A TRULY BEAUTIFUL MIND

 

A TRULY BEAUTIFUL MIND

Albert Einstein's Early Life

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. As a child, he didn't seem like a genius at all! His mother thought his head was too big, and he was a late talker. When he did speak, he often said things twice.

His playmates even called him "Brother Boring" because he preferred to play alone with his mechanical toys. One headmaster even thought he would never succeed at anything.

He did learn to play the violin because his mother wanted him to, and he became a gifted amateur musician.

School and University

Einstein was a good student in high school in Munich, getting good marks in most subjects. However, he hated the strict discipline (regimentation) of the school and often argued with his teachers. Feeling "stifled," he left school for good at age 15.

He then chose to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland because it was more liberal (open-minded) than Munich. He was very good at mathematics and loved physics.

At the university in Zurich, he met a clever fellow student named Mileva Maric. They fell in love and saw each other as allies against the "philistines"—the people who didn't appreciate art or literature.

His Greatest Ideas

After graduating, Einstein struggled to find a job. He finally got a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. While he was supposed to be checking other people's inventions, he was secretly working on his own ideas. He jokingly called his desk drawer the "bureau of theoretical physics".

In 1905, he published his famous Special Theory of Relativity. This theory says that time and distance are not absolute (fixed). It also gave the world's most famous formula, which shows the relationship between mass and energy: E=mc2.

In 1915, he published his General Theory of Relativity, which offered a new explanation for gravity. This theory was proven to be correct during a solar eclipse in 1919. This made him world-famous, and he was called a "scientific revolution". He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

Marriage and World Citizen

Einstein eventually married Mileva in 1903, and they had two sons. However, the marriage became weak (faltered), and they divorced in 1919. He married his cousin Elsa the same year.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Einstein moved (emigrated) to the United States.

Five years later, when nuclear fission was discovered, American physicists worried that the Nazis might build an atomic bomb. A colleague urged Einstein to write a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, warning him of this danger. The U.S. then developed its own atomic bomb and dropped it on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Einstein was deeply upset by the destruction. He wrote a public letter (missive) to the United Nations, suggesting a world government.

For the rest of his life, Einstein became very involved in politics, campaigning for peace and democracy and an end to the buildup of weapons. When he died in 1955, he was remembered not only as a great scientist but also as a "visionary" and a "world citizen".

(A) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A)

(B) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A)

(C)  Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.

(D)  Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

Assertion (A): Albert Einstein's mother thought he was a "freak" because his head seemed much too large.

Reason (R): A "freak" is a word used disapprovingly to talk about a person who is unusual and doesn't behave, look, or think like others.

Answer: B

Explanation: Both A and R are True statements based on the text. However, R is the definition of the word "freak", not the reason why Einstein's mother used the word in the first place. The reason for the label is his large head.

Assertion (A): Einstein's playmates called him "Brother Boring".

Reason (R): Einstein did not know what to do with other children, and the youngster played by himself much of the time.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) directly explains why his playmates found him "boring"—he kept to himself and didn't interact with them.

Assertion (A): Einstein was initially a failure in high school in Munich.

Reason (R): He scored good marks in almost every subject in high school.

Answer: D

Explanation: The Assertion is False; the text states he scored good marks in almost every subject. The Reason (R) is True (a fact).

Assertion (A): Einstein left the high school in Munich for good.

Reason (R): Einstein hated the school's regimentation and felt stifled there.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) provides the direct cause for the Assertion (A). He left because he hated the strict order and discipline (regimentation) and felt suffocated (stifled).

Assertion (A): Einstein wished to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland instead of Munich.

Reason (R): The city in Switzerland was more liberal than Munich.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) is the explicit motivation given for his wish to move his education—the Swiss city was more liberal (willing to understand and respect others' opinions).

Assertion (A): After finishing school, Einstein decided to study at a university in Zurich. Reason (R): He was highly gifted in mathematics and interested in physics.

Answer: B

Explanation: Both statements are True facts. However, the Reason (R) is why he chose to study science (Maths/Physics), not the reason he chose the specific city (Zurich). The text doesn't explicitly link his giftedness to the choice of Zurich University.

Assertion (A): Einstein found an "ally" in Mileva Maric.

Reason (R): Mileva was an ally against the "philistines"—those people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) directly explains what the Assertion (A) means—Mileva was a friend/associate who shared his disagreement with the narrow-minded people around them.

Assertion (A): Einstein worked as a technical expert in a patent office.

Reason (R): He was supposed to be developing his own ideas in secret, so he needed a cover job.

Answer: D

Explanation: The Assertion (A) is True. The Reason (R) is False; he was supposed to be assessing other people's inventions, but actually developed his own ideas in secret.

Assertion (A): Einstein jokingly called his desk drawer at work the "bureau of theoretical physics".

Reason (R): He was developing his own ideas in secret while assessing others' inventions at the patent office.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) explains why he would call his desk drawer a "bureau of theoretical physics"—it was where he secretly kept his theoretical work.

Assertion (A): Einstein married Mileva immediately after finishing his studies.

Reason (R): His mother was against the marriage, saying Mileva was too old for him and too intelligent ("a book like you").

Answer: D

Explanation: The Assertion (A) is False; he wanted to marry her then, but his mother was against it, so he put the wedding off. The Reason (R) is True.

Assertion (A): Time and distance are absolute according to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity.

Reason (R): Two perfectly accurate clocks will not continue to show the same time if one moves very fast relative to the other.

Answer: D

Explanation: The Assertion (A) is False; the theory states time and distance are not absolute. The Reason (R) is True as it provides an example of how relativity works (the "twin paradox" effect).

Assertion (A): Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was proven accurate by an eclipse of the sun in 1919.

Reason (R): He had correctly calculated in advance the extent to which light from fixed stars would be deflected through the sun's gravitational field.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) is the direct, scientific proof that validated the Assertion (A)—the calculation of light deflection matched the observation during the eclipse.

Assertion (A): Einstein wrote a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. Reason (R): He was urging an end to the arms buildup and campaigning for peace and democracy.

Answer: B

Explanation: Both statements are True. However, the Reason (R) is not the reason for the specific 1939 letter. The correct reason for the 1939 letter was to warn that the Nazis might build and use an atomic bomb, at the urging of a colleague. The reason given (R) describes his later political activities.

Assertion (A): Einstein wrote a public missive (letter) to the United Nations.

Reason (R): He was deeply shaken by the destruction caused by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and proposed the formation of a world government.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) correctly explains the motivation behind the Assertion (A)—he was moved by the atomic destruction to advocate for a new political structure (world government).

Assertion (A): The world remembers Einstein as a "world citizen".

Reason (R): Over the last decade of his life, Einstein got ever more involved in politics, agitating for an end to the arms buildup and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.

Answer: A

Explanation: The Reason (R) directly explains the Assertion (A). His later-life work for peace, democracy, and global disarmament is why he is celebrated as a "world citizen".