A Truly Beautiful Mind

A Truly Beautiful Mind

Thinking about the Text

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

(i) Einstein’s equation – 9

(ii) Einstein meets his future wife

(iii) The making of a violinist

(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother

(v) A letter that launched the arms race

(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas

(vii) Marriage and divorce

Answer:

(i) Einstein’s equation – 9

(ii) Einstein meets his future wife – 7

(iii) The making of a violinist – 3

(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother – 10

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

(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas – 8

(vii) Marriage and divorce – 11

Question 2. Who had these opinions about Einstein?

(i) He was boring.

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

(iii) He was a freak.

Answer:

(i) He was boring – Einstein’s playmates

(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life – Einstein’s headmaster

(iii) He was a freak – Einstein’s mother

Question 3. Explain what the reasons for the following are.

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

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

(iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally.

(iv) What do these tell you about Einstein?

Answer:

(i) Einstein felt stifled because of school’s regimentation and often had disagreement with his teachers, and so he left the school in Munich for good.

(ii) Einstein wanted to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich because the city of Switzerland was much more liberal than Munich.

(iii) Einstein saw an ally in Mileva because he found her clever and intelligent, and, just like him, she too was against those people who didn’t like art , literature and music.

(iv) These things tell us that Einstein liked freedom. He didn’t want to work or do anything under pressure or strict regimentation. His views were different from the t the people in his family and at university.

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

Answer: Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the ‘bureau of theoretical physics’. He called it so because he was secretly developing his own ideas and inventions related to physics.

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

Answer: Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt on August 2, 1939 in order to warn him about the discovery of nuclear fission in Germany. By means of letter, he wanted to make him aware of the upcoming danger that Germans had the ability to build such a bomb, which if exploded, might very well destroy the entire port as well as some of the surrounding territory.

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

Answer: Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of destruction brought in Hiroshima and Nagasaki due to the dropping of atomic bombs. He wrote a long and official letter to the United Nations and proposed the formation of a world government.

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

Answer: The world remembers Einstein as a “world citizen” because he proposed that there should an end to the arms build-up and using his popularity campaigned for peace and democracy in the world.

8. Here are some facts from Einstein's life. Arrange them in chronological order.

[7] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.

[9] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

[11] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and warns against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.

[2] Einstein attends a high school in Munich.

[3] Einstein’s family moves to Milan.

[1] Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.

[5] Einstein joins a university in Zurich, where he meets Mileva.

[12] Einstein dies.

[8] He provides a new interpretation of gravity.

[4] Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.

[6] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.

[10] When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United States.