The Royal Treatment!

ALBERT EINSTEIN: THE PHYSICIST AS A WORLDWIDE ICON. Charlie Chaplin: the comic actor, film-maker, “Little Tramp” as a worldwide icon. Here’s the 1931 opening of the film “City Lights”. Einstein says, “Why are they cheering?”. Chaplin: “Because they understand me and they do not understand you”. Einstein: “But what does all this mean?” Chaplin: “Absolutely nothing”

From the diary of Count Harry Kessler, wealthy diplomat,

Publisher, a man of letters, on 20 March 1922:

DINED WITH THE EINSTEINS. Rather too much food in the grand style to which this really lovable, almost still childlike couple lent an air of gravity…Guests included Mendelssohns, Warburg… An emanation of goodness and simplicity from the host and hostess transfigured it with an almost fairy-tale quality.

EINSTEIN AND HIS WIFE admitted quite unaffectedly that their reception in the United States and Britain were veritable triumphs.  Einstein gave a slightly ironic skeptical twist by claiming that he cannot make out why people are so interested in his theories.  His wife told me how he kept on saying to her that he felt like a cheat, a confidence trickster who was failing to give them whatever they hoped for.

31 March 1922

Einstein gave the first of his four famous lectures at the College de France, outlining the basics of his theories of Relativity.  The French newspaper L’Humanite reported that:   

EVERYONE HAD THE IMPRESSION of being in the presence of a sublime genius. As we saw Einstein’s noble face and heard his slow soft speech, it seemed as if the purest and most subtle thought was unfolding before us. A noble shudder shook us and raised us above the mediocrity and stubbornness of everydqy life.

10 November 1922

EINSTEIN AND HIS WIFE WERE EN ROUTE TO JAPAN…That nation was gripped by Einstein mania, and the reception was even more enthusiastic than the one he had enjoyed in Paris…. There were such large crowds that the police were unable to cope with the perilous crush… Einstein remained modest, friendly, and simple.

[All above excerpts are from “Constellation of Genius”, Kevin Jackson, Windmill Books, 2013]

The Royal Treatment!

ALBERT EINSTEIN: THE PHYSICIST AS A WORLDWIDE ICON. Charlie Chaplin: the comic actor, film-maker, “Little Tramp” as a worldwide icon. Here’s the 1931 opening of the film “City Lights”. Einstein says, “Why are they cheering?”. Chaplin: “Because they understand me and they do not understand you”. Einstein: “But what does all this mean?” Chaplin: “Absolutely nothing”

From the diary of Count Harry Kessler, wealthy diplomat,

Publisher, a man of letters, on 20 March 1922:

DINED WITH THE EINSTEINS. Rather too much food in the grand style to which this really lovable, almost still childlike couple lent an air of gravity…Guests included Mendelssohns, Warburg… An emanation of goodness and simplicity from the host and hostess transfigured it with an almost fairy-tale quality.

EINSTEIN AND HIS WIFE admitted quite unaffectedly that their reception in the United States and Britain were veritable triumphs.  Einstein gave a slightly ironic skeptical twist by claiming that he cannot make out why people are so interested in his theories.  His wife told me how he kept on saying to her that he felt like a cheat, a confidence trickster who was failing to give them whatever they hoped for.

31 March 1922

Einstein gave the first of his four famous lectures at the College de France, outlining the basics of his theories of Relativity.  The French newspaper L’Humanite reported that:   

EVERYONE HAD THE IMPRESSION of being in the presence of a sublime genius. As we saw Einstein’s noble face and heard his slow soft speech, it seemed as if the purest and most subtle thought was unfolding before us. A noble shudder shook us and raised us above the mediocrity and stubbornness of everydqy life.

10 November 1922

EINSTEIN AND HIS WIFE WERE EN ROUTE TO JAPAN…That nation was gripped by Einstein mania, and the reception was even more enthusiastic than the one he had enjoyed in Paris…. There were such large crowds that the police were unable to cope with the perilous crush… Einstein remained modest, friendly, and simple.

[All above excerpts are from “Constellation of Genius”, Kevin Jackson, Windmill Books, 2013]