DIFFERENT LOOKING TO WORLD’S MOST CLEVER MAN:
If we ask people who is the most intelligent person in the world all people would answer by saying Albert Einstein. But why? I think this is one of the topic eveybody knows everything and at the same time nothing. Maybe this is because the topic’s itself is really confusing and hard to understand. For this reason i started to research about Einstein’s life and his theories. And when it comes to research there is no more reliable source than national geographic so i started to watch the “Genius" . In this writing i will share my opinions about this documentary.
Documentary starts from the Einstein’s twenties. These times are the hardest times of his life. Because he has enthusiasm he needs but he cannot find anyone to listen him. Normally in school we taught that Einstein had learning difficulties but in reality he already knew what they were taught in school. But he was also questioning the basics and this was pissing off his teachers. Actually he was really talented in Physics and Mathematics but he wasn’t good at the other lectures such as French. Einstein was real science enthusiast and he was admiring nature so much. Even once he asked if he believes God he replied:
“The universe is so beautiful that must have been created by only God.”
He even broke up with his father because of this, and although he later said he was proud of his son, he didn’t support his dream of becoming an engineer at first. He always saw them as a workload. His curiosity was so deep that he didn’t want to learn what exists but to find new explorations. I think Einstein’s first chance was to find a woman who is as crazy as him. And this woman was a math genius and the only person who passed Einstein on the math exam. She was also the first wife of Einstein and mother of his two sons.
When I watched documentary I felt really sorry for her because she sacrified her academic career for her family and she helped Einstein to prove his almost all early explorations mathematically and she never known in history. I remember the dialogue she and Einstein had when Einstein was totally desperate:
E: Who would publish the work of third-class patent clerk?
M: I have spend my entire life being overlooked and underestimated. Giving up is a luxury I could never have thought. You can either wait for dinosaurs to give you permission to engage in the scientific world or you can show them that your ideas cannot be snuffed out by those lack imagination.
E: I have no time for research.
M: I go to the library.
E : And my math…
M: I’ll prove eveything.
E: My handwriting…
M: Albert shout a mouth. I’ll help you.
This dialogue only shows how Mileva was important in Albert’s researchs and how little she known by world. Also in the next episode while Albert didn’t mention Mileva at all in his articles Pierre Curie didn’t accept to receive a nobel without Marie Curie. This also proved how reckless Einstein to Mileva. He convinced himself that his contributions to the world had exempted his from his responsibilities to the people he loved. Even after their divorcement his sons always complained about this issue. Although Einstein seems the most intelligent person in the world he paid a lot for this fame.
He was full of his work so he couldn’t spend time with his family and his family suffered much. Even one of his son diagnosed with schizophrenia. But we can’t blame him for this reason because we are talking about a man who tries to solve equation on his deathbed. Work was more important than his life to him. In addition to his work obsession the athor factor that brings him this much close to success was his environment. It is hard not to be suprised to learn that Lenard, Fritz, Bohr, Heisenberg, Planck and many others are people in the same environment as Einstein. All these people also affected Einstein and helped him to explore new things with or without support.
Speaking of lack of support, Einstein never gave up his values, despite being discriminated throughout his life. He firstly lost his German citizenship, then his ideas in the science were criticized a lot and even a lot of people said him crazy. After war broke out he discriminated because of being Jew, lastly he went US. But they didn’t trust him totally for fear that he could help Germany.
Although he had too much reasons to hate humanity he didn’t even once supported war. When a lot of scientist signed the weapon producing paper he didn’t and said:
“ Some of us still believe that the goal of scientists is to discover the secrets of the universe, not to find new ways to destroy it.”
In his all lifetime he opposed the discrimination and choosing Lincoln University for lecturing among all universities is the solid proof of his peaceful character. He said in this lecture:
“ I also overlooked because of my looking, nationality but we all share beautiful humanity same curiosity , hopes , dreams and same God . “
He believed that peace cannot be protected by force but can be achieved with understanding. With his own words :
“The goal of scientific procedure should not be simply to use the world around us but to understand it fundemantally no matter what. Every question from the smallest molecule to the largest galaxy has to have an identifiable answer and I intend to find those answers. “
He also started his journey of relativity and quantum theory by asking a question whose accuracy never doubted by anyone:
What is time??
