Most people know that Albert Einstein was a
famous scientist who came up with the formula
E=mc . But do you know these ten things about
this genius?

10. Loved to Sail
When Einstein attended college at the
Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland,
he fell in love with sailing. He would often
take a boat out onto a lake, pull out a
notebook, relax, and think. Even though
Einstein never learned to swim, he kept sailing
as a hobby throughout his life.

9. Einstein's Brain
When Einstein died in 1955, his body was
cremated and his ashes scattered, as was his
wish. However, before his body was cremated,
pathologist Thomas Harvey at Princeton
Hospital conducted an autopsy in which he
r emoved Einstein's brain. Rather than putting
the brain back in the body, Harvey decided to
keep it, ostensibly for study. Harvey did not
have permission to keep Einstein's brain, but
days later, he convinced Einstein's son that it
would help science. Shortly thereafter,
Harvey was fired from his position at
Princeton because he refused to give up
Einstein's brain.
For the next four decades, Harvey kept
Einstein's chopped-up brain (Harvey had it
cut into over 200 pieces) in two mason jars
with him as he moved around the country.
Every once in a while, Harvey would slice off a
piece and send it to a researcher. Finally, in
1998, Harvey returned Einstein's brain to the
pathologist at Princeton Hospital.

8. Einstein and the Violin
Einstein's mother, Pauline, was an accomplished
pianist and wanted her son to love music too,
so she started him on violin lessons when he
was six years old. Unfortunately, at first,
Einstein hated playing the violin. He would
much rather build houses of cards, which he
was really good at (he once built one 14 stories
high!), or do just about anything else. When
Einstein was 13-years old, he suddenly changed
his mind about the violin when he heard the
music of Mozart. With a new passion for
playing, Einstein continued to play the violin
until the last few years of his life. For nearly
seven decades, Einstein would not only use the
violin to relax when he became stuck in his
thinking process, he would play socially at
local recitals or join in impromptu groups such
as Christmas carolers who stopped at his home.

7. Presidency of Israel
A few days after Zionist leader and first
President of Israel Chaim Weizmann died on
November 9, 1952, Einstein was asked if he
would accept the position of being the second
president of Israel. Einstein, age 73, declined
the offer. In his official letter of refusal,
Einstein stated that he not only lacked the
"natural aptitude and the experience to deal
properly with people," but also, he was getting
old.

6. No Socks
Part of Einstein's charm was his disheveled
look. In addition to his uncombed hair, one of
Einstein's peculiar habits was to never wear
socks. Whether it was while out sailing or to a
formal dinner at the White House, Einstein
went without socks everywhere. To Einstein,
socks were a pain because they often would
get holes in them. Plus, why wear both socks
and shoes when one of them would do just
fine?

5. A Simple Compass
When Albert Einstein was five years old and
sick in bed, his father showed him a simple
pocket compass. Einstein was mesmerized.
What force exerted itself on the little needle
to make it point in a single direction? This
question haunted Einstein for many years and
has been noted as the beginning of his
fascination with science.

4. Designed a Refrigerator
Twenty-one years after writing his Special
Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein invented
a refrigerator that operated on alcohol gas.
The refrigerator was patented in 1926 but
never went into production because new
technology made it unnecessary. Einstein
invented the refrigerator because he read
about a family that was poisoned by a sulphur
dioxide-emitting refrigerator.

3. Obsessed Smoker
Einstein loved to smoke. As he walked between
his house and his office at Princeton, one could
often see him followed by a trail of smoke.
Nearly as part of his image as his wild hair
and baggy clothes was Einstein clutching his
trusty briar pipe. In 1950, Einstein is noted
as saying, "I believe that pipe smoking
contributes to a somewhat calm and objective
judgment in all human affairs," Although he
favored pipes, Einstein was not one to turn
down a cigar or even a cigarette.

2. Married His Cousin
After Einstein divorced his first wife, Mileva
Maric, in 1919, he married his cousin, Elsa
Loewenthal (nee Einstein). How closely were
they related? Quite close. Elsa was actually
related to Albert on both sides of his family.
Albert's mother and Elsa's mother were
sisters, plus Albert's father and Elsa's father
were cousins. When they were both little, Elsa
and Albert had played together; however,
their romance only began once Elsa had
married and divorced Max Loewenthal.

1. An Illegitimate Daughter
In 1901, before Albert Einstein and Mileva
Maric were married, the college sweethearts
took a romantic getaway to Lake Como in
Italy. After the vacation, Mileva found
herself pregnant. In that day and age,
illegitimate children were not uncommon and
yet they were also not accepted by society.
Since Einstein did not have the money to
marry Maric nor the ability to support a
child, the two were not able to get married
until Einstein got the patent job over a year
later. So as not to besmirch Einstein's
reputation, Maric went back to her family and
had the baby girl, whom she named Lieserl.
Although we know that Einstein knew about his
daughter, we don't actually know what
happened to her. There are but just a few
references of her in Einstein's letters, with
the last one in September 1903. It is believed
that Lieserl either died after suffering from
scarlet fever at an early age or she survived
the scarlet fever and was given up for
adoption. Both Albert and Mileva kept the
existence of Lieserl so secret that Einstein
scholars only discovered her existence in
recent years.

Hmmm..