Eight Amazing Things You Never Knew About Albert Einstein

E = mc^2. Yeah, we all know that Einstein founded the formula. But there are very few things we know about his life. Amaze yourself with these eight.

HE WAS BORN WITH A LARGE HEAD:

When Einstein was born, he was so fat and his head was so large, that his mother actually thought he was born deformed! Of course, he came back to normal size within a few months.

HIS MEMORY WAS NOT REALLY AS GOOD AS IT SEEMED:

Sure, Einstein could memorize books loaded with laws and formulae. But when it came to remembering common things, his memory was really short. He was worst at remembering birthdays and his usual excuse for it was that birthdays are for small kids.

HE DETESTED SCIENCE FICTION:

Einstein totally loathed science fiction because he felt that it changed the public's understanding of science, and instead gave them false illusions of things that could not really happen. In his own words, “I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.” That is why, he felt that those who saw stuff like flying saucers should keep their experience to themselves.

HE FAILED HIS UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAM:

In 1895, at the age of 17, Einstein, one of the greatest minds ever born actually failed his university entrance exam into the Swiss Federal Polytechnical School. Actually he passed the Science and the Math sections, but failed in the rest of it like History and Geography. When asked later about this, he said that they were too boring and he didn't feel like answering them correctly!

EINSTEIN DIDN'T LIKE WEARING SOCKS:

Einstein "discovered" at a young age that the big toe always ends up making a hole in the sock, so he decided to stop wearing socks. This particular habit continued till his death. Moreover, he never dressed according to anybody's like or dislike. He felt that either people knew him or they didn't, so it didn't matter anyway, he reasoned.

HE WAS A CHAUFFEUR FOR A DAY:

Once Einstein was on his way to deliver a speech to university students. His faithful chauffeur not only drove his car, but was always present amongst the audience during al his speeches. Einstein had delivered this particular speech so many times that his chauffeur had actually memorized it. On that day Einstein, while on his way to the university, said aloud in his car that he felt tired. So his chauffeur suggested that they change places and that while he delivers the speech, Einstein could drive them back home. Their identities wouldn't be a problem because Einstein wasn't more than a university professor then and so no one in that university would recognize him. So he agreed but was a little thoughtful about what his chauffeur would do if he was asked any difficult questions by the students, after the speech. However, the speech went well but Einstein's thought came true. A student came up with a question. Here's what the chauffeur said “Why, that question's so simple, that even my chauffeur can answer it.” And so Einstein stood up from the audience and easily answered the question, much to the amazement of the audience.

HE WAS INSPIRED BY A COMPASS:

At a very young age, Albert Einstein was presented with a compass by his father for a birthday gift. After seeing the compass at work Einstein tried a lot to find out its working. He was really amazed after doing so and thus decided to find out all about the various forces existent in nature.

THE SECRET BEHIND HIS GENIUS:

After Einstein's death in 1955, his brain was removed from his head by Thomas Stoltz Harvey for research purposes. But this was done illegally. Later Einstein's son Hans Albert Einstein gave him permission to research on the genius brain. Harvey sent slices of Einstein's brain to various scientists throughout the world.

From these studies it was discovered that Einstein's brain had much more glial cells, the cells responsible for synthesizing information, in his brain than an average human being. Also, Einstein's brain lacked a certain wrinkle in it, called Sylvian fissure. This allowed easier communication of nerve cells with each other. Furthermore, his brain was denser and the inferior parietal lobe associated with mathematical ability was much larger.

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