Brain Surgery photo by Endless Forms Most BeautifulA compilation work containing photo of Albert Einstein from Wikimedia Commons
Albert Einstein was One Smart “Dude” with a Coveted Brain
If you hear the name Albert Einstein, chances are that you know that this man came up with the theory of relativity, or E=MC^2. We all know Albert Einstein was a genius. Some people were so intrigued by this man’s brilliance that they had to examine his brain — after death, that is.
Did you know that pathologist Thomas Harvey removed Einstein’s brain during the autopsy?
Was Thomas Harvey a bit odd for wanting Einstein’s brain?
After removal, Thomas Harvey stored Albert Einstein’s 76 year-old brain in jars in his basement. He kept Albert Einstein’s brain for four decades. Thomas Harvey wanted to know what made Albert Einstein tick. And for that very reason, he secretly kept Einstein’s brain for study, and photographed it.
Universities Study Photographs of the Brain of Albert Einstein
Both Florida State University and East China Normal University (Shanghai) closely examined 14 photographs taken of Albert Einstein’s dead brain. The universities found that the corpus callosum in Einstein’s brain was thicker in the subregions, suggesting that his brain had “enhanced” connectivity – meaning that there may have been superior communication routes between some parts of the two hemispheres of Einstein’s brain. The only problem with this study is that the universities are comparing a dead brain to MRI’s of live brains.
Other studies believe that Albert Einstein had and unusually high number of brain cells (glial cells).
Fact About the Human Brain
Most human brains reach their max weight between the ages of 24 and 30.
I have read that Einstein had used almost 8% of the brain.
Whereas, for a normal being, it is something of a very high value to attain!
yogesh, that may be true. Isn’t it fascinating that we use so little of the brain?
of course, it is…
we really can explore our brain to do much more than we actually utilize it for doing things.
yogesh, do you think people will use more of their brains in the future?
hi Zack,
well we can really hope for the better.
Yes, they will use more of their brains and that too in the constructive manner.
Many people don’t know that Einstein failed to get into University first time around. He passed math but failed on things like history!
So in other words, geniuses can be dumb too?
Oh my ! You had me at open skull, exposed brain picture. 😉 Great article Zack !
Melissa,
I am grateful that you read my article. I figured that a black and white picture of Einstein was a little outdated, so I wanted to give you a little more visually.
I think Einstein’s genius level is overrated,
if you get a quantum physicist talking complicated functions to normal people he might sound genius but not that far ahead of other quantum physicists,
they tell you Einstein know this and that .. but what they don’t tell you that his surroundings was also made of up of men just like him,
Einstein did not come up with his theory from nothing, he took thousands of other physicists work and pushed em a little further,
if you are a physicist and you spend your entire life working on a equation but you failed to solve it, then another guy comes and take a look at ur work and notice a little fix, he solves it, he’s not the genius one, this is your work not his … you know what i mean ,, ?
Einstein only completed the work of thousands before him, because the technology at his time and the understanding at his time made it possible!
Many thanks and Best wishes!
Mitch,
You make some great points. I still think Einstein deserves some credit because he first had to fully understand the work of the physicists before him before coming up with his theory of relativity. I personally cannot comment on whether his addition to his predecessors was “a little fix” or a large contribution.
Naughty Dr Harvey removed his brain without the families consent, tut tut !
“During the autopsy, the pathologist of Princeton Hospital, Thomas Stoltz Harvey, removed Einstein’s brain for preservation without the permission of his family, in the hope that the neuroscience of the future would be able to discover what made Einstein so intelligent.” WIKI
Stu,
Dr. Harvey should have asked. But the answer would have still been “NO!”
Great article. I have read somewhere on Twitter that he couldn’t speak until he was 3. His mother thought he was dumb. Really a big mistake i think ;-). We certainly need to remember such people in our history, i think we focus us to much on bad things, like world wars and economic depressions. There is so much positive things in this world. just as Einstein!
Thank you Mark for adding your comment. It is better to be positive in such a cynical world. Any suggestions on how to keep a positive outlook?
Hats off to this genius and Long live Relativity 🙂
I thought the same thing about how can they compare Einstein’s dead brain to a living brain. What they should be doing (and I’m sure they are) if they want to understand Einstein’s brain is study the geniuses of today. I’m sure this will clue us all in on what was going on in Einstein’s brain.
Who would you consider a genius in today’s time?
I really like the set up of this blog and the post about Einstein is really creative! Great work 🙂
Everett,
You are very kind with your comment. We have a lot of great posts. Keep reading and commenting, friend.
Albert Einstein was a genius. I really love this post.