his lips, trying to repeat the learned phrases. Also, the mother of the scientist Pauline was afraid that the child had a congenital deformity: the boy had a large nape, which protruded strongly forward, and Einstein's grandmother constantly repeated that her grandson was fat.

Albert had little contact with his peers and was more fond of solitude, for example, he built houses of cards. From an early age, the great physicist showed a negative attitude towards war: he hated the noisy game of soldiers, because it personifies a bloody war. Einstein's attitude to war did not change throughout his later life: he actively opposed bloodshed and nuclear weapons.

A vivid memory of a genius is the compass, which Albert received from his father at the age of five. Then the boy was ill, and Herman showed him an object that interested the child: after all, it is surprising that the arrow of the device showed the same direction. This little subject aroused incredible interest in the young Einstein.

Little Albert was often taught by his uncle Jacob, who from childhood instilled in his nephew's love for exact mathematics. Together they read textbooks on geometry and mathematics, and solving a problem on their own for a young genius has always been happiness. However, Einstein's mother Paulina had a negative attitude towards such activities and believed that for a five-year-old child, love for the exact sciences would not turn out to be anything good. But it was clear that this man would make great discoveries in the future.

Albert Einstein with his sister

It is also known that Albert was interested in religion from childhood, he believed that it was impossible to start studying the universe without understanding God. The future scientist watched the priests with trepidation and did not understand why the higher biblical reason did not stop the war. When the boy was 12 years old, his religious conviction sank into oblivion due to the study of scientific books. Einstein became committed to the Bible as a highly developed system for managing youth.

After leaving school, Albert entered the Munich gymnasium. The teachers considered him mentally retarded due to the same speech defect. Einstein studied only those subjects that interested him, ignoring history, literature and the German language. FROM german he had special problems: the teacher told Albert in the face that he would not finish school.

Albert Einstein at age 14

Einstein hated going to an educational institution and believed that teachers themselves did not know a lot, but they thought of themselves as upstarts who were allowed to do everything. Because of such judgments, young Albert constantly entered into disputes with them, so he developed a reputation as not only a backward, but also not the best student.

Without graduating from high school, 16-year-old Albert moves with his family to sunny Italy, to Milan. In the hope of entering the Federal Higher Technical School of Zurich, the future scientist goes from Italy to Sweden on foot. Einstein managed to show decent results in the exact sciences on the exam, but Albert completely failed in the humanities. But the rector technical school appreciated the outstanding abilities of the teenager and advised him to go to the Aarau school in Switzerland, which, by the way, was considered far from the best. And Einstein was not considered a genius at all in this school.

Best students Aarau left to receive high education in the German capital, however, in Berlin, the ability of graduates was poorly rated. Albert recognized the texts of the problems that the director's favorites could not cope with, and solved them. Then the satisfied future scientist came to Schneider's office, showing the solved problems. Albert angered the head of the school, saying that he unfairly chooses students to compete.

After successfully completing his studies, Albert enters the educational institution of his dreams - the Zurich school. However, the relationship with the professor of the department Weber was bad for the young genius: the two physicists constantly swore and argued.

The beginning of a scientific career

Due to disagreements with professors at the institute, Albert was closed the path to science. He passed the exams well, but not perfect, the professors denied the student a scientific career. Einstein worked with interest at the scientific department of the Polytechnic Institute, Weber said that his student was a smart guy, but he did not accept criticism.

At the age of 22, Albert received his teaching diploma in mathematics and physics. But due to the same quarrels with teachers, Einstein could not find a job, having spent two years in an agonizing search for a permanent job. Albert lived poorly and could not even buy food. Friends of the scientist helped to get a job in the patent office, where he worked for a long time.

In 1904, Albert began cooperation with the journal Annals of Physics, gaining authority in the publication, and in 1905, the scientist publishes his own scientific work... But the revolution in the world of science was made by three articles of the great physicist:

To the electrodynamics of moving bodies, which became the basis of the theory of relativity;
The work that laid the foundation for quantum theory;
A scientific article that made a discovery in statistical physics about Brownian motion.

Theory of relativity

Einstein's theory of relativity radically changed the scientific physical concepts that used to be based on Newtonian mechanics, which existed for about two hundred years. But the theory of relativity, deduced by Albert Einstein, was able to fully understand only a few, so in educational institutions teach only the special theory of relativity, which is part of the general one. SRT speaks about the dependence of space and time on speed: the higher the speed of the body, the more distorted both the size and the time.

