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

第二章天才该做些什么? 艾伯特喜欢小学。 老师们都很善良和耐心。 他们尽力回答艾伯特的所有问题。 但艾伯特十岁时，一切都变了。 那是他开始上高中的时候。 那是一次可怕的经历。 有一次，艾伯特的父亲问校长他儿子应该考虑什么职业，校长说:“没关系。 阿尔贝在任何事情上都不会取得成功。” 德国的高中非常严格。 学生们必须穿制服。 他们必须像士兵一样从一个班级走到下一个班级。 士兵们使阿尔伯特感到紧张。 在教室里，每个人都必须一直坐得笔直。 老师们大声发出命令。 学生们纷纷立正。 不允许提问。 人们期待着阿尔贝

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.

阅读和记忆他不需要思考。 艾伯特惊呆了。这不是他的风格。 艾伯特称他的老师为“中士”，因为他们对待学生的方式。

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.

数学是他最喜欢的科目，因为你不能只记住数学问题——你必须把它们想清楚。 在家里，他的叔叔给阿尔伯特编了一些代数难题。 代数是一门涉及方程式的数学，对阿尔伯特来说，这就像解开一个谜题。 阿尔伯特还得到了一本他用来自学几何的书。 几何是涉及形状的数学——正方形、立方体、圆形和球体——对阿尔伯特来说，这就像玩积木一样。 与此同时，他班上的其他男孩还在努力做乘法和除法，阿尔伯特因为问太多问题而受到惩罚。 艾伯特在学校里从来没有真正和其他男孩合群。 他对体育不感兴趣，课也很无聊。

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

艾伯特需要一个哥哥——一个经历过艰难高中生活的人——让他知道一切都会好起来的。 对艾伯特来说，这个“哥哥”就是马克斯·塔尔梅。 麦克斯是医学院的学生，也是他们家的朋友。 他经常加入爱因斯坦的行列

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."

晚餐。马克斯很快就理解并欣赏到了少年阿尔伯特的才华。 他从当地大学给艾伯特带来了许多书。 麦克斯不能和艾伯特讨论数学。 “阿尔伯特的数学天才，”马克斯写道，“飞得如此之高，以至于我再也无法跟上。” 但马克斯确实鼓励艾伯特去探索新的兴趣。 不久，艾伯特开始阅读历史和研究宗教。 艾伯特的家庭是犹太人。 但他的父母不遵守很多犹太习俗。 他们把阿尔伯特送到了一所罗马天主教小学，因为他们认为这是最好的学校。 但有一段时间，阿尔伯特想严格遵循犹太宗教的传统。 例如，他拒绝吃猪肉。 像许多人一样，阿尔伯特不相信圣经中的确切文字，比如说世界在六天内被创造出来的段落。 这结束了阿尔伯特对宗教的兴趣吗? 不。这让阿尔伯特好奇的头脑有了更多的思考。 “思想来自上帝，”他宣称。 在后来的生活中，阿尔伯特经常说他作为一名科学家的目标是“读懂上帝的思想”。