During his life, Albert Einstein transformed the world of
physics. He was recognized countless times for his
contributions to the sciences and was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1921.
Born March 14, 1879, the German-born scientist was one of
the most significant individuals of the 20th century.
In celebration of his birthday, here are 12 things you
probably never knew about Albert Einstein.
1.He was offered the presidency of Israel -- and declined. :
Despite the generous offer, Einstein declined the presidency
of Israel in 1952. In his reply, he said: "I am deeply moved
by the offer from our State of Israel, and at once saddened
and ashamed that I cannot accept it. All my life I have
dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural
aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people
and to exercise official functions."
2. Einstein died because he said no to life-saving surgery.:
On April 17, 1955, Einstein experienced an abdominal aortic
aneurysm, resulting in internal bleeding. Upon being offered
surgery, he said: "I want to go when I want. It is tasteless
to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time
to go. I will do it elegantly."
He died the following day.
3.
His brain was illegally removed from his body and then
lost for 50 years.:
Dr. Thomas Stolz Harvey was the doctor who carried out
the autopsy of Einstein, but no paperwork was ever found
assigning Harvey to the procedure. The autopsy was
performed illegal.
Seven hours after Einstein's death, Harvey set about
removing Einstein's brain -- despite his final wishes
stating to be cremated with his brain intact -- and kept it
for himself, but no one knows why.
Contrary to popular belief, he never failed math.
In 1935, the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" newspaper
published an article headlined "Greatest living
mathematician failed in mathematics," and the claim is
still passed around to this day.
Einstein never failed math. He was shown the article and
laughed: "I never failed in mathematics. Before I was 15 I
had mastered differential and integral calculus."
The young Einstein was actually at the top of most of his
classes and far exceeded the expectations of his teachers.
He had a daughter with his first wife, but there's no
official record of what happened to her.
Liersel Einstein was the first child of Albert and his first
wife, Mileva Maric. The only record of Liersel is in
correspondence letters between her parents.
She was born out of wedlock in January 1902 and was not
spoken of much. She's thought to have died September
1903 from scarlet fever.
Liersel is believed to have been born with mental
disabilities and was last mentioned in a letter from Albert
to Mileva, dated September 19, 1903, which suggested they
were planning on giving her up for adoption before her
death. "As what is the child registered?" asked Einstein.
"We must take precautions that problems don't arise for
her later."
All the money from the prize went to his first wife as a
divorce settlement.
As part of the divorce settlement, the couple agreed that
the money from the prize he anticipated he would win
would go into a savings account for their sons, Hans and
Eduard.
The money was eventually used to buy three houses in
Zurich -- one for Mileva to live in, and two others as
investments.
His eyes remain in a safe box in NYC.
Not only did the doctor who illegally performed Einstein's
autopsy steal his brain, he also stole his eyes. He gave the
eyes to Einstein's eye doctor, Henry Abrams. They are
kept in a safety deposit box in New York City to this day.
He was the inspiration for Yoda.
Stuart Freeborn, the movie makeup artist who created
Yoda, modelled the jedi's face on his own, but added
wrinkles inspired by Einstein to Yoda's eyes to denote
wisdom and intelligence.
One of Einstein's most famous quotes is completely
misinterpreted.
"God does not play dice with the universe" is one of
Einstein's most famous and somewhat cryptic quotes.
His reference to God often causes people to assume he
was religious -- he wasn't. He was using God as a
metaphor. In a letter he wrote in 1954, he said:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied
this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me
which can be called religious then it is the unbounded
admiration for the structure of the world so far as our
science can reveal it."
And when Einstein said "does not play dice," he was
referring to the unpredictable nature of subatomic particles
in quantum physics.
In short, the quote aims to outline how weird quantum
mechanics is as a theory. You can read more on Tech
Insider.
Einstein's main passion wasn't science.
Despite all his other talents and achievements, music was
what made Einstein happiest. He never traveled without
his violin and once said: "Life without playing music is
inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see
my life in terms of music. I get most joy in life out of
music.”
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