According to SRT, it is possible to travel in time by overcoming the speed of light, therefore, based on the impossibility of such travels, a limitation was introduced: the speed of any object cannot exceed the speed of light. For small speeds, space and time are not distorted, therefore, the classical laws of mechanics are applied here, and high speeds, for which the distortion is noticeable, are called relativistic. And this is only a small part of both the special and general theory of Einstein's entire motion.

Nobel Prize

Albert Einstein has been nominated for the Nobel Prize more than once, but this award has bypassed the scientist for about 12 years because of his new and not everyone's understanding of the exact science. However, the committee decided to compromise and nominate Albert for his work on the theory of the photoelectric effect, for which the scientist was awarded the prize. This is due to the fact that this invention is not so revolutionary, unlike general relativity, for which Albert, in fact, prepared his speech.

However, at the time when the scientist received a telegram from the committee about the nomination, the scientist was in Japan, so they decided to present him with the award in 1922 for 1921. However, there are rumors that Albert knew long before the trip that he would be nominated. But the scientist decided not to stay in Stockholm at such a crucial moment.

Personal life

The life of the great scientist is covered with interesting facts: Albert Einstein is a strange man. He was known to dislike wearing socks and also hated brushing his teeth. In addition, he had a bad memory for simple things, such as phone numbers.

Albert married Mileva Maric at the age of 26. Despite the 11-year marriage, the spouses soon had disagreements about family life, according to rumors, due to the fact that Albert was still that womanizer and had about ten passions. However, he offered his wife a cohabitation contract, according to which she had to comply with certain conditions, for example, periodically washing things. But under the contract, Mileva and Albert did not provide for any love relationship: the former spouses even slept separately. The genius had children from his first marriage: the youngest son died while in a psychiatric hospital, and the scientist did not have a relationship with the older one.

After his divorce from Mileva, the scientist married Elsa Leventhal, his cousin. However, he was also interested in Elsa's daughter, who had no mutual feelings for a man who is 18 years older than her.

Many who knew the scientist noted that he was an unusually kind person, was ready to lend a helping hand and admit mistakes.

Cause of death and memory

In the spring of 1955, during a walk between Einstein and his friend, a simple conversation about life and death ensued, during which the 76-year-old scientist said that death is also a relief.

On April 13, Albert's condition deteriorated sharply: doctors diagnosed aortic aneurysm, but the scientist refused to operate. Albert was in the hospital, where he suddenly got sick. He whispered words on native language, however, the nurse could not understand them. The woman approached the patient's bed, but Einstein had already died of a hemorrhage in the abdominal cavity on April 18, 1955. All his acquaintances spoke of him as a meek and very kind person. This was a bitter loss for the entire scientific world.

Quotes

Quotes from a physicist about philosophy and life are a subject for a separate discussion. Einstein formed his own and independent outlook on life, with which more than one generation agrees.

There are only two ways to live life. The first is that miracles don't exist. The second - as if there were only miracles around.
If you want to lead a happy life, you must be attached to a goal, not to people or things.
Logic can lead you from point A to point B, and imagination can take you anywhere ...
If the theory of relativity is confirmed, then the Germans will say that I am German, and the French - that I am a citizen of the world; but if my theory is disproved, the French will declare me a German and the Germans a Jew.
If a mess on a table means a mess in your head, then what does an empty table mean?
It is people who cause me seasickness, not the sea. But I'm afraid science has not yet found a cure for this ailment.
Education is what remains after everything learned in school is forgotten.
We are all geniuses. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life, considering itself a fool.
The only thing that prevents me from studying is the education I received.
Strive not to achieve success, but to ensure that your life has meaning.

Editorial response

Albert Einsteinwas born on March 14, 1879 in the southern German city of Ulm, into a poor Jewish family.

The scientist lived in Germany and the USA, however, he always denied that he knew english language... The scientist was a public figure-humanist, an honorary doctor of about 20 leading universities in the world, a member of many academies of sciences, including a foreign honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1926).

Einstein at 14. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The discoveries of the great genius in science gave tremendous growth to mathematics and physics in the 20th century. Einstein is the author of about 300 papers in physics, as well as the author of over 150 books in the field of other sciences. During his life, he developed many significant physical theories.

AiF.ru collected 15 interesting facts from the life of a world famous scientist.

Einstein studied poorly

As a child, the famous scientist was not a child prodigy. Many doubted its usefulness, and his mother even suspected the congenital deformity of her child (Einstein had a big head).

