Category Archives: Research methods

Adventures in Munich

Einstein spent his childhood from age one to fifteen in Munich, though the Munich of today is a reconstruction of the city, thanks to Munich being the Nazi headquarters and therefore the target of Allied bombs in WWII. When it … Continue reading

Posted in Einstein, Luitpold Gymnasium, Munich, Nazi headquarters, Oktoberfest, Research methods, Sendlinger Tor, writing | Leave a comment

The Einstein Tour Part I, Lake Como

My husband and I arrived in Milan yesterday after the (for me) sleepless overnight flight that is penance for the luxury of European travel, meaning no taxi fare seemed too high if it meant we might settle in at our … Continue reading

Posted in Bellagio, Einstein, Generating Fiction from History and/or Fact, historical fiction, Italy, Lake Como, Mileva Maric, reading, Research methods, Tremezzo, Varenna, writing | 1 Comment

The Business of Dowries

Most of what I knew about Jewish dowries, prior to researching the Einstein novel, came from the stories of Shalom Aleichem, via Tevye the milkman and Fiddler on the Roof.  I extend my gratitude and acknowledgment to Marion Kaplan and … Continue reading

Posted in arranged marriage, dowry, Einstein, Fiddler on the Roof, Marion Kaplan, matchmakers, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Shalom Aleichem, Switzerland | Leave a comment

What is an alp?

It’s not a rocky peak in Switzerland, Italy, or France, or so I learn from a 1908 volume called Peep at Many Lands:  Switzerland by John Finnemore (London:  Adam and Charles Black).   It’s one of those lovely old books, … Continue reading

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The Wonders of Google Maps

I’ve written before about what a handicap it is to write about a setting I’ve never visited.  I can read descriptions in books–and in the case of Albert Einstein, some of the biographers are fine writers who provide me with … Continue reading

Posted in Einstein, family members, Google Maps, Mettmenstetten, reading, Research methods, Switzerland, writing | Leave a comment

German Jewish Family Values

Additional research–my thanks to Marion Kaplan for her book The Making of the Jewish Middle Class–reveals that as laws in Germany allowed Jews freedom to join the professions and become upwardly mobile, the German ideals of cleanliness entered the Jewish … Continue reading

Posted in Marion Kaplan, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Serbia, writing | Leave a comment

Why did Einstein’s mother hate his wife?

In an effort to understand Pauline Einstein’s (Albert’s mother) outright rejection of  her son’s love for Mileva Maric, I did some research on Jewish family values in Germany from 1870 -1900. The obvious answer might be that Mileva was raised … Continue reading

Posted in Einstein, family members, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods | 4 Comments

Why did Einstein’s mother hate his wife?

In an effort to understand Pauline Einstein’s (Albert’s mother) outright rejection of  her son’s love for Mileva Maric, I did some research on Jewish family values in Germany from 1870 -1900. The obvious answer might be that Mileva was raised … Continue reading

Posted in Einstein, family members, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods | Leave a comment

Serbianism

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Posted in reading, Research methods, Serbia | 1 Comment

Some Convincing Evidence

In my ongoing collection of evidence that Mileva either did or did not contribute to Einstein’s theories, I come upon two passages in Highfield and Carter’s The Private Lives of Albert Einstein which would indicate that she did not. Mileva … Continue reading

Posted in Einstein, Mileva Maric, reading, Research methods | 6 Comments