10 Weird And Interesting Facts About Albert Einstein

Best-known for the formula E=mc², Albert Einstein was one of the most influential scientists whose discoveries impacted science forever. Asides from his exceptional brilliance, he also had his quirky attributes.

His life and death are surrounded by several mysteries…

1. Albert Einstein allegedly didn’t start speaking until he was 3 or 4. One interesting anecdote notes that while Albert was eating dinner with his parents one night, he broke his silence to say , “The soup is too hot.” Thrilled by his ability to finally speak, his parents asked him while he hadn’t spoken before and he replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.”

2. When Albert was born, he had a fat head which his family thought was quite deformed. In time, the head slowly became normal in size.The head of the genius that would perform great feat in science was not so perfect at birth.

3. At the tender age of 5, he became fascinated with science after his father showed him a simple pocket compass. He was intrigued and wondered what force acted on the needle to make it point in any direction. This marked the beginning of his journey into the world of science. Recounting the experience, he said, “I can still remember – or at least I believe I can remember – that this experience made a deep and lasting impression on me.”

4. One of the eccentric qualities that made Albert stand out was his disheveled look. He never combed his hair and hated wearing socks. According to him, wearing socks was annoying because they often would get holes in them.

5. He kept good company in school. His friend, a medical student, would bring him science books which aroused his interest in science even more. Talmud, the student, also introduced him to a book on geometry two years before he was scheduled to learn it in school.

6. When Albert was in school, he was a rebellious student. He would challenge his teachers’ authority and make it obvious that he found their classed boring. He believed people should think for themselves rather than learn under systematized institutions. In his words, “A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.”

7. He had a mild form of echolalia, a psychiatric condition that caused him to repeat words to himself. He was also a visual thinker and would think in pictures, a tactic used by another renowned scientist, Nikola Tesla.

8. Albert had his big break in the year 1905 when he published his four different academic papers. These papers were the basis for his theories of relativity and among them was the paper that contained the famous formula E=mc2.

9. He was the first person to come up with the theory of relativity that proved the universe is expanding. However, he doubted this discovery and never released the paper. Eventually, Hubble’s telescope confirmed that the theory of relativity was correct.

10. Einstein had a relatively normal brain but some areas were more developed than average and have been linked to mathematical ability, and visual and spatial awareness. After his death in 1955, a pathologist removed his brain without his family’s permission and sliced it into 240 pieces for research purposes.