Einstein never received his high school diploma, but he assured his parents that he himself would be able to prepare for admission to the Higher Technical School (Polytechnic) in Zurich. But the first time he failed.

Still, having entered the Polytechnic, student Einstein very often skipped lectures, reading magazines with the latest scientific theories in cafes.

After graduation, he got a job as an expert in a patent office. Due to the fact that the assessment technical characteristics at young specialist most often took about 10 minutes, he was busy developing his own theories.

Didn't like sports

Aside from swimming ("the sport that requires the least energy," as Einstein himself said), he avoided any vigorous activity. Once a scientist said: "When I come home from work, I do not want to do anything except the work of the mind."

Solved difficult problems by playing the violin

Einstein had a special way of thinking. He singled out those ideas that were inelegant or disharmonious, based mainly on aesthetic criteria. Then he proclaimed general principle, according to which harmony would be restored. And he made predictions about how physical objects would behave. This approach has produced stunning results.

Einstein's favorite instrument. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The scientist trained in himself the ability to rise above the problem, see it from an unexpected angle and find an extraordinary way out. When he found himself in a dead end, playing the violin, a solution suddenly popped up in his head.

Einstein "stopped wearing socks"

They say that Einstein was not very neat and once said this about this: “When I was young, I learned that thumb always ends with a hole in the sock. So I stopped wearing socks. "

Loved to smoke a pipe

Einstein was a lifelong member of the Montreal pipe smokers' club. He was very respectful of the smoking pipe and believed that it "helps to calmly and objectively judge human affairs."

Hated science fiction

In order not to distort pure science and give people the false illusion of scientific understanding, he recommended complete abstinence from any type of science fiction. “I never think about the future, it will come so soon,” he said.

Einstein's parents were against his first marriage

Einstein met his first wife Mileva Maric in 1896 in Zurich, where they studied together at the Polytechnic. Albert was 17 years old, Mileva - 21. She was from a Catholic Serbian family living in Hungary. Einstein's collaborator Abraham Pais, who became his biographer, wrote in a fundamental biography of his great boss, published in 1982, that both of Albert's parents were against this marriage. Only on his deathbed, Einstein's father Herman gave his consent to his son's marriage. And Paulina, the mother of the scientist, never accepted her daughter-in-law. "Everything in me resisted this marriage," Pice quotes Einstein's 1952 letter.

Einstein with his first wife Mileva Maric (c. 1905). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

2 years before the wedding, in 1901, Einstein wrote to his beloved: “... I have lost my mind, I am dying, I am burning with love and desire. The pillow you sleep on is a hundred times happier than my heart! You come to me at night, but, unfortunately, only in a dream ... ".

However, after a short time, the future father of the theory of relativity and the future father of the family writes to his bride in a completely different tone: “If you want to get married, you will have to agree to my terms, here they are:

firstly, you will take care of my clothes and bed;
secondly, you will bring me food three times a day to my office;
thirdly, you will refuse all personal contact with me, except for those that are necessary for the maintenance of decency in society;
fourthly, whenever I ask you about it, you will leave my bedroom and study;
fifthly, without words of protest, you will perform scientific calculations for me;
sixth, you will not expect any manifestations of feelings from me. "

Mileva accepted these humiliating conditions and became not only a faithful wife, but also a valuable assistant in her work. On May 14, 1904, they have a son, Hans Albert, the only successor of the Einstein family. In 1910, the second son, Edward, was born, who suffered from dementia since childhood and ended his life in 1965 in a Zurich psychiatric hospital.

Firmly believed he would receive the Nobel Prize

In fact, Einstein's first marriage broke up in 1914, in 1919, already during the legal divorce proceedings, the following written promise of Einstein appeared: “I promise you that when I receive the Nobel Prize, I will give you all the money. You have to agree to a divorce, otherwise you won't get anything at all.

The couple were confident that Albert would become a Nobel laureate for the theory of relativity. He really received the Nobel Prize in 1922, albeit with a completely different wording (for explaining the laws of the photoelectric effect). Einstein kept his word: he gave all 32 thousand dollars (a huge amount for that time) to his ex-wife. Until the end of his days, Einstein also took care of the inferior Edward, wrote him letters that he could not even read without outside help. When visiting his sons in Zurich, Einstein stayed with Mileva in her house. Mileva was very upset about the divorce, long time was depressed, was treated by psychoanalysts. She died in 1948 at the age of 73. Einstein felt guilty before his first wife until the end of his days.

