Was Einstein really a poor student?
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Was Einstein really a poor student?
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Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#2When I hear about geniuses that lived, most of the time I hear about how awesome their memory was ... which worries me, as I can't even remember the names of people I meet without effort and this would mean that I may never be good enough for anything, so why bother?
But Einstein wasn't one of those people. His IQ may have been great, but he wasn't one of those people that could recite all U.S. states or presidents at age 6.
What I like about Einstein is that he worked hard for his whole life. Whatever disability he may have had regarding his memory, he compensated multiple times by being persistent and obsessed with his work.
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#3I don't know whether he was a "good" or "bad" student. He was certainly a disinterested one, as there wasn't great overlap between what he thought about and what they were trying to teach. He must have been an effective one, however, as he picked up the information needed to solve problems in many fields, expand physics, and have a "typically European scientist" level of culture.
For those in science, most dream of having a career that can compare to his 1905.
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#4Here is Einstein's certificate for the year 1879 (he was 10):
http://www.scienceblogs.de/frischer-wind/einsteins-zeugnis.j...
Long story short, he obtained the best score (6) in the three mathematical topics (algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry) and in physics.
I guess one of the reasons the myth has endured so long may be that it makes for such a great story. A sort of intellectual rags-to-riches, so to speak.
Edit: corrected the physics score.
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#5The story that I have always heard is not that he got bad grades, but that he was a "poor student" in a more general sense, that he was extremely disinterested. I remember hearing claims that his teachers complained to his parents: "he just sits at the back and smiles."
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#6Here is Einstein's certificate for the year 1879 (he was 10): http://www.scienceblogs.de/frischer-wind/einsteins-zeugnis.j... Long story short, he obtained the best score (6) in the three mathematical topics (algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry) and in physics. I guess one of the reasons the myth has endured so long may be that it makes for such a great story. A sort of intellectual rags-to-riches, so to speak…
Wrong: Algebra, geometry, descriptive geometry AND physics are all 6 (obviously the highest possible).
Chemistry and the history of nature are 5, as well as German and Italian, art drawing and geography are 4 and some "..drawing" I can't recognize. French 3.
Moreover as far as I see it's his final degree score of his whole secondary education (the last step before university).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(school)#Final_degree
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#7When I hear about geniuses that lived, most of the time I hear about how awesome their memory was ... which worries me, as I can't even remember the names of people I meet without effort and this would mean that I may never be good enough for anything, so why bother? But Einstein wasn't one of those people. His IQ may have been great, but he wasn't one of those people that could recite all U.S. states or presidents a…
You might also like to look at Grothendieck. He wrote how he felt like a plodding turtle compared to his peers. Hilbert also must've seemed slow.
Of course, when people write stories on mental feats, they'll choose a more showoffy person who can do well on the tests that people remember from childhood. That means fewer stories about people taking time to think about things in their own way.
(What horrors would result if a schoolchild got it into her head that maybe she should just take a day off from school and lie in a hammock and think? That kind of crazy thinking gets you Clojure. (http://clojure.blip.tv/file/4457042/))
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#8Here is Einstein's certificate for the year 1879 (he was 10): http://www.scienceblogs.de/frischer-wind/einsteins-zeugnis.j... Long story short, he obtained the best score (6) in the three mathematical topics (algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry) and in physics. I guess one of the reasons the myth has endured so long may be that it makes for such a great story. A sort of intellectual rags-to-riches, so to speak…
Wrong: Algebra, geometry, descriptive geometry AND physics are all 6 (obviously the highest possible). Chemistry and the history of nature are 5, as well as German and Italian, art drawing and geography are 4 and some "..drawing" I can't recognize. French 3. Moreover as far as I see it's his final degree score of his whole secondary education (the last step before university). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(…
Thank you for pointing the mistake out.
However, it is not so obvious that 6 is the highest score. While it was the case in Switzerland (where Einstein was studying at that age), it was the exact contrary in Germany at that time - 1 being the best score and 6 the lowest.
As pointed out in the Stack Exchange's answers, this discrepancy in scoring systems may also have contributed to the myth of Einstein's poor performance at school.
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#9I seem to recall he had trouble getting into university... which I guess is supported by him being a patent examiner, instead of a student.
Re: Was Einstein really a poor student?
#10Here is Einstein's certificate for the year 1879 (he was 10): http://www.scienceblogs.de/frischer-wind/einsteins-zeugnis.j... Long story short, he obtained the best score (6) in the three mathematical topics (algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry) and in physics. I guess one of the reasons the myth has endured so long may be that it makes for such a great story. A sort of intellectual rags-to-riches, so to speak…
Wrong: Algebra, geometry, descriptive geometry AND physics are all 6 (obviously the highest possible). Chemistry and the history of nature are 5, as well as German and Italian, art drawing and geography are 4 and some "..drawing" I can't recognize. French 3. Moreover as far as I see it's his final degree score of his whole secondary education (the last step before university). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(…
Possibly Technischen Zeichen - That would go well as a contrast to Kunstzeichen.