Quirky facts about Dr.Albert Einstein

All right! Going by the title of the post you might have come here looking for stupendous-man (refer to my dear Calvin's stupendous definitions here) like traits of the greatest intellect of 21st century Einstein.  I am not going to tell things like "Einstein was super human that he never farted in company" and neither that "Einstein ran a secret brotherhood to preserve the mysteries of Jesus Christ", instead I am going to share little somethings from his ordinary life that I picked up from reading this book from Walter Issacson.

• Einstein was ever forgetful. We all know the tale where he called up Princeton University office to note down his own home address. He would forget keys, leave behind his precious things and often travel to places far away only to realize he doesn't have any clothes with him.
  
• Einstein's brain was stolen post his autopsy and evaded from being caught for almost 3 decades after his death. There is also a movie "Relics" dedicated to this story line.
  
• Einstein was not mean to his wife. He treated only one of his wife badly :P In order to persuade her to divorce him he lured her with his Nobel prize money.
  
  An excerpt from Einstein's letter to his second wife (when they were still not married yet):
  "I treat my wife as an employee I can't fire"
  
• Einstein ran away from Germany and never returned in fear and disgust for the Nazi rule. (Einstein was a Jew by birth and he was never in terms with his religion as a young man. In the later part of his life he strongly associated his kinship with the troubled Jews and fought for their pride and honor).
  
• Einstein was offered the presidency of the newly formed state Israel in 1952 which he rejected promptly for he himself knew very well that he would make a lousy politician.
  
• Einstein never got convinced of the path breaking Heisenberg theories which revolutionized Quantum physics. Neither was he convinced of the uncertainty principle nor did he appreciate or approve of the scientific leaps in particle physics. Einstein died a death of non-quantum physics believer.
  
• Einstein was a seasoned violinist and connected deeply with music. He often played on his violin in place of giving a speech. I often wonder that music is the language of universe and it seems to attract every human!!Poor, rich, dumb, bright - music has a spell on everyone.
  
  
  
  

I revelled in reading this piece by Issacson and convinced beyond doubts that he is a wonderful story teller. I recommend this book to anyone who is

• interested in knowing all the dimensions of Einstein's life
• eager to know the path breaking scientific discoveries of early 21st century

We often think that success, knowledge and social life can't go hand in hand but when we delve deep into celebrities' lives we realize how mistaken we are and how limited our thinking is. Science and art can revolutionize how we live our lives. A thought insignificant at first can sweep the entire mood of the society. Einstein's scientific contributions did not just create a new chapter of modern physics but his theory of relativity based on non-conformist ideals brought forth an era of new art opposing all norms of conventional thinking. His attitude made many an old league of classical physicists to look in awe and inspired a cadre of youngsters to cross the limit of his capabilities. Einstein lived during a time rather created a time where the field of theoretical physics donned an attire of freshness and creative geniuses of that time sprung to life. Knowing Einstein's life is synonymous to getting a sneak peak into the movement of theoretical physics renewal. 

Pondering over the life of a non-conformist!

Einstein-His life and universe

Today I set out to deflect from my usual pattern of writing-presenting a book review after I am done with reading a book. The book I am reading now is so engaging and thought provoking that I have taken an unusually long time to complete reading 170 pages of a 550 page hefty book. I will lay out the review in parts, jotting down all the musings I get on reading this book.

I now know Einstein only till he has submitted a paper on 'Special Theory of Relativity'. The present world is engaged in non-stop rant about 'non-conformist' attitude only to follow the coolest dude and big daddy of all non-conformists - Dr. Albert Einstein. Einstein was the epitome of non-conformity since his childhood taking pleasure in maintaining his independent streak of thinking and defying the blind acceptance of any received wisdom much less conceding to authority.

Einstein was a connoisseur of critical thinking from his childhood. In fact he had developed such lucid ability to think early on in his life that he had difficulty to put into words all the wonderful thoughts he had. The world around him thought that he was a slow learner and speaker not knowing the hidden genius inside him that would transform the way world thought of physics. Einstein had problems in keeping up with rote learning at school and was in bad books of almost all the teachers in his college. The child prodigy who went on to study further passed his graduation by being only second last in his class. Even after his graduation he had much difficulty securing a job and earned meagre amount of money by giving private tuitions. He struggled for quite some time to earn a doctorate degree and this uncanny genius of all times did not even secure a professorship anywhere. The great works by him such as providing proof of Brownian motion, ascertaining Galileo's concept of relativity to inertial reference frames through thought experiments, extending Max Planck's 'quanta' concept to the motion of light all came at a time when he worked as a mere third-degree patent officer at Bern, Switzerland.

