3 Chapter 2 What's to Be Done with a Genius

Chapter 2 What's to Be Done with a Genius? Albert liked elementary school. The teachers were kind and patient. They tried their best to answer all of Albert's questions. But things changed when Albert turned ten. That's when he started high school. It was an awful experience. Once, when Albert's father asked the school principal what profession his son should consider, the principal said, "It doesn't matter. Albert will never make a success of himself at anything." The German high school was very strict. The students had to wear uniforms. They had to march like soldiers from one class to the next. And soldiers made Albert nervous. In the classrooms, everyone had to sit very straight at all times. Teachers yelled out orders. Students jumped to attention. Questions were not allowed. Albert was expected

to read and memorize. He was not expected to think. Albert was stunned. This wasn't his style. Albert called his teachers "sergeants" because of how they treated the students.

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Math was his favorite subject because you couldn't just memorize math problems—you had to think them through. At home, his uncle made up difficult algebra problems for Albert. Algebra is math that involves equations, and for Albert, it was like solving a puzzle. Albert was also given a book that he used to teach himself geometry. Geometry is math that involves shapes—squares, cubes, circles, and spheres—and for Albert it was like playing with blocks. Meanwhile, other boys in his class were still struggling with multiplying and dividing, and Albert was being punished for asking too many questions. Albert never really fit in with the other boys at school. He wasn't interested in sports, and the classes were boring.

Albert needed an older brother—someone who had lived through a rough high school experience—to let him know that everything would turn out okay. For Albert, that "older brother" was Max Talmey. Max was a medical student and a friend of the family. He often joined the Einsteins for

dinner. Max quickly came to understand and appreciate how brilliant the teenage Albert was. He brought Albert lots of books from the local university. Max couldn't really discuss math with Albert. "The flight of Albert's mathematical genius," wrote Max, "was so high that I could no longer follow." But Max did encourage Albert to explore new interests. Soon Albert was reading about history and studying religion. Albert's family was Jewish. But his parents did not follow many Jewish customs. They had sent Albert to a Roman Catholic elementary school simply because they thought it was the best school available. But for a while, Albert wanted to follow the traditions of the Jewish religion very strictly. For example, he refused to eat pork. Like many people, Albert did not believe the exact words of the Bible, such as passages that said the world had been created in just six days. Did this end Albert's interest in religion? No. It just gave Albert's curious mind even more to think about. "Ideas come from God," he claimed. And later in life, Albert often said that his goal as a scientist was to "read God's mind."