1. Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the numbers of the paragraph for each title against the heading. The first one is done for you.

(i) Einstein’s equation – paragraph 9

(ii) Einstein meets his future wife – paragraph 7

(iii) The making of a violinist – paragraph 3

(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother – paragraph 10

(v) A letter that launched the arms race – paragraph 15

(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas – paragraph 8

(vii) Marriage and divorce – paragraph 11

2. Who had these opinions about Einstein?

(i) He was boring

His playmates thought that he was boring because he didn’t know what to do with the other children.

(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life

Einstein’s headmaster thought that he would never succeed in life.

(iii) He was a freak

His mother thought that he was a freak.

3. Explain what the reasons for the following are.

(i) Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good.

Einstein was a good student who scored good marks in almost every subject. However, he hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with the teachers. At the age of 15, he left the school for good because he thought it was stifling him.

(ii) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich

Switzerland was more liberal than Munich. At the same time, much like in Munich, German was spoken in Switzerland as well. Hence, Einstein wanted to study in Switzerland.

(iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally

Einstein thought Mileva was a clever creature. He saw in her an ally against Philistines he was constantly at odds with.

(iv) What do these tell you about Einstein?

Einstein was clever and intelligent. However, he hated authority and because of this reason, he often clashed with his teachers. He was at odds with some family members and university friends who hated arts, literature and music. While he was highly gifted in mathematics and physics, science was not the only thing that interested him. When he was studying in Switzerland, he also felt a special interest in a fellow student. So, obviously, he was a highly intelligent and cultured person who loved his freedom.

4. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?

Einstein called his desk drawer the bureau of theoretical physics. After completing his graduation, he secured a job as a technical expert in a patent office in Bern. This job required him to assess other people’s inventions. However, Einstein wasn’t just reviewing other people’s work. He was developing his own ideas in secret. Hence, he called his desk the bureau of theoretical physics.

5. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?

Nuclear fission was discovered in Germany in 1938 during the rule of Nazis. This led to an uproar among American scientists because they feared that Nazis could use the technology to build and use an Atom bomb. Hence, upon the insistence of a colleague Einstein wrote a letter to the then US President Roosevelt warning that if a single bomb of that kind exploded in a port, it would destroy the entire port and some surrounding territory.

6. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of destruction caused by the atom bomb. He wrote a public missive to the United Nations urging the formation of a world government. This letter, however, had no impact. Over the next decade, Einstein became more involved in politics and launched several campaigns to bring an end to the arms buildup.

7. Why does the world remember Einstein as a world citizen?

Einstein was a German who adopted US citizenship during the Nazi rule. He was much more than a scientist. He was an advocate of world peace and harmony and even launched several campaigns against arms buildup. Hence, he was regarded as a visionary and a world citizen.

One mark questions

1. Albert Einstein was born in …………………….. in the German city of ……………………..

1879, Ulm

2. Einstein went to high school in ………………………..

Munich

3. After finishing school, Einstein studied at the university in ……………………………

Zurich

4. Why did Serbian Mileva Maric choose to study at Zurich University?

Mileva chose to study at Zurich University because it was one of the few universities in Europe where women could get degrees.

5. Which derogatory term is used to refer to people who do not like arts, literature and music?

Philistines

6. Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity was published in ……………………….

1905

7. Which theory of Einstein provided a new interpretation of gravity?

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

8. Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity in ………………………….

1915

9. Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in …………………………

1921

10. Nuclear fission was invented in ………………………..

1938