Einstein's anecdote

■ Mr. Weber's eyes

At the age of sixteen, Einstein applied for the engineering department of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, but failed in the entrance examination. Mr. Weber, a physicist, read his papers on mathematics and physics. He was very discerning and praised him: "You are a very clever boy, Einstein, a very clever boy, but you have a big shortcoming: you don't want to show yourself."

Mr Webber is right. Einstein is a "genius" in mathematics. He taught himself analytic geometry and calculus at the age of 12 to 16. He is also "unrepentant" for not wanting to show his "shortcomings". In his letter to friends in his later years, he said: "When I was young, my needs and expectations for life were that I could do research quietly in a corner, and the public would not pay full attention to me, but now I can't."

■ The secret of success

An American journalist once asked Einstein the secret of his success. He replied: "As early as 190 1, when I was a 22-year-old young man, I had discovered the formula of success. I can tell you the secret of this formula, that is, A=X+Y+Z! A is success, X is hard work, Y is knowing how to rest, and Z is talking less nonsense! This formula is useful to me and I think it is also useful to many people. "

■ Refuse to be the second president of Israel.

1948 14 in may, the state of Israel was born, but soon war broke out between Israel and neighboring Arab countries. Einstein, who has lived in the United States for more than ten years, immediately declared to the media: "Now, the Israelis can't retreat any more. We should fight. Jews can only survive in a world hostile to them if they rely on themselves. " 1952165438+1On October 9th, Weizmann, an old friend of Einstein and the first president of Israel, passed away. The day before, the Israeli ambassador to the United States handed Einstein a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion, formally asking Einstein to become the Israeli presidential candidate. That evening, a reporter called Einstein's residence and asked Einstein, "I heard that you will be appointed as the president of Israel, professor." Will you accept it? " "No, I can't be president." "The President doesn't have many specific affairs, and his position is symbolic. Professor, you are the greatest Jew. No, no, you are the greatest person in the world. If you are the president of Israel and symbolize the greatness of the Jewish nation, that would be great. " "No, I can't." Hardly had Einstein put down the phone when it rang again. This time it's the Israeli ambassador to Washington. The ambassador said, "Professor, I was instructed by Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion. Are you willing to accept your nomination as a presidential candidate? " "Mr. Ambassador, I know a little about nature and know almost nothing about people. How can a man like me be president? Please explain to the press and give me a hand. " The ambassador further persuaded: "Professor, the late President Weizmann was also a professor. You can do it. " "Weizmann and I are different. He can do it, I can't. " "Professor, every Israeli citizen and every Jew in the world is waiting for you!" Einstein was really moved by the kindness of his compatriots, but he was more concerned with how to politely refuse the ambassador and the Israeli government without letting them down or embarrassed. Soon, Einstein issued a statement in the newspaper, formally refusing to be the president of Israel. In Einstein's view, "being president is not an easy task." At the same time, he quoted himself again: "Equation is more important to me, because politics is present, but equation is eternal."

■ How did Einstein approach China?

