THE MIND OF ALBERT EINSTEIN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 823, 6 May 1955, Page 8

THE MIND OF ALBERT EINSTEIN

OR the last 20 years of his life, Albert Einstein, the mathematician and_ physicist whose work provided the theoretical background for the atom bomb, could steal newspaper space even from filmstars, and this as the result of scientific writings so abstruse, so difficult, that the most urbane of newspaper pdpularisers were uneasy in their search for illustrative metaphors. The fact that as a boy Einstein was not good at classwork, that indeed he was so slow in learning to speak that his parents feared him subnotmal, has been used to encourage more than one class straggler. His complete disregard for money, his fiddle playing and his yachting have all become popular legend. Perhaps not so well known is the fact that most of his Special Theory of Relativity was worked out when he held a minor position in the Swiss Patents’ Office, where, it is said, he had to thrust out of sight formulae-covered scraps of paper when the supervisor approached. Einstein’s scientific writings were profound, novel and in their own sphere sensational. But his other writings, on world government, on social justice, on his people the Jews, were simple, sincere-and frequently dismissed as the work of an other-worldly genius who should have kept to his own sphere. We let some extracts from his writings speak for themselves.

Of Himself HE bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one’s own efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own mature drives me to do. It is embar-

Tassing to earn so much fespect and love for it. Arrows of hate have been shot at me, too; but they never hit

— me, because somehow they belong to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever. I live in that solitude that is painful to youth but delicious in the years of maturity. On Religion and Philosophy "NOBODY, cettainly, will deny that the idea of the existence of an omnipotent, just, and omni-beneficent personal God is able to accord man

solace, help and guidance; also, by virtue of its simplicity, it is accessible to the most under-developed mind .. . but in their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to giveeup a personal God;

that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed = such vast power in the hand of the priests.

In their labour they will have to avail themselves of these forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure, a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task." — Science, Philosophy and Religion (1941). On Ethical Values "COCIALISM is directed towards a social-ethical end, Science, however, cannot create ends and, even less, install i

them in human beings: science at most can supply the means by which to attain certain ends. . . For these reasons we should be on our guard not to overestimate science and scientific methods when it is a question of human prob-lems."-Why Socialism? (1949). On Politics and Economics "’T"HE economic anarchy of capitalistic society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil (of our time). We see before us a huge community of producers, the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labour. . . I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely, through the establishment of a _ socialist economy. Nevertheless, it is mecessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. A planned economy as such may be accompanied by the complete vow

enslavement of the individual, The achievement of socialism requires the solution of extremely difficult sociopolitical problems: how is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralisation of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming allpowerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counter-weight to the power of democracy be assured?"--Why Socialism? (1949). On the Atom Bomb "TODAY, the physicists who participated in forging the most formidable and dangerous weapon of all time ate harassed by a feeling of responsibility, not to say guilt, We delivered this weapon into the hands of the American and British people as trustees for the whole of mankind, as fighters for peace and liberty. But so far we fail to see any guatantee of peace, we do not see any guarantee of the freedoms that

were promised the nations in the. Kdentic Charter.’-Address at Nobel dinnet (1945). On International Affairs "HE Russians have made it clear that they will do éverything within their power to prevent a supra-national régime from coming into _ existence. They not only reject it in the range of atomic energy, they reject it sharply on principle and thus have spurned in advance any overture to join a limited world government. . . "But one must admit that the United States has made ample contribution (to Russian feats), Indeed, this country has conducted its Russian policy as though it were convinced that fear is the greatest of all .diplomatic instruments."-~ -From Atlantic Monthly (1947). On Intellectual Freedom "WW HAT ought the minority of inte:lectuals do against this evil (that of suppression of intellectual freedom)? Frankly, I can see only the revolutionary way of non-co-operation in the sense of Gandhi. Every intellectual who is called before one of the committees ought to refuse to testify, i.e., he must. be prepared for jail and economic ruin, in short, for the sacrifice of his personal welfare in the interests of. the cultural welfare of his country. . : If enough people are ready to take this grave step they will be successful. If not,-then the intellectuals of ‘this country deserve nothing better than slavery which is intended for. them."-Letter to William Frauenglass, school teacher, who refused to testify before a U.S. Senate Committee concerning his alleged Cormmunist connections (1953).

"SCIENCE without religion is lame; religion without science is blind."-Address given at Princeton Theological Seminary (1939).

+ DO not believe that a great era of atomic science is to be assured by organising science in the way large corporations. are organised. One can organise to apply a discovery already made, but not to make one. Only a free individual can make a discovery. . ." -"Atomic War or Peace" (1945).

HEN asked in an interview last year what changes he would make if he were to live his life over again, Einstein remarked that next time he would be a_ street ‘cleaner or a plumber.