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In the biography - Einstein - His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson, the author says that Einstein never failed in mathematics in school - it is a common misconception.

Einstein himself said "I never failed in mathematics. Before I was fifteen, I had mastered differential and integral calculus." In fact he was very often ranked first in his class.

Einstein's view was influenced by his uncle Jacob Einstein, who said "It is a merry science. When the animal that we are hunting cannot be caught, we call it "X" temporarily, and continue to hunt it until it is bagged."

THHA 7 Feb 24
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8 comments

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1

Einstein clearly didnt understand the nature of time.

gater Level 7 Feb 24, 2019

That is why you are more famous than him . . .

@THHA Its not about fame - its about being factually accurate.

@TheAstroChuck Clever. Einstein claimed his thoughts on time were a theory, he never claimed to be absolutely sure. Its everyone else that thought if Einstein thought it, then it must be true. Time is a constant, which proves your BBT is a load.

@TheAstroChuck I never said Einstein wasn't right about some things. He was brilliant, but he didn't understand time. Time is absolutely a constant, but he didn't understand this, or he wouldn't have theorized about time being effected by speed and gravity.

@TheAstroChuck Again with the childish insults, and yet you won't address the facts.

@TheAstroChuck The truth is you don't understand time.

2

My kind of atheist!

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." So said Albert Einstein, and his famous aphorism has been the source of endless debate between believers and non-believers wanting to claim the greatest scientist of the 20th century as their own.

In the letter, he states: "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."

Einstein, who was Jewish and who declined an offer to be the state of Israel's second president, also rejected the idea that the Jews are God's favoured people.

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."

1

My response to the claim that Einstein failed math, has always been he failed because he fell asleep in class out of boredom since he had already mastered it.

camne Level 7 Feb 24, 2019
0

But could he tie his shoe laces?

2

In German schools the grading goes from 1 (very good) to 6 (insufficient). Some biographers looked at Einsteins grades and found that in Algebra, Geometry or Physics he had a 6. So he must have been very bad. The thing is that he later went to school in Switzerland where the grading was the opposite way, where 6 was the best grade. It was all based on a small mistake.

Dietl Level 7 Feb 24, 2019
5

Walter kinda does his homework.... Currently reading DaVinci

0

I remember growing up that I was taught that Einstein was an indifferent student in college (much like Charles Darwin). Not that he was failing, but that he was not excited by his collegiate experience. It wasn't until he began working in the Patent Office did he become excited and focused.

According to the biography, it began at a very early age.

@THHA. The indifference began at an early age. or his focus and motivation began at an early age? Sorry, confused by what you refer to by "it".

As in my post, he was doing differential and integral calculus before his fifteenth birthday.

1

But it continues to be said as motivation to those having problems with math.

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