Einstein: His Life and Universe

, Aug. 8, 2005; Simon Baron-Cohen,

The Essential Difference

(New York: Perseus, 2003), 167; Norm Ledgin,

Asperger’s and Self-Esteem: Insight and Hope through Famous Role Models

(Arlington,TX: Future Horizons, 2002), chapter 7; Hazel Muir, “Einstein and Newton Showed Signs of Autism,”

New Scientist

, Apr. 30, 2003; Thomas Marlin, “Albert Einstein and LD,”

Journal of Learning Disabilities

, Mar. 1, 2000, 149. A Google search of Einstein + Asperger’s results in 146,000 pages. I do not find such a long-distance diagnosis to be convincing. Even as a teenager, Einstein made close friends, had passionate relationships, enjoyed collegial discussions, communicated well verbally, and could empathize with friends and humanity in general.

16

. Einstein 1949b, 9; Seelig 1956a, 11; Hoffmann 1972, 9; Pais 1982, 37; Vallentin, 21; Reiser, 25; Holton 1973, 359; author’s interview with Shulamith Oppenheim, Apr. 22, 2005.

17

. Overbye, 8; Shulamith Oppenheim,

Rescuing Albert’s Compass

(New York: Crocodile, 2003).

18

. Holton 1973, 358.

19

. Folsing, 26; Einstein to Philipp Frank, draft, 1940, CPAE 1, p. lxiii.

20

. Maja Einstein, xxi; Bucky, 156; Einstein to Hans Albert Einstein, Jan. 8, 1917.

21

. Hans Albert Einstein interview in Whitrow, 21; Bucky, 148.

22

. Einstein to Paul Plaut, Oct. 23, 1928, AEA 28-65; Dukas and Hoffmann, 78; Moszkowski, 222. Einstein originally wrote that music and science “complement each other in the

release

they offer,” but he later changed that to

Befriedigung

, or satisfaction, according to Barbara Wolff of Hebrew University.

23

. Einstein to Otto Juliusburger, Sept. 29, 1942, AEA 38-238.

24

. Clark, 25; Einstein 1949b, 3; Reiser, 28. (Anton Reiser was the pseudonym of Rudoph Kayser, who married Ilse Einstein, the daughter of Einstein’s second wife, Elsa.)

25

. Maja Einstein, xix, says he was 7; in fact he enrolled on Oct. 1, 1885, when he was 6.

26

. According to the version later told by his stepson-in-law, the teacher then added that Jesus was nailed to the cross “by the Jews”; Reiser, 30. But Einstein’s friend and physics colleague Philipp Frank makes a point of specifically noting that the teacher did not raise the role of the Jews; Frank 1947, 9.

27

. Folsing, 16; Einstein to unknown recipient, Apr. 3, 1920, CPAE 1: lx.

28

. Reiser, 28–29; Maja Einstein, xxi; Seelig 1956a, 15; Pais 1982, 38; Folsing, 20. Maja again has him only 8 when he enters the gymnasium, which he actually did in Oct. 1888, at age 9 and a half.

29

. Brian 1996, 281. A Google search of

Einstein failed math