Einstein’s Moral Compass Through the Darkest Ages of Our History
By: Komal Venkatesh Ganesan
Tags: Einstein, Inspiration, History, Self, Racism

Albert Einstein was a scientist who broke all conventions and paradigms. He had an outlook on life that was unique and his mere instincts had the impetus to question the very fabric of physics and formulate groundbreaking theories. But in the canonization as an icon, much of his politics and passionate views he held of life, equality and race have been forgotten.

Beneath all that scientific glamour, Einstein was a humble man. He boldly indulged in political discourse throughout his life to condemn any form of racism, hate or injustice.

On a letter to his cousin Richard Einstein in October 1947, he wrote,

“I am very smart. But not as strong-hearted as all the workers on earth for he toils endlessly and does it all to feed his family while I do it merely for solving an impossible puzzle.” — Einstein (October 1947)

He advocated against wars and tried to prevent science from being used for death and destruction at every critical junction in the history — including the birth of the infamous Atom bomb which emerged from his iconic E=mc² equation.

“Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in producing an atomic bomb, I would not have lifted a finger. “ — Einstein (March 1947)

Einstein grew up in Germany in a Jewish family. He found his natural calling for mathematics and science very early on in his life and went to publish some of the most revolutionizing discoveries that changed modern science forever. His timeline, however, put him through the darkest times of our history that were savaged by not one, but two world wars, genocide, racial segregation and hatred.

The solar eclipse of 1914 (Beginning of WW I)

It was 1905, the year that would later go on to become one of the most turning points in the history of physics; Albert Einstein published, not one but four groundbreaking theories that rattled the scientific world. One of those four was famous the ‘Special Theory of Relativity’. Following that, Einstein quickly rose to prominence and caught the wider attention of the scientific community.

The theory, however, could only be validated by observing stars during a rare total solar eclipse.

In 1914 came one such occasion; A young German astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich set out to present-day Ukraine to photograph the eclipse.

Einstein helped him with some of his own money to fund the expedition and wished him luck.

Freundlich loaded tons of equipment onto the train and departed boldly. But unknown to him was that on June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and this had triggered the war. The news of the war, however, did not arrive in time for Einstein to deter the expedition and it was all too late. The Russians captured the young astronomer, confiscated tons of apparatus and held him captive because he was German.

Upon hearing the unfortunate turn of events, Einstein quickly used his influence to free Freundlich from the Russians in trade for prisoners of war.

The expedition, however, failed and the war killed communication between scientists and halted development for years to come.

Witnessing the wrath of the war and its madness, Einstein petitioned against war, but no one supported his cause. He was mostly alienated and left to work in isolation as he advanced his theory.

During the same year, Max Planck who admired his works persuaded Einstein to join him at the Prussian Academy of Science in Berlin.

Einstein would then go on to wait for 5 more years for the next eclipse in 1919 that would finally confirm his General Theory of Relativity.

Rise of Nazi Rule and WW II

The Prussian Academy of Science was a prestigious institution that saw the likes of many elite scientists who were pioneers in mathematics and physics.

But with the rise of German nationalism from WWI and the Nazi party under Adolf Hitler, the academy went through a massive transformation — “Nazification”. During this time, many Jews were displaced and lost their jobs, including elite scientists and teachers.

An influential member of the Prussian Academy and a noble award-winning physicist, Phillip Lenard, relentlessly discredited Einstein’s theories, calling it “Jewish Physics”. He was an anti-semite and a strong proponent of Hitler’s ideologies who quickly rose to become the “Chief of Aryan Physics” under the Nazi regime and further diminished the works of Jewish scientists. In his book, “Great Men in Science” published in 1933, he completely omitted works of Einstein, Rontgen, and other notable scientists like Marie Curie.

Even when the much-awaited Nobel prize was finally awarded to Einstein in 1921, it was only for his discovery of the law of photoelectric effect and not for his iconic General Theory of Relativity. One could tell that the ugly game of politics was at play as the photoelectric effect relied on key results furnished by Phillip Lenard’s Cathode Ray experiment.