Monthly Archives: September 2010

Imagining a Lost Letter

Posted on 20. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

Mileva Maric was a brilliant, disciplined student.  Unlike Einstein, she actually attended class, took notes, studied all night.  Her roommates, other female Eastern European students who also lived at 50 Pattenstrasse, reported that her light would go out briefly for … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, Mileva Maric, writing | Leave a comment

What Is Schizophrenia, Anyway?

Posted on 17. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

No, Einstein was not schizophrenic. But his son, Eduard was. And Mileva’s sister. I have media-inspired notions of schizophrenia, such as from the movie A Beautiful Mind, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but wasn’t sure how a visual … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein's children, family members, Mileva Maric, writing | 4 Comments

The Method, So Far

Posted on 14. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

The biography reading is so extensive, it would be easy to digest entire volumes and have no clue where anything is. That’s what an index is for, of course, and they are blessedly helpful. When I researched the Darwin book, … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, Einstein, Research methods, writing | 4 Comments

Are You a Creative Genius?

Posted on 12. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

I’m still hanging out in the Jurgen Neffe biography of Einstein, where he talks about the recurrent personality traits of geniuses (p. 25) based on research by Howard Gardner of Harvard. Gardner compared Einstein with the likes of Picasso, Freud, … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius | 6 Comments

Diagnosing a Genius

Posted on 11. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

According to Jurgen Neffe (Einstein, pp. 36-7), various behaviors that Einstein exhibited as a child, specifically delayed speech, fits of temper, an ability to detach and focus on an interest in a way that rendered him inaccessible to those around … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius | 3 Comments

A Ghoulish Demise

Posted on 10. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

Jurgen Neffe begins his biography of Einstein at the autopsy (Neffe, Einstein, p. 3-5). The hospital is in Princeton, New Jersey; the medical examiner is Thomas Harvey. Neffe describes the Y-shaped cut: “He places his scalpel behind one of the … Continue reading →

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Photo Gallery

Posted on 8. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

Everyone is familiar with the iconic pictures of Einstein as an old man. He has a wild halo of white hair and looks somewhat mad. As with Darwin, whose iconic photo also shows him as old, bearded, and white-haired, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, Einstein's children, family members | 6 Comments

The Mileva Maric Controversy

Posted on 7. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

Einstein married his classmate, Mileva Maric, the only woman in theoretical physics to enter Zurich Polytechnical Institute the same year. She was four years his elder and a disciplined student, having worked very hard to gain entrance to boys/men’s institutions … Continue reading →

Posted in Mileva Maric, Theory of Relativity | 7 Comments

Literary Quote of the Day

Posted on 2. September 2010 by Nancy Pinard

On my homepage I have a Google gadget called Literary Quote of the Day.  Today’s is by Henry Miller–whom I am surprised to find myself quoting.  I once saw a documentary-style biopic on him in which he, a skinny, hollow-chested … Continue reading →

Posted in writing | 10 Comments