As early as 19 19, Einstein's theory of relativity began to spread to China, especially in 1920, when the British philosopher Russell came to China to give lectures, which left a deep impression on the academic circles in China. Einstein's own eyes again and again projected to the ancient and unfamiliar China. /kloc-in the winter of 0/922, he was invited to give lectures in Japan. On his way back and forth, he passed through Shanghai twice and stayed for three days. He saw China in distress with his own eyes and expressed deep sympathy. In his travel diary, he wrote down the "tragic picture" and his feelings: "Externally, China people are famous for their hard work and their low requirements for lifestyle and children's welfare. They are more optimistic and naive than Indians. But most of them have a heavy burden: men and women knock stones every day for five cents a day. They seem too slow to understand their terrible fate. " "Einstein saw this labor, groaning and tenacious nation, and his social sympathy was awakened again. He thinks this is the poorest country on earth. They were brutally abused and treated worse than cattle and horses. " (Collected Works of Einstein, edited by Xu, Commercial Press, 1979, pages 20 and 2 1) More than ten years later (1936), Einstein said in his first individual conversation with Zhou Peiyuan who came to Princeton University in the United States: "The people of China are suffering people." His sympathy is sincere and heartfelt, not in words, but in action. 1931117 Einstein publicly condemned Japan's aggression against the three northeastern provinces and called on all countries to unite to impose economic sanctions on Japan. Unfortunately, the response was empty. 1932 10, "Commander-in-Chief of the May 4th Movement" (in Mao Zedong) and Chen Duxiu, founder of China's * * * production party (who was expelled from the party at that time), were arrested in Shanghai. He and Russell, Dewey and other internationally renowned intellectuals jointly called Chiang Kai-shek to demand his release. 1in March, 937, after Shen Junru, Zhang Naiqi, Wang Zaoshi, Shi Liang and other "seven gentlemen" who advocated anti-Japanese were imprisoned, they joined forces with Dewey, Meng Lu and other famous intellectuals to rescue them by electricity, exerting moral pressure on the Kuomintang authorities. 1In June, 938, in order to help War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in China, he and the eldest son of President Roosevelt launched the "China Aid Committee" and launched fundraising activities for China aid in 2,000 towns in the United States. Einstein is a true citizen of the world, and his love has no national boundaries. His feelings for China are not utilitarian, but are entirely based on human sympathy and strong humanitarian feelings. His thoughts also had a profound influence on China. Shortly after the September 18th Incident, Xu, a teenager who was still in Grade Two, was an ardent admirer of him, hoping to become a scientist like him when he grew up. 1934, Einstein's collection My World View was published in Europe. A few years later (1937 on the eve of the Anti-Japanese War), it was translated by Ye Yunli, a physics professor studying in France, according to the French translation. Because of the national disaster, this book didn't arouse much response, but young Xu was lucky enough to buy a copy before 1938 went to college. He began to seriously think about the meaning of life and the relationship between people and the country. Einstein's many words of wisdom made him unforgettable all his life, and Einstein's image has always played an important role in his later life. 1955, after Einstein's death, Xu and Zhou Peiyuan both published mourning articles. Unfortunately, in the eight years from 1968 to 1976, Einstein became "the biggest reactionary bourgeois academic authority in the field of natural science since this century" in China, and the Gang of Four set off an absurd movement to criticize Einstein. Fortunately, most scientists ignore it and actually resist it.

■ An informal master

Once, he wanted to replace an old painting on the wall, so he moved a ladder and climbed it step by step. Suddenly, he thought of another question, pondered it, forgot what he was doing and suddenly fell off the ladder. After falling to the ground, he ignored the pain and immediately thought: Why do people fall straight? It seems that objects always move along the path of least resistance. Thinking of this, Einstein immediately stood up, limped to the table, picked up a pen and wrote down his thoughts. This is a great inspiration to the problem he is studying-relativity.

Archimedes (about 287 BC ~ 2 BC12 years) was a famous mathematician and physicist in ancient Greece. The founder of statics and hydrostatics. Born in 287 BC in the ancient city of Syracuse (now Syracuse, Italy) in Sicily, Mediterranean. His father was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician. Archimedes was deeply influenced by his father since childhood, preferring mathematics, and studied geometric principles with the famous Greek mathematician Euclid (about 330- 275 BC) very early. 1 1 years old, Archimedes went to Alexandria, a famous cultural center at that time. I have a strong interest in mathematics, mechanics and astronomy during my study. When he was studying astronomy, he invented a planetary instrument driven by water power, and used it to simulate the movement of the sun, planets and the moon and perform an eclipse of the sun and the moon. In order to solve the problem of irrigating land with Nile water, he invented a cylindrical spiral water lifter, which was later called "Archimedes spiral". In 240 BC, after finishing his studies, he returned to Syracuse and became a consultant to King Herod, helping him solve various scientific and technological problems in production practice, military technology and daily life. In 2 12 BC, the ancient city of Syracuse fell, and Archimedes, who devoted himself to scientific problems, was unfortunately killed by outrageous Roman soldiers.

