How Einstein went to school: grades, scientist behavior and learning stories

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

There is a fairly common myth about how Einstein went to school. The famous physicist is regularly included in the list of geniuses who were losers in school. However, in reality, the future Nobel Prize winner had no problems with academic performance. Unlike, for example, his famous colleague Thomas Edison. Twos in Einstein's certificate is a myth that continues to be actively replicated, despite the fact that in the 1980s documentary evidence was found of how the physicist studied. In this article, we will tell you how the school life of a brilliant scientist developed.

Childhood

The way Einstein studied at school is cited by many as proof that it is not necessary to study diligently in order to achieve much in the future. Even if this is true, in this case, cite Einstein asexample will be incorrect.

Albert was born in Ulm in 1879. Then it was the territory of the German Empire. At the same time, his childhood was spent in Munich, where his poor parents moved shortly after the birth of their son.

The father and mother of the hero of our article were Jews, but at the same time at the age of five they sent him to a Catholic school, as it was a stone's throw from their house.

It is known that Albert Einstein at school felt hatred for almost everything that surrounded him, since he did not like the classical model of education. Schoolchildren in this educational institution were obliged to follow the line, and in case of an incorrect answer in the lesson, they used physical punishment - they beat them on the hand with a ruler.

Besides, at that time anti-Semitic sentiments intensified in Germany, so Albert's position was not easy. Peers constantly bullied and teased him because of his origin.

Luitpoldovsk Gymnasium

The hero of our article remained in the Catholic school until he was nine years old - it was at this age that he entered the Luitpold Gymnasium. This happened in 1888. The educational institution was very prestigious, it was famous for the high level of teaching natural sciences, mathematics, ancient languages, it had a modern laboratory for those times.

However, the emergence of a new school in Einstein's life practically did not change anything in his attitude to the very process of obtaining knowledge. He still had a negative attitude to hammering into the minds of students uselessinformation and cramming, which was actively practiced at that time. By memorizing entire pages of text, students often did not understand anything written.

Also, Albert did not like the teachers who avoided clarifying questions, demonstrating their illiteracy, and the barracks discipline that was used in the gymnasium.

From childhood, Einstein was a child with an inquisitive mind. For example, when reading stories about his schooling, it is almost impossible to find any mention of Albert climbing trees or chasing a ball with his peers. Instead, he understood, for example, the principles of the telephone. If necessary, he could clearly explain it to anyone. His peers considered him a big bore.

The denial of how the educational process was organized did not negatively affect how Einstein studied at school. He received exceptionally high grades, consistently ranked among the top students in his class.

Academic records

Documentary evidence of this are academic records that were discovered in 1984. Based on this evidence, one can establish what Einstein's grades were at school. For example, it turns out that Albert can rightfully be called a child prodigy, since by the age of eleven he had mastered physics at the college level.

In addition, the future Nobel Prize winner was an excellent violinist. In general, Einstein's performance at school was very high in most subjects. Only French was not given to him.

Moreover, in free fromDuring his studies, he was engaged in self-education. His parents bought him textbooks in geometry, which he mastered during the summer holidays, moving far ahead of his peers in the program.

Mentors

The uncle of the hero of our article, Jakob Einstein, who, together with Albert Herman's father, headed a company selling electrical equipment, composed complex algebra problems for his nephew. By the time the assignments from the textbook, he clicked like nuts. But he sat on the tasks of his uncle for many hours, did not leave the house until he found a solution.

Another mentor to young Albert was Max Talmud, a medical student who visited the Einstein home every Thursday to study with the young genius.

Max brought books to Albert, among which, for example, were Aaron Bernstein's science fiction essays on natural history. In them, Bernstein talked about the essence of the speed of light, describing incredible situations. For example, he suggested imagining yourself on a high-speed train with a bullet flying through the window.

It is believed that it was precisely under the influence of these essays that Einstein asked himself a problem that captivated him for the next few decades. From childhood, he tried to understand what a ray of light would actually look like if it were possible to travel with him on a transport trip at a comparable speed. Even then it seemed to him that such a ray of light could not turn out to be a wave, since in this case it would be motionless. But imagining stationary light beams would be quite impossible.

Holy Book

At the age of twelve, Einstein called his sacred book a textbook on geometry, which the Talmud brought him. The boy literally read this book in one gulp.

Soon, he moved from mathematics with his mentor to philosophical theories. So Einstein was introduced to the work of Immanuel Kant, who became his favorite thinker for the rest of his life.

Discipline issues

It is said that from childhood Albert could not stand stupid people, regardless of their social status or age. He couldn't hide his feelings. Because of this, not everything was perfect with the behavior of the young genius, he often had conflicts with teachers. For example, he could be kicked out of class for sitting on the last desk and grinning when the teacher explained new material. Teachers often said that he would not be able to achieve anything in this life.

In fact, parents continued to admire the way Albert Einstein studied at school. He continued to make progress. But his father was haunted by failure. In 1894, his firm went bankrupt and the family moved to Milan.

Albert had to finish school in Munich, so he stayed in the hostel. There is a misconception that Einstein was kicked out of school. In fact, he himself abandoned her, as he could not bear to be separated from loved ones.

Besides, he was in the position of a teenager who is hiding from military service. He was about to turn seventeen years old, and this age in Germany was considered conscription. Positionmade more difficult by the fact that during his studies he did not acquire any skills that would allow him to get a job.

Higher Technical School

The way out for Einstein was to apply to a technical school in Zurich. They were allowed to study there without a diploma of secondary education, which Albert never received. The young man brilliantly passed the exams in mathematics and physics, but failed the rest of the subjects, so he could not enter.

At the same time, the director of the Zurich technical school was so impressed with his success in the exact sciences that he advised him to try to return to them after graduating from school. Einstein did just that.

In 1896, Albert, a few months before his seventeenth birthday, officially renounced German citizenship. He was considered stateless for the next few years until he received a Swiss passport.

In the same year he graduated from the cantonal school in the city of Aarau in northern Switzerland. His performance here was quite high, so that all the stories that Einstein did not study well at school are not true. He had excellent grades in math and physics, Bs in drawing and geography (on a six-point system), and Albert had a C in French.

How was the myth born?

There is an assumption where the myth about how Einstein studied at school originally came from. Most likely, historians have been misled by his academic records from the Swiss school. It is because of them that biographers became unanimouslyconsider it a loser.

In the last trimester, the school decided to turn the graded school on its head by making "6" the highest grade. At the same time, in previous trimesters, the scale was reversed, so Einstein received "1" in physics and mathematics, which in fact indicated that he had excellent knowledge in these subjects.

Criticism of the education system

Einstein himself remained an implacable critic of the German education system until the end of his life. He was convinced that nothing could be achieved by meaningless cramming. And all teachers do is brainwash.

Einstein said that if a person is forced to march to music, and he begins to enjoy it, this is sufficient reason for him to despise such a person. The Nobel Prize winner spoke quite sharply, assuring that such a person was given a brain by mistake.