wtfhistory reblogged
hyggehaven-deactivated20200904
We men are deplorable, dependent creatures. But compared with these women, every one of us is king, for he stands more or less on his own two feet, not constantly waiting for something outside of himself to cling to. They, however, always wait for someone to come along who will use them as he sees fit. If this does not happen, they simply fall to pieces.
Albert Einstein
The fact the Einstein was a raging misogynist kind of makes sense, given that it is widely speculated his first wife made significant contributions to his work, at least in the realm of thermodynamics, (a good breakdown of the scientific basis for that suspicion here) if not in the Theory of Relativity, but was completely unacknowledged (especially after he left her for his cousin).*
*There is some discussion about the veracity of the sources for this claim, and I am by no means asserting it as an undeniable fact, but it is a worthwhile speculation. Mileva Einstein-Maric is routinely dismissed because she did not pass her exams while in school with Einstein, but none of the historians discussing this acknowledge that she was three months pregnant with Einstein’s child, and as of yet unwed, which I imagine would have been quite stressful. Before her final year in school and before her pregnancy, she was one of the top students (and the only woman) in her and Einstein’s class, receiving the same grade as him (5.5/6) in physics.
There is more and more evidence that Mileva Einstein-Maric (Einstein’s first wife) is the coauthor of “The Theory of Relativity.” Recently published letters between Mileva Maric and Albert Einstein are shedding light on who is the author(s) of the “Theory of Relativity.” Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921: he gave all the money from the Nobel Prize to his ex-wife - Mileva Maric- this was the condition for the divorce settlement. Einstein did not leave any documents which acknowledged the contribution of Mileva Maric to the Theory of Relativity.
In 1905, several articles bearing the name of Albert Einstein appeared in the Annalen der Physik - a Germans Physics Journal where the Theory of Relativity was published. The paper dealing with relativity was entitled Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper. Only Albert Einstein’s name appeared in the journal as author. According to Abram Fedorovich Joffe, the original paper was signed “Einstein-Marity.” ”Marity” is a variant of the Serbian “Maric”, Mileva’s maiden name. Mileva Maric Einstein’s name was left out when publication of the article took place, but Joffe saw the original 1905 manuscript.
- The Tesla Society (perhaps dubious)
"How happy I will be when the two of us together will have brought our work on the relative motion to a victorious conclusion."
A young Albert Einstein wrote these words to his first wife, Mileva, shortly before publishing the Theory of Relativity. The release of letters like this one has scholars arguing over Mileva’s contribution to relativity. They met at Zurich’s prestigious Swiss Polytechnic School: Mileva was the only woman in the class, and only the fifth in the school’s history. The daughter of a wealthy Serbian family, Mileva excelled at physics and math, and was devoted to her studies until she met Albert Einstein. The two brilliant scientists fell in love. They lived and worked together. But more interested in their own work than their classes, both failed their final exams. Einstein passed on a second attempt. Unmarried and pregnant, Mileva failed hers again. Einstein never met his daughter… and no one is sure what happened to the baby. Einstein and Mileva later married and had two sons. Mileva focused her energies on Albert’s career. Some scholars believe Mileva did the math for the Theory of Relativity, others say she corrected Einstein’s math, and still others claim she was even more deeply involved. The paper outlining the theory is signed with a hyphenated name Einstein-Marty, the Hungarian form of her maiden name Maric.
Before the work was published, Albert Einstein left his wife and two sons. He never acknowledged his first wife or her work.
He did, however, give Mileva all of the Nobel Prize money. But, the money didn’t last long: Mileva was sick, and caring for their mentally ill (schizophrenic) son. Einstein went on to great acclaim, but he never again produced physics equal to the work he did while married to his first wife and collaborator, Mileva Maric.
As the relationship progressed. Einstein became estranged from his wife. The biography reprints a chilling letter from Einstein to his wife, a proposed “contract” in which they could continue to live together under certain conditions. Indeed that was the heading: “Conditions.”
A. You will make sure 1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order; 2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room; 3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only. B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons…
There’s more, including “you will stop talking to me if I request it.” She accepted the conditions. He later wrote to her again to make sure she grasped that this was going to be all-business in the future, and that the “personal aspects must be reduced to a tiny remnant.” And he vowed, “In return, I assure you of proper comportment on my part, such as I would exercise to any woman as a stranger.”
Before marrying [his cousin] Elsa, he had considered marrying her daughter, Ilse, instead. According to Overbye, “She (Ilse, who was 18 years younger than Einstein) was not attracted to Albert, she loved him as a father, and she had the good sense not to get involved. But it was Albert’s Woody Allen moment.”
(via hyggehaven)
