Beyond General Relativity and Science: Albert Einstein

Adegbilero-Iwari Idowu

I just have to take it personal with Albert Einstein because for all as ever but till yesterday, I have never thought of him more than being the greatest scientist and his classical work, the Theory of General Relativity. You know, these great folks we read about or studied in class don't really appear to us as normal humans who did actually lived. If you have been like me it is time to start adjusting to the fact that Albert Einstein was human or still is because in no distant time you may run into his direct descendant, a member of his family tree either as your doctor, teacher, friend or neighbor. 

Albert Einstein

So, who was Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879- April 18, 1955) more than General Relativity?

Birth: born to Hermann (father) and Pauline (mother) Einstein, both Jews, on March 14, 1879 in a German Empire town of Ulm. He later lived in Munich with his parents.

Death: He died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey

Citizenship: He became a German citizen in 1914, renounced it 1933 for political reasons; became an American citizen in 1940.

Early Life and Education: began schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium, moved to Italy, and then to Switzerland where he furthered his education at Aarau before joining the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in Physics and Mathematics in 1896. He graduated with a Diploma in 1901, gained Swiss citizenship and earned his doctorate degree in 1905.

Marriage and Family Tree: 

First, Albert Einstein married his classmate in Zurich, Mileva Maric, in January 1903 and both had three children: Liesel (daughter, born 1902, thought to be given up for adoption in 1903; nothing was henceforth heard about her); Hans Albert Einstein (son, born in 1904 ); and Eduard (son, born in 1910, had no children, diagnosed early and institutionalized for schizophrenia, thought to have lived till 1965). Hans Albert Einstein lived up to 1973, was a professor of Hydraulic Engineering at University of California Berkeley and the world's foremost expert on Sediment Transport, had three children of whom was Bernard Caesar Einstein (10 July 1930 – 30 September 2008), the only grandson of Albert to survive childhood. 

Bernard C. Einstein had five children with Doris Aude Ascher (c. 1938-2008) whom he married in 1954: Thomas Martin Einstein (born 1955 in Switzerland); Paul Michael Einstein (born 1959 in France) Eduard Albert "Ted" Einstein (born 1961 in Los Angeles, California) Mira Einstein-Yehieli (born 1965 in Switzerland) Charles Quincy Ascher "Charly" Einstein (born 1971 in Switzerland).

Thomas Martin Einstein, a great grandson of Albert Einstein is an anesthesiologist and physician, at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. He has three children.

Divorce: Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric officially dissolved their union in 1919. Albert had a second marriage same year with his first cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, who died in 1936.

Second marriage: in 1919, Albert Einstein married his first cousin, Elsa Einstein (Löwenthal) formerly married to Max Löwenthal. Albert's marriage to Elsa produced no children but stepdaughters, Ilse Löwenthal, 1897-1934 and Margot Löwenthal, 1899-1986, born to Elsa's first marriage to Max.

Habits: According to Zaria Gorvett, Albert Einstein had 10 hours of sleep and one-second naps per day, a sacred daily walk, spaghetti as favorite food, was a hardened pipe smoker, and passionately averted to wearing socks because when he was young he found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock and thus stopped wearing socks.

Quote: Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new- Albert Eisntein

So as much as his novel works, Albert Einstein's person is/are still very much with us and one day you or I may just run into one.

And don't mind me, it is the busybody part of me poke-nosing into another person's personal life. But I think you need to know... 

Notes:

1. "Albert Einstein - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 14 Jun 2017. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html> 

2. http://www.shmoop.com/albert-einstein/family.html

3. http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/albert-einsteins-family.html

4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/08/16/einstein-was-a-formidable-genius-but-what-about-his-kids/#160408d4f008
5. Zaria Gorvett http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170612-what-you-can-learn-from-einsteins-quirky-habits

6. Wikipedia.com, of course!