Einstein and Sternglass, who had immigrated from Berlin with his physician parents in 1938, chatted in German about the nature of light particles called photons, about Einstein's dislike for quantum mechanics and his frustration with trying to develop a unified theory that would explain all of the forces of the universe. Einstein was upset that he had made little progress on his unified field theory, his wife had died, and his son suffered from mental illness. What most confounded Sternglass was Einstein's career advice. Sternglass was considering going back to school for an advanced degree in physics. He made a mistake, he told Sternglass, when he left his job as a patent examiner for a position with the University of Berlin.
Nobody can do that.
In 1952, he moved to Pittsburgh to join the Westinghouse lab. There, he could continue his studies in electron scattering and a phenomenon known as secondary electron emission, which interested Westinghouse because of its potential use in building electronic X-ray image intensifiers. In 1967, he joined the Pitt Medical School's radiology department, where he investigated electronic techniques that would permit lower doses of diagnostic X-rays and applied computer techniques to enhance diagnostic images. Earning and learning While these jobs put food on the table, Sternglass pursued his interest in physics on the side. As Einstein had predicted, this arrangement allowed him to pursue far-out ideas and make his mistakes in private.