From: crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Cameron Randale Bass)
Subject: Re: EINSTEIN'S SCHOOL DAYS
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 03:29:02 GMT

In article <BxDAnL.Bnp@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) writes:
>In article <17241@mindlink.bc.ca> Gordon_Wong@mindlink.bc.ca (Gordon Wong) writes:
>>I read that Einstein was a very poor student in his early years. Was it
>>because he just didn't bother to go to school because he found that what was
>>being taught just wasn't stimulating enough for him or was it something else?
>
>   It was, I am told, due primarily to historian error (and likely a dose
>of wishful thinking).
>   European schools did and do use a system assigning numbers in place of
>the american letter-grade system. A student's mark was summarized by a
>number from one to five. Now, I believe that at present a good mark is a
>'1', and a poor mark is '5'. It wasn't always so, though. When young
>Einstein began school the mapping was opposite to the way it is now.
>Partway through his schooling they changed to the modern convention.
>   Now, some historian goes back and looks at Einstein's old report cards
>and sees that he went from earning '4' and '5' to earning '1' and '2' all
>of a sudden, partway through his career. "Well," (s)he says smugly to
>(her)himself, "look at that! I got a better math mark in grade three than
>Albert Einstein!"
>   The quick answer, according to news reports which came out about two
>years ago, is that Einstein was always a very good student throughout
>his schooling. Of course, there is that famous quote by some math
>professor allegedly telling Einstein that he "would never amount to
>much", but that doesn't necessarily mean he was doing badly in that
>course, either.

     As for the earlier years, some quotations from his sister Maja
    
     on Einstein in primary school:

     "Nothing of his special aptitude for mathematics was noticable at
     the time; he wasn't even good at arithmetic in the sense of being 
     quick and accurate, though he was reliable and persevering."

     on Einstein in Gymnasium:

     "he already had a prelidiction for solving complicated problems in
     applied arithmetic, though the computational errors that he made kept him
     from appearing particularly talented in the eyes of his teachers."

     and

     "actually, he was very uncomfortable in school.  The style of teaching
     in most subjects was repugnant to him; moreover, his home room 
     teacher did not seem very well disposed towards him."

     He did do a bit better in the Canton school in Aarau before
     being admitted to ETH.   However, the tales of Einstein being
     thought a bad student are certainly not myths.

     If you look at his grades at ETH, he received mostly 4's and 5's
     out of 6.  Weber gave him a couple of 6's in Electrotechnical
     Laboratory.  However, people were not hopping all over themselves
     to hire Herr Einstein upon leaving ETH.  Some of this had to do with 
     the fact that he was not thought a stellar candidate for a job.

                              dale bass
-- 
C. R. Bass                                          crb7q@virginia.edu        
Department of Mechanical, 
     Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering
University of Virginia                              (804) 924-7926
Newsgroups: sci.physics