Einstein's second wife was his sister

In February 1917, the 38-year-old author of the theory of relativity fell seriously ill. Extremely intensive mental work with poor nutrition in warring Germany (this was the Berlin period of life) and without proper care provoked acute liver disease. Then jaundice and stomach ulcer were added. His maternal cousin and paternal second cousin took the initiative in caring for the patient. Elsa Einstein-Lowenthal... She was three years older, divorced, had two daughters. Albert and Elsa were friendly since childhood, new circumstances contributed to their rapprochement. Kind, warm-hearted, motherly caring, in a word, a typical burgher, Elsa loved to look after her famous brother. As soon as Einstein's first wife, Mileva Marich, agreed to a divorce, Albert and Elsa got married, Albert adopted Elsa's daughters and was on excellent terms with them.

Einstein with his wife Elsa. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Didn't take trouble seriously

In his normal state, the scientist was unnaturally calm, almost inhibited. Of all the emotions, he preferred smug cheerfulness. I absolutely could not stand it when someone around was sad. He did not see what he did not want to see. Didn't take trouble seriously. He believed that troubles "dissolve" from jokes. And that they can be transferred from a personal plan to a general one. For example, compare the grief from your divorce with the grief brought to the people by the war. La Rochefoucauld's Maxims helped him to suppress his emotions; he constantly re-read them.

Didn't like the pronoun "we"

He said "I" and did not allow anyone to say "we". The meaning of this pronoun simply did not reach the scientist. His close friend only once saw the imperturbable Einstein in a rage when his wife uttered the forbidden "we".

Often withdrawn into myself

To be independent of conventional wisdom, Einstein often became isolated. It was a childhood habit. He even started talking at the age of 7 because he did not want to communicate. He built comfortable worlds and opposed them to reality. The world of the family, the world of like-minded people, the world of the patent office in which he worked, the temple of science. "If the sewage of life licks the steps of your temple, close the door and laugh ... Do not give in to anger, remain as a saint in the temple." He followed this advice.

Resting playing the violin and falling into a trance

The genius always tried to stay focused, even when he was babysitting his sons. He wrote and composed, answering the questions of the eldest son, rocking the younger on his knee.

Einstein loved to relax in his kitchen, playing Mozart's melodies on the violin.

And in the second half of his life, the scientist was helped by a special trance, when his mind was not limited by anything, the body did not obey predetermined rules. Slept until they woke up. Stayed awake until sent to sleep. He ate until they stopped.

Einstein burned his last work

IN last years life Einstein worked to create Unified theory fields. Its meaning, mainly, is to describe the interaction of three fundamental forces: electromagnetic, gravitational and nuclear using one single equation. Most likely, an unexpected discovery in this area prompted Einstein to destroy his work. What were these works? Alas, the great physicist took the answer with him forever.

Albert Einstein in 1947. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Allowed to explore my brain after death

Einstein believed that only a maniac, obsessed with one thought, can get significant results. He agreed to have his brain examined after his death. As a result, the scientist's brain was extracted 7 hours after the death of the outstanding physicist. And immediately stolen.

Death overtook the genius at Princeton Hospital (USA) in 1955. The autopsy was performed by a pathologist named Thomas Harvey... He removed Einstein's brain for study, but instead of giving it to science, he took it personally for himself.

Risking his reputation and his job, Thomas put the brain of the greatest genius in a jar of formaldehyde and took it to his home. He was convinced that such an action was a scientific duty for him. Moreover, Thomas Harvey for 40 years sent pieces of Einstein's brain for research to leading neurologists.

The descendants of Thomas Harvey tried to return to Einstein's daughter what was left of her father's brain, but she refused such a "gift". From then until today, the remains of the brain, ironically, are in Princeton, from where it was stolen.

Scientists who examined Einstein's brain proved that the gray matter was different from the norm. Scientific research showed that the areas of Einstein's brain responsible for speech and language are reduced, while the areas responsible for processing numerical and spatial information are enlarged. Other studies have reported an increase in the number of neuroglial cells *.

* Glial cells (Greek: γλοιός - sticky substance, glue) - a type of cells nervous system... Glial cells are collectively referred to as neuroglia or glia. They make up at least half of the volume of the central nervous system. The number of glial cells is 10-50 times greater than that of neurons. The neurons of the central nervous system are surrounded by glial cells.