Relatively Einstein Trivia Quiz

Answer: Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was an important influence on the young Einstein mind with his ideas on time, space and a harmonious universe. Kant also had a wicked sense of humour and a distaste of all things pompous. Both were traits that would stay with Einstein.

Answer: Greek

At the time the young Albert had already taught himself Latin, advanced mathematics and had discovered a love for geometry. In later life he announced the discovery of Euclid as a great delight in his life. He refers to a book on Euclidean geometry as 'holy.'

Answer: Switzerland

This position was a saviour for the now 23-year-old Einstein who had failed to get a permanent teaching or academic position after graduation. He was completely penniless. The job also allowed Einstein the time to develop his theories.

Answer: In his sleep

Einstein is quoted as saying this about the discovery: "A storm broke loose in my mind and with it came the answers." A friend had later said: "He has tapped into gods' thoughts and tuned into the master plan for the universe."

Answer: Max Planck

Planck had changed views that stood for over 200 years that light was a wave like phenomenon and he claimed that light was absorbed by matter or quanta. Einstein went further and claimed that light quanta or photons travelled as separate particles and would hit matter sporadically, not smoothly like a wave.

Answer: Energy = mass multiplied by the speed of light squared

Mass contains enormous amounts of energy. Marie Curie discovered that one-ounce of radium emitted 4000 calories/hour indefinitely. E=mc2 would be the base of the discovery of how the sun and stars radiate light and heat for billions of years - and much to Einstein's horror, the atomic bomb.

Answer: Services to Theoretical Physics

There were many reasons why a Nobel Prize wasn't awarded to Einstein for so long and not for relativity. Relativity was very controversial and it was theoretical. It could not be proven. Add to the equation that the judges didn't fully understand it. Also, there was a large 'anti-Einstein' movement headed by the anti-semitic and later Nazi supporter Philip Lenard who had influence on the panel. By 1921 Einstein had the overwhelming support of the science community.

The Nobel judges finally capitulated after pressure from the science world and awarded Einstein a services award based on the work he did with the photoelectric effect. (They were still playing it safe.)

Answer: To support the World Zionist Organisation

Einstein was a world celebrity. The general public in the US did not understand relativity but he attracted thousands of people wherever he went including a media circus. The tour was a success, raising nearly a million dollars for the Zionist movement, enough to start building the Medical Faculty of Hebrew University. Einstein wasn't a Zionist but he cared deeply about the fate of his brother Jew and supported the creation and expansion of Palestine under British rule.

Answer: Einstein was a Communist

Although Hoover suspected Einstein was a Communist he would never put his money were his mouth was and approve phone tapping or mail interception in fear of the backlash against the FBI if they were discovered - Einstein was too popular a figure. After many years and thousands of hours work, Hoover dropped the case against Einstein and his secretary Helen Dukas.

They had collected 6 feet of files, all proving nothing. Later, friends said Einstein would have found the whole affair highly amusing.

Answer: True

Amazing but true. The existence of the ether was (incorrectly) proven many times to support Maxwell's unified theory that light consist of electromagnetic waves. The waves needed a medium to travel upon, and the medium was believed to be an elastic, mass-less solid called the ether. Relativity shattered this belief but the existence of ether was so firmly entrenched in many great minds that they refused to comprehend its non existence and labelled Einstein a fraud.