Archimedes anecdote

1. "Give me a fulcrum and I can move the earth."

It is said that when Archimedes devoted himself to the study of leverage, the king asked Archimedes, "Why does your research only stay in the game of learning?" What's the use of what you have learned? Archimedes replied heroically: "If you give me a fulcrum, I can move the earth!" " ""One sentence embodies a scientist's rich imagination, his profound understanding and fascination with the laws of mechanics, and Archimedes' unique wit and ideal. Of course, this fulcrum is hard to find, and Archimedes can't move the earth. But it is said that at that time, he designed a lever pulley system to easily push a huge ship into the water from the shore, which caused a sensation in his country. The king specially ordered: "Everything Archimedes said in the future must be obeyed."

2. "Crown logo"

Another important discovery of Archimedes in the field of mechanics is the law of buoyancy. Legend has it that Archimedes, with his rich experience and temporary inspiration, found a way to identify the true and false crown in the bath. It was 2,200 years ago, King Hai Rolle of ancient Syracuse asked a jeweler to make a pure gold crown for him. He was very happy when it was done, but he suspected that the craftsman had stolen his gold. There may be fakes in the crown, although the finished crown is as heavy as the gold sent. Who can guarantee that the crown is not made of silver? How to identify the crown without damage? The king handed the problem to Archimedes, who thought about it for many days, but there was no result. One day, he went to the bathhouse to take a bath. When he stepped into the bathtub, the water overflowed and he felt a little floating. Moreover, the more parts of his body are submerged in water, the more water overflows, and the greater the support of water to his body. Archimedes was ecstatic, jumped out of the bathtub and ran out naked, shouting "Eureka (Greek: found), Eureka" as he ran. Afterwards, he performed a program for the king and ministers: he put the crown, a piece of pure gold and a piece of pure silver with the same weight as the crown into a container filled with water, and measured their different volumes from the amount of water discharged. According to the fact that the crown is larger than pure gold and smaller than pure silver, he concluded that the crown was adulterated. Another way of saying it is that Archimedes took gold nuggets, silver nuggets and crowns with the same weight, weighed their gravity in the water respectively, and calculated their equivalent gravity in the water, which proved that the crown was indeed mixed with silver, and the craftsman was also punished by the king. Archimedes' "Eureka" shouted out the surprise when human beings explored the mysteries of nature. It is to commemorate this event that the most famous invention exposition in the modern world is named after "Eureka".

3. The Great Patriot

Archimedes was not only an outstanding scholar but also a great patriot. Legend has it that Roman general Maceiras led troops to attack Syracuse, and Archimedes and Syracuse people fought bravely against the invaders. He applied science to war and made many military inventions. He designed and built a large trebuchet. When the enemy arrived at the gate, as soon as he pressed the organ, the stone was automatically thrown and hit the enemy. He asked the people guarding the city to take a mirror, form a big concave mirror, focus the blazing sun on the oncoming enemy ships, and make the enemy cry. The Roman army was so afraid of Archimedes that Maceiras exclaimed, "This geometric monster" fooled us. His magic spells are many times more powerful than the legendary giant with 100 hands. "

4. "Kill my head in the future"

In 2 12 BC, the Roman army broke through the Yugoslav capital and entered Syracuse. Archimedes, 75, is still studying mathematics and proving his geometric problems. Roman soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs, which made him alert. "Hey, you stepped on my photo, go away!" Archimedes said angrily. The fierce soldier paid no attention and pointed his sword at his head. Archimedes understood what was going to happen and said calmly, "Kill my head later and let me prove this geometric theorem." However, the ignorant and cruel Roman soldiers cut off Archimedes' head with one knife.

5. Permanent commemoration

Archimedes' most proud discovery is that the volume of a cylinder with the same height and base diameter is equal to 1. 5 times the volume of the sphere inscribed with it. According to his instructions, people carved a cylindrical pattern with carved spheres on his tombstone as a permanent memorial.