. 1. Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the number(s) of the paragraph(s) for each title against the heading. The first one is done for you.

(i) Einstein’s equation

Solution : 9
(ii) Einstein meets his future wife

Solution : 7
(iii) The making of a violinist

Solution : 3
(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother

Solution : 10
(v) A letter that launched the arms race

Solution : 15
(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas

Solution : 8
(vii) Marriage and divorce

Solution : 11

2. Who had these opinions about Einstein?

(i) He was boring.

Solutions :

Einstein’s playmates thought that he was boring.
(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life.

Solutions :

Einstein’s headmaster thought that he was stupid and would never succeed at anything in life.
(iii) He was a freak.

Solutions :

Einstein’s mother thought that he was a freak.

3. Explain what the reasons for the following are.

(i) Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good.

Solution : 

Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to high school in Munich, and scored good marks in almost every subject. However, he hated the regimentation of school, because of which he often had clashes with his teachers. At the age of 15, when he felt too stifled to continue studying, he left the school in Munich for good.

(ii) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich.

Solutions :

According to Einstein, German-speaking Switzerland was more liberal than Munich. Hence, he wanted to study in Switzerland.

(iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally.

Solutions :

Einstein had a special interest in Mileva, who was his fellow student. He thought that she was a very clever person. She had come to Switzerland because the University in Zurich was one of the few in Europe where women could get degrees.

Einstein instantly realised that she was an ally against all the people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds with.  In a letter he wrote to her he clearly stated how happy and proud he would be when they both had brought their work on relativity to a victorious conclusion.

(iv) What do these tell you about Einstein?

Solutions :

All these instances indicate that Einstein was a visionary. He was clever and never hesitated to place his point of view in front of others. He never went with the tide and always did things the way he wanted to. Once he knew that he was right, he was not afraid of being at odds with his teachers or for that matter anyone else. Even though he was doing well in school, he left it because he found it too stifling.

He eventually moved to Zurich because he thought that this city was much more liberal than Munich. He liked to mix with people who had the same thinking and attitude as him. He was a strong man who stuck to his principles and ideas and was not afraid of putting them into practice.

4. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?

Solution : 

Einstein was working as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. He called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical physics.” He called it so because while he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions,  he was actually developing his own ideas in secret and his drawer was  where  he stored these ideas.

5. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?

Solution : 

When the Nazis came to power in Germany, Einstein emigrated to the United States of America. The American physicists were in an uproar because of the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin. Many of them, like Einstein had fled from Nazism and were afraid that the Nazis could now build and use an atomic  bomb. 

At  the  urging  of  a  colleague,  Einstein  wrote  a  letter  to  Franklin Roosevelt to warn him of the consequences of an atomic explosion. In his letter, he informed the president that if a single bomb of this type was exploded in a port, it could very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.

6. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Solution : 

The Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction caused by the explosions. He wrote a public missive to the United Nations in which he proposed the formation of a world government. 

However, his proposal was not paid any attention to.  Over the next decade, he got more involved in politics, trying to agitate people to bring an end to the arms race. He used his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy till his last days.

7. Why does the world remember Einstein as a “world citizen”?

Solution : 

The world remembers Einstein as a “world citizen” because he was a visionary and a scientific genius. He not only made many discoveries in science but was also deeply concerned about the growing arms race between certain nations in the world.  In a public missive to the United Nations he proposed the formation of a world government. He used his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy till his last days.

8. Here are some facts from Einstein’s life. Arrange them in chronological order.

[ 1 ] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
[ 2 ] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
[ 3 ] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
warns against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.
[ 4 ] Einstein attends a high school in Munich.
[ 5 ] Einstein’s family moves to Milan.
[ 6 ] Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.
[ 7 ] Einstein joins a university in Zurich, where he meets Mileva.
[ 8 ] Einstein dies.
[ 9 ] He provides a new interpretation of gravity.
[10] Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.
[11] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.
[12] When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United
States.

Solution : 

1.     Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.

2.     Einstein attends a high school in Munich.

3.     Einstein’s family moves to Milan.

4.     Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.

5.     Einstein joins a university in Zurich, where he meets Mileva.

6.     He works in a patent office as a technical expert.

7.     Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.

8.     He provides a new interpretation of gravity.

9.     He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

10. When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United States.

11. Einstein writes  a letter  to U.S. President,  Franklin D. Roosevelt, and  warns against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.

12. Einstein dies.

9. Here are some sentences from the story. Choose the word from the brackets
which can be substituted for the italicised words in the sentences.

1. A few years later, the marriage faltered. (failed, broke, became weak).

2. Einstein was constantly at odds with people at the university. (on bad terms,
in disagreement, unhappy)

3. The newspapers proclaimed his work as “a scientific revolution.” (declared, praised, showed)

4. Einstein got ever more involved in politics, agitating for an end to the arms
buildup. (campaigning, fighting, supporting)

5. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled that he left the school for good.
(permanently, for his benefit, for a short time)

6. Five years later, the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American
physicists in an uproar. (in a state of commotion, full of criticism, in a desperate state)

7. Science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with
the walrus moustache. (interested, challenged, worried)

Solution : 

1.     Became weak

2.     In disagreement

3.     Declared

4.     Campaigning

5.     Permanently

6.     In a state of commotion

7.     Interested

10. Complete the sentences below by filling in the blanks with suitable participial
clauses. The information that has to be used in the phrases is provided as a
sentence in brackets.

1. ____________________ ,the firefighters finally put out the fire. (They worked
round the clock.)

2. She watched the sunset above the mountain,_________________ (She noticed
the colours blending softly into one another.)

3. The excited horse pawed the ground rapidly, _________________(While it
neighed continually.)

4. _________________, I found myself in Bangalore, instead of Benaras. (I had
taken the wrong train.)

5. _________________, I was desperate to get to the bathroom. (I had not bathed
for two days)

6. The stone steps,______________________ needed to be replaced. (They were worn
down).

7. The actor received hundreds of letters from his fans,____________________
(They asked him to send them his photograph.)

Solution : 

1.     Working round the clock, the firefighters finally put out the fire.

2.     She watched the sunset above the mountain, noticing the colours blending softly into one another.

3.     The excited horse pawed the ground rapidly, neighing continually.

4.     Having taken the wrong train, I found myself in Bangalore, instead of Benaras.

5.     Having not bathed for two days, I was desperate to get to the bathroom.

6.     The stone steps, being worn down, needed to be replaced.

7.     The actor received hundreds of letters from his fans, asking him to send them his photograph.