The eccentric genius was made so by his relentless works in challenging received wisdom. His demeanour earned him many critics and admirers and as with all great men, Einstein too paid little heed to the criticism of either his nature or his works. Reading about Einstein makes one think about all the wrong notions society puts in a child's mind such as following authority, obliging to the old order with humility, never daring to defer et al. I understand the common wisdom that not everyone can be a genius. But wouldn't society benefit from a bunch of more geniuses? I have sworn in to never treat any kid with low expectations and neither curtail it's curiosity to explore. I myself will not shy away from differing with the common norms and doing what I truly believe in. After all the world needs diverse thoughts and not the factory manufactured similar thinkers.

I recently read Walter Isaacson's biography on Steve Jobs and did I get blown away by his writing! Reading another biography from Issacson has reaffirmed by belief that great tales when told by great writers truly create priceless saga. I am awed by the style of writing Isaacson employs in narrating stories of great men. There is a personal touch yet a descriptive life analysis prevails throughout the book. The moral messages author tries to send out are never too elusive and neither hackneyed. The attention to details, research and author's distinctive opinions all make the biography a catching read. Given my electronics background I understood Steve Jobs' biography and the Silicon Valley boom very well. Now that I am reading about scientific advances of the late 20th and early 21st century I am equally enthralled. I was not a staunch fan of scientific history as a student but now having read it in a story form, I have grasped the importance of knowing history in any category - scientific, political, industrial and even religious.

I will now go back to try and understand the remaining heavy scientific jargon of the book. I daresay "Geek is the new sexy".

P.S: I cannot help but make the comparison between Sheldon Cooper's eccentric intelligence and Einstein's diversified genius. I hope Sheldon wins a Nobel Prize soon. :P

The young and super-handsome Einstein

P.S: You can read the next installment of my review here.

Book review: The Scientific Edge

The scientific edge

Caught in the frenzy of reading books on Indian history and development I stumbled upon 'The scientific Edge' by Jayant V Narlikar and was up for a very demanding read; demanding in that it wasn't a light read and every idea presented in the book took my time and thoughts. I had to pause every now and then to ponder over the facts and opinions mentioned in the book.

The book 'The Scientific Edge' as is apparent from the title is a science non-fiction work. The author has elaborated on the development of science in India during the last millennium throwing in generous comparisons with the western scientific development. This 200 page book covers topics such as Indian scientific temper in the start of previous millennium, works of prominent contributors such as Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta, astronomical development in India and elsewhere, major scientific achievements during the reign of few renowned rulers, importance of scientific culture in India, science journalism and the future of Indian science.

Being the scientist that he is, Jayant has adopted a crisp factual way of writing true to his profession. The book is laden with numerous facts and statistics to support all the ideas author likes to convey. The language is simple and unpretentious albeit one requires a general scientific temperament to develop a liking towards the book. I constantly took the help of internet to comprehend the jargon of astronomical community and hence the resultant 30+ days of reading, although I left out reading a chunk of the book at the end.

When I picked up the book I had high hopes of knowing Indian scientific history better. But it is not meant to be. The author being a cosmologist has provided justice only to the topics of astronomy and astrophysics and superficially dealt with remaining sciences. There is hardly any substantial matter on fields such as metallurgy, architectural measurements, Ayurveda and the likes in which Indians had achieved remarkable sophistication. The author is critical of the lack of innovation and perseverance in Indian scientific community which is just. An unnecessary amount of discussion is wasted on the universities of ancient India. Though I agree any debate over Indian science is incomplete without the mention of universities such as Nalanda, Kashi, Takshashila, the author shouldn't have given as much hype as he has given to universities and their role in scientific development.

The book might have been a tiring read, nevertheless I am a well informed person now than I was a month before. I suggest this book to anyone who is making an effort to stretch oneself beyond the comfort zone, into another field of knowledge. I believe such an off beat read works up your grey cells and opens up few new channels in brain.