How Smart Was Einstein?

By David Kestenbaum

Published May 9, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT

Contrary to conventional thinking, there are a few things Albert Einstein wasn't so good at. His poetry? Mediocre. His violin playing? Passable. At some point, Einstein was asked to be Israel's president. He declined -- not his strong suit.

In physics, though he did seem superhuman. How did a man who had been working as a patent clerk publish four groundbreaking papers about space, time, atoms and the strange nature of light -- all in one year?

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "miracle year," David Kestenbaum asks the question: Just how smart was Einstein anyway?

This story is part of a series commemorating the scientific breakthroughs of 1905, including the publication of Einstein's papers and of Sigmund Freud's seminal work, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.

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How Smart Was Einstein?

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