After fleeing Nazi Germany for the United States in 1933, Albert Einstein spent the final years of his life in America. Though he failed to contribute any more groundbreaking scientific contributions, he used his fame and voice to address the pressing issues of his day, from civil rights in America to the dangers of Nuclear War. He once remarked that the world was a dangerous place “not because of those that do evil, but because of those that look on and do nothing.” Einstein died on April 18th, 1955, at the age of 76, following a smoking-related ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His legacy is not only etched in the annals of theoretical physics but continues to be expressed in his image and unwavering commitment to humanitarian causes in a turbulent world.
When Were Einstein’s Final Years?
After moving to the United States in 1933, Einstein took a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, where he pursued his final scientific goal: a Unifield Field Theory that would combine gravity and electromagnetism into one framework. Though he never succeeded, he dedication to the pursuit of knowledge never waned. He became an American citizen in 1940.
Next to the enjoyment of a relatively quiet, scholarly life in Princeton, corresponding with other scientists, Einstein remained an active public figure. He co-founded the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists to promote peace, railed against inequality, and became an outspoken member of the NAACP, openly condemning racism as a form of social disease.
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On 17 April 1955, Einstein was hospitalized with chronic internal bleeding caused by a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm; he refused surgery, saying that he wished to accept death. He died the next day at the age of 76.
In a strange and shocking twist, Dr Thomas Harvey, the chief pathologist at the hospital where he died, proceeded to remove and steal his brain. His declared aim was to keep and study what many believed to be the most impressive brain of the 20th century. Curiously, he gained permission from Einstein’s oldest son, Hans, after the act.
Harvey dissected and photographed Einstein’s brain before thinly slicing bits of it to make microscopic slides. Despite claiming that the brain looked “different,” he was unable to draw any meaningful conclusions. The brain was ultimately returned to Einstein’s family and promptly donated to the Mütter Medical Museum in Philadelphia, where it rests.
What Was Einstein’s Scientific Legacy?
Albert Einstein’s work makes sense to a trained physicist, at least on paper. But much of his work makes very little sense to the general public. He is nonetheless considered by popular decree to be one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.
A master of conjuring simple images to explain complex ideas, his famous equation E = mc², reveals the profound truth that mass (matter) and energy are interchangeable – different forms of the same thing. His theories of special and general relativity completely changed how space, time, and gravity are fundamentally understood.
The theory of special relativity demonstrates that time slows down the faster we – objects – move (time dilation) and objects get shorter in the direction they move (length contraction). General relativity shows that massive objects warp the fabric of space and time, creating gravity, not as a force – as Isaac Newton believed – but as the warping of space-time itself.
His mind-boggling insights laid the groundwork for some of today’s most important technologies. GPS satellites account for both time dilation (special relativity) and the effects of weaker gravity in orbit (general relativity). Solar power is based on the underlying principle of the photoelectric effect, explained by Einstein in 1905. Nuclear power and the Atomic bomb are both possible on the basis that E = mc.²
How Has Einstein’s Image Lived On?
It is no surprise that Einstein has become a byword for genius. However, beyond his scientific brilliance, it is Einstein’s image – his famous wild grey hair and deep, cosmic gaze – that granted him the status of a global icon. His likeness is everywhere, from posters and t-shirts, to internet memes and marketing campaigns.
Though Einstein famously rejected the commercialization of his likeness during his lifetime, his image has been commodified posthumously. After Einstein died in 1955, Article 13 of his will pledged his “manuscripts, copyrights, publication rights, royalties… and all other literary property” to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI). As was usual at the time, no mention was made about the use of his name, likeness, and image (Parkin, 2022).
After his secretary, Helen Dukas, passed away in 1982, the university took control of his estate and began to assert control over his image. Peddlers of Einstein’s likeness, from street hawkers and corner shops, to multi-national companies like Coca-Cola and Apple, found themselves in court. Some were granted licences and others were not, as HUJI proceeded to rake in astronomical profits.
Einstein has opposed the commercialization of his persona, just as he would likely have objected to the unauthorized removal and study of his brain. Today, legal battles and attempts to exploit his image for commercial gain aside, Einstein’s public image lives on as a symbol of genius, curiosity, and the power of daring to think differently.
