Einstein::A Letter To Nehru

Einstein's letter of June 13 1947 to Nehru focused on moral and historical arguments. He opened with praise for India's constituent assembly, which had just abolished untouchability. "The attention of the world was now fixed on the problem of another group of human beings who, like the untouchables, have been the victims of persecution and discrimination for centuries" - the Jews. He appealed to Nehru as a "consistent champion of the forces of political and economic enlightenment" to rule in favour of "the rights of an ancient people whose roots are in the East". He pleaded for "justice and equity". "Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong."

But then Einstein took the bull by the horns, "the nature of the Arab opposition. Though the Arab of Palestine has benefited... economically, he wants exclusive national sovereignty, such as is enjoyed by the Arabs of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria . I

t is a legitimate and natural desire, and justice would seem to call for its satisfaction." But at the end of the first world war, the Allies gave the Arabs 99% of the "vast, underpopulated territories" liberated from the Turks to satisfy their national aspirations and five independent Arab states were established. One per cent was reserved for the Jews "in the land of their origin".

"In the august scale of justice, which weighs need against need, there is no doubt as to whose is more heavy." What the Jews were allotted in the Balfour Declaration "redresses the balance" of justice and history. He concluded by appealing to Nehru to brush aside "the rivalries of power politics and the egotism of petty nationalist appetites" and to support "the glorious renascence which has begun in Palestine".

Nehru replied back saying that due to India's national interests (Muslim minority and Arab friendship), we could not support them and India voted with the Muslim states against partition. Einstein's exchange with Nehru recently surfaced in the Israeli archives and provides details of the mails they exchanged and the mails they did not exchange. Even though Nehru declined Einstein's request, he went and met him later in 1949.

Einstein And Tagore

Tagore on Einstein:

Einstein has often been called a lonely man. Insofar as the realm of the mathematical vision helps to liberate the mind from the crowded trivialities of daily life, I suppose he is a lonely man.

His is what might be called transcendental materialism, which reaches the frontiers of metaphysics, where there can be utter detachment from the entangling world of self. To me both science and art are expressions of our spiritual nature, above our biological necessities and possessed of an ultimate value.

Einstein is an excellent interrogator. We talked long and earnestly about my "religion of man." He punctuated my thoughts with terse remarks of his own, and by his questions I could measure the trend of his own thinking.

Einstein to Tagore:
You are aware of the struggle of creatures that spring forth out of need and dark desires. You seek salvation in quiet contemplation and in the workings of beauty.

Nursing these you have served mankind by a long fruitful life, spreading a mild spirit, as has been proclaimed by the wise men of your people.

Einstein::Man Of The Century

Einstein is an instantly recognisable figure, an icon of intellect and free thinking. He was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879.

Popular legend indicates that he was a slow learner, learning to speak much later than is average.

Elementary school records show he was a gifted child, particularly in maths, physics and violin playing. He rebelled against formal education by rote learning, and was apparently expelled at the age of 15 (reputedly just before he dropped out). He completed his education in Switzerland. Throughout his life he was a non-conformist shunning ceremony and disregarding many societal expectations.

Einstein lived in Berlin during World War I and publicly expressed dissatisfaction with German militarism. He suggested that warfare be abolished and an international organisation be set up to mediate between nations.
While Einstein was visiting the US in 1933, Hitler came to power. Einstein publicly criticised the racial and political policies of Hitler and declared that he would not return to Germany but would base himself at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey as Professor.

In 1939 Einstein wrote his famous letter to President Roosevelt pointing out the possibilities of a nuclear bomb, and recommending US research into nuclear weapons. An ardent pacifist, he was prompted to do this by several prominent scientists and the thought that Hitler would develop such a bomb first.

In actuality the first bomb fell on Japan after the fall of Germany in the war
A compassionate man, Einstein had a deep regard for his fellow humans. He had a keen sense of humour and loved children, often responding to their letters in a way that encouraged their inquisitiveness. He believed that humanity needed to create a moral order if it was to survive.
Einstein did not believe in the concept of a personal God, believing that the divine was revealed in the physical world.

He was a committed atheist but was strongly influenced by his Jewish identity, viewing Judaism as a culture rather than an institutionalised religion. In 1952 he was offered the post of President of Israel. He was deeply moved, but declined the offer.

source::http://www.questacon.edu.au/html/einstein.html

Einstein And Nazis

The Nazis despised Einstein on three counts::

He was too smart for them, he was Jewish, and he advocated world peace.

It didn't matter that his famous formula of E = MC squared laid the theoretical basis for an atomic bomb; Under the twisted logic of anti-Semitism, he was Jewish. Therefore, his work -- work that had wrapped up thousands of years of scientific observation into a few, dazzling theories -- was "Jewish physics" and must be wrong.While Hitler raved, his goons went into action. They burned Einstein's treatises. They raided his lakeside villa in suburban Berlin. They seized his furniture books, bank account and even his violin.

Einstein's fellow physicists, the leading brains of German society, goose-stepped right in line with the brownshirts and threw him out of the Prussian Academy of Science as a "traitor."

Fortunately, Einstein was world-wise enough to know what was coming.

A Little Girl And Einstein

When 8-year-old Adelaide Delong struggled over her addition and times tables, she turned to the one Princeton neighbour she figured could help -- Albert Einstein.

Clutching a plate of homemade fudge and a book of arithmetic problems, young Addie knocked on 112 Mercer St. one day in the 1930s and told the white-haired man who opened the door:

"Will you show me how to do my homework?"

The world's greatest scientist could have shooed the little girl off, telling her he was at work on a theory to explain the nature of all physical forces in the universe.

But Einstein didn't do that. Instead, he smiled and accepted Addie's chocolate gift. As gently as he could, he said he would love teach her to add and subtract, but that wouldn't be fair to the other girls at school. And he gave her a cookie in return for her fudge.

"She was a very naughty girl," Einstein would later say with his distinctive, hearty chuckle. "Do you know she tried to bribe me with candy?

Source::http://www.capitalcentury.com/1933.html

Einstein::On Education And Socialism

This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.

In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child.

The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellowmen in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism.

Einstein::Speech in Newyork(Dec 1945)

Physicists find themselves in a position not unlike that of Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel invented an explosive more powerful than any then known-an exceedingly effective means of destruction. To atone for this 'accomplishment' and to relieve his conscience, he instituted his awards for the promotion of peace.
Today, the physicists who participated in producing the most formidable weapon of all time are harassed by a similar feeling of responsibility, not to say guilt. As scientists, we must never cease to warn against the danger created by these weapons; we dare not slacken in our efforts to make the peoples of the world, and especially their governments, aware of the unspeakable disaster they are certain to provoke unless they change their attitude toward one another and recognize their responsibility in shaping a safe future. We helped create this new weapon in order to prevent the enemies of mankind from achieving it first; given the mentality of the Nazis, this could have brought about untold destruction as well as the enslavement of the peoples of the world.

This weapon was delivered into the hands of the American and the British nations in their roles as trustees of all mankind, and as fighters for peace and liberty; but so far we have no guarantee of peace nor of any of the freedoms promised by the Atlantic Charter. The war is won, but the peace is not.