Einstein’s Anecdotes

One day during a speaking tour,Albert

Einstein’s driver,who often sat at

the back of the hall during his lectures,remarked that he could probably

give the lecture himself,having heard it so many times.Sure enough,at the

next stop on the tour,Einstein and the driver switched places,with

Einstein sitting at the back in his driver’s uniform.

Having delivered a flawless lecture,the

driver was asked a difficult

question by a member of the audience.“Well,the answer to that question is

quite simple,” he casually replied.“I bet my driver,sitting up at the back

there,could answer it…”

IN

1931 Charlie Chaplin invited Albert Einstein,who was visiting Hollywood,to a

private screening of his new film City Lights.As the two men drove into town

together,passersby waved and cheered.Chaplin turned to his guest and

explained:"The people are applauding you because none of them understands

you and applauding me because everybody understands me."

IN

1898,young Albert Einstein applied for admission to the Munich Technical

Institute and was turned down.The young man,the Institute declared,

"showed no promise" as a student.By 1905,he had formulated his

special theory of relativity.

SIR

WILLIAM Rothenstein was in Berlin doing a portrait of Einstein.The

mathematician was always accompanied to the studio by a solemn,academic

looking individual who sat in a corner throughout the sittings.Einstein,not

wishing to waste any time,was putting forth certain tentative theories,to

which the silent companion replied only by an occasional nod or shake of the

head.When the work was concluded,Rothenstein,who was curious,asked Einstein

who his companion was.

"That's

my mathematician," said Einstein,"who examines problems which I put

before him and checks their validity.You see,I am not myself a good

mathematician ..."

SHORTLY

after the publication of Einstein's general theory of relativity in 1915,the

Russian mathematician Alexander Friedmann was surprised to discover that

Einstein had failed to notice a remarkable prediction made by his equations:

that the universe is expanding.This prediction was later confirmed by

observations made by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s.

The

cause of Einstein's oversight?He had made a stupid error in his calculations:

He had divided by zero,which amounts to a big "sin" in mathematics.

"WHEN

I was young I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a

sock," Einstein once recalled."So I stopped wearing socks."

ONE OF

Einstein's colleagues asked him for his telephone number one day.Einstein

reached for a telephone directory and looked it up."You don't remember

your own number?" the man asked,startled."No," Einstein

answered."Why should I memorize something I can so easily get from a

book?" In fact,

Einstein claimed never to memorize anything which could be looked up in less

than two minutes.

Einstein and an

assistant,having finished a paper,searched the office for a paper clip.They

finally found one,too badly bent for use.They looked for an implement to

straighten it,and after opening many more drawers came upon a whole box of

clips.Einstein at once shaped one into a tool to straighten the bent clip.His

assistant,puzzled,asked why he was doing this when there was a whole boxful

of usable clips."Once I am set on a goal it becomes difficult to deflect

me," said Einstein.

Dr.Frank

Aydelotte,the then President of Swarthmore College,once,invited Einstein as

the guest of honor at a dinner.

When he was called upon to speak he said,

“Ladies and gentlemen,I’m sorry but I’ve nothing to say.” The brief speech

didn’t go well with the guests.Noticing this he arose again and added,“In

case I do have something to say,I’ll come back.”

Six months later he wired Dr.Aydelotte,“Now

I‘ve something to say.” Dr.Aydelotte promptly gave another dinner at whichEinstein made his speech.