Arts E tertainment
Exhibit Of Genius
in Germany, which Nazi officials raided in 1933 in
search of weapons. All they found was a bread knife.
Hebrew University co-sponsors "Einstein" at Museum
ofNatural History in New York City.
While Einstein is mostly known for his scientific accom-
plishments, he was a remarkable man in other ways.
Born March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany, his
father, Hermann, a merchant, and his mother,
Pauline, a pianist, were assimilated middle-class Jews.
Einstein's schooling began at a Catholic elemen-
tary school, followed by his attendance at the
Luitpold-Gymnasium in Munich. He dropped out
of school for a while when his parents moved to
Italy, but wound up continuing his secondary educa-
tion in Aarau, Switzerland. He attended university at
the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, from which he
graduated in 1900.
In 1901, he acquired Swiss citizenship. His first
job, in 1902, was as a technical adviser at a patent
office in Bern, Switzerland. He earned his Ph.D.
from Zurich University in 1905.
In 1903, Einstein had married Mileva Maric, a
physics student, and they had a daughter and two
sons. There is a question if the daughter, born before
their marriage, was given up for adoption or died.
Eventually, the marriage deteriorated, and 16 years after
taking their vows, the Einsteins divorced. Soon afterward,
in 1919, Einstein married his cousin, Elsa Loewenthal,
and became a stepfather to her two daughters.
By this time, Einstein was back in Germany, work-
ing as a professor at the universities of Berlin and
Leiden, and at the Einstein-Institute in Postdam.
By the early '30s, Einstein was spending half his
time in the United States. In 1933, with the Nazis
in power, he declared his intention to remain in the
U.S., and accepted a permanent, lifelong position at
the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He
became a U.S. citizen in 1940.
from the 1916 manuscript of the general theory of
relativity, which overturned Newton's theory of grav-
ity; and encounter, in its original form, his famous
I is no wonder that at the end of 1999, Time
equation E=mc2, first published in a 1907 paper.
magazine named Albert Einstein its man of
In interactive demonstrations, visitors can step in
the century.
front of a screen and discover their own gravity, or wit-
His genius and contributions to science are
ness the increasing or decreasing space-time distorting
unprecedented — our understanding of
powers of-a black hole by
quantum physics, black holes, the field of
changing variables in a corn-
electronics and relativity all can be attrib-
puter simulation.
uted to the legendary physicist.
A learning lab provides a
To honor this pre-eminent scientist, the .
hands-on opportunity to
American Museum of Natural History in
._ tz, experiment with many con-
New York City, the Hebrew University of
cepts of physics, and at a
Jerusalem and the Skirball Cultural Center in
special blackboard, informa-
Los. Angeles have joined together to present
tion on Einstein's most
"Einstein," an exhibit currently at the
renowned discovery pops out
American Museum of Natural History
by touching components of
through Aug. 10.
the physicist's famous equa-
"At the exhibit, visitors will come face
tion.
to face with perhaps the most brilliant
Also integrated throughout
mind that science has ever known," says
the exhibition is evidence of
Ellen V. Futter, president of the American
Einstein's personal life,
Museum of Natural History. "He changed Einstein with first wife Mileva
including his report card
forever how we see the world and the uni- Maric (div. 1919; d. 1946) and from his Swiss high school,
their eldest son, Hans Albert,
verse."
his diary and a love letter to
circa
1905-1906
The exhibit, with material on display
his first wife, Mileva Maric.
for the first time in the United States, shows how
Einstein's Jewish roots and personal experience
Einstein's theories about life, time, energy and gravi-
with anti-Semitism also are a focus of the exhibit.
ty sparked the scientific and technological advances
Included are an article he wrote for the Nov. 26,
of the 20th century.
1938, issue of Collier's magazine, titled "Why . Do
A short video, narrated by actor Alan Alda, familiar- They Hate Jews?" and a letter he wrote in 1929 to
izes viewers with Einstein's life and accomplishments.
the editor of the Arab newspaper Falastin, which
Visitors will be able to see Einstein's Nobel Prize
addresses hostility between Arabs and Jews.
for physics, which he won in 1921; glance at pages
There also is a photo of Einstein's summer home
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News
78
From Germany To America
Man Of Science
Einstein's greatest passions were science and mathe-
matics, and he wanted to unravel the mystery of
time, space, gravity, mass and energy.