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 Chapter 1 : Early Life

 “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

—Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. He was the son of Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein. He worried his parents by his unusual behavior—with his chubbiness and plain thick, black hair—he certainly did not seem extraordinary at the first glance. However, he turned out to be the most famous physicist in history.

His parents did not know how bright their son was. They were worried because until the age of three or four years old, he did not say a word. Even with the visits to the doctors, nothing wrong could be found with Albert. Then at supper one night he said, “The soup is too hot.” His parents were relieved and asked him why he had not said before this. His answer was, “Because up to now, everything has been fine.” Of course, there is no proof of this story to be true. But it shows greatly how intelligent little Albert had been.

However, Albert had a strange way of talking. He would rehearse whatever he wanted to say to himself a few times, before saying it out loud. His slow manner of speaking made people believe he was not all that bright.

His parents had told him they were going to bring home a new toy, before they brought home their daughter, Maja. Albert was deeply disappointed to learn that his new baby sister did not have any wheels.

When he was five years old, his father showed him a pocket compass. Little Albert was deeply impressed by the mysterious behavior of the compass needle. It kept pointing in the same direction in spite of which way the compass was turned. That incident woke his curiosity and it was then that he felt, ‘something deeply hidden had to be behind things.' 

Chapter 2 : School Years

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

—Albert Einstein

Despite growing up to be one of the greatest scientists of the world, Albert Einstein was not considered to be good student when he was in school. He had liked elementary school, where his teachers tried their best to answer all his questions. They were patient and kind. But things got difficult when he turned ten and had to go to the German High School. The Luitpold Gymnasium, Albert’s school was strict and expected the children to be seen and not ask questions. It was a Prussian-style education system that stifled originality and creativity. The students wore uniforms and marched from one class to another like soldiers. This had always made Albert extremely uncomfortable. In fact, one teacher even went as far as to tell him that he would never amount to anything. He was bored of the subjects that his teachers taught him. His curious and fast brain had questions that they could not possibly answer. However, the questions were not allowed at all. He was not even expected to think. Since that had never been Albert’s style, he did not enjoy school at all.

One of the first people to recognize that Albert was special was his uncle, Jakob. His uncle would invent complicated maths problems that Albert would spend days working on, alone in his room. It always amazed Jakob how quickly his nephew understood and grasped new and difficulty mathematical concepts. Soon after Albert surpassed his uncle’s maths abilities. Jakob introduced his nephew to the world of electricity and magnetism which was the family business. Almost instantly Albert became obsessed with light and how it travelled.

Albert Einstein was bored of the education he was receiving. The only subject he was fond of was Mathematics because he could not memorize the answers to those. He would have to think to solve those problems. It was at this time that the Jewish student, Max Talmey, became his friend and savior. Max was a medical student and a friend of the family. Max was appreciative of Albert’s genius, and often brought him books from the University to study. Max had given him a book on geometry, which Albert had finished in no time. Max followed that up with algebra which delighted Albert. Since Albert spent a lot of time alone reading, Max brought him books on a variety of subjects which included geology, chemistry and physics. At just thirteen, he read the German Philosopher Immanuel Kant’s the Critique of Pure Reason given to him by Max. Albert finished the book in no time as one would a novel. It affected the way he thought about human beings for the rest of his life.

Albert was also deeply interested in religion. Even though his family was Jewish, they did not follow a lot of the Jewish customs. Although Albert attended a Roman Catholic school, he tried to follow the Jewish customs strictly for a while. He was interested in other religions as well. In his curious mind he believed that ‘Ideas come from God’. It was his goal, as he admitted later in life, as a scientist to ‘read God’s mind’.

Even though he did not fit in anywhere—with his teachers scolding him and his peers teasing him—Albert did not care for, he was far away in his mind. He was too busy thinking about difficult and complicated things such as what it would feel like to travel on a beam of light.