The Relatively High-Performance Childhood of Albert Einstein

Have you seen this man?
Source: Wikipedia

How titillating could it possibly be to triumphantly stick out one's tongue at an entire scientific community after proving all its worldly theories inadequate? Well, like the explanations to many phenomena in our universe, the answer to this question lies once again in the mind of Albert Einstein. Undoubtedly--and his late cousin, Elsa Einstein, would have wholeheartedly agreed with me--this man is the sexiest man who has ever lived on planet Earth, and sought to think beyond it.

Chances are, at some point in your high school life, you've come across the wonderful wall painting in our building that bears the equation "E=mc^2". First proposed in 1905, Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity has, till this day, been one of the greatest breakthroughs in cosmic exploration. It is with this theory that Einstein proves the three dimensions known to man to be mere relative values, asserts that time is a vital fourth dimension, observes that the speed of light is always constant, shows that mass and energy are interchangeable, brings forth the concept of spacetime, and thus belittles all other scientists in his field. Check out his website, einstein.biz!

But surely, even a great man like him was once a crying toddler?

Three-year-old Einstein
Source: Wikipedia

Born in Germany to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Coch, little Einstein started schooling at a Catholic elementary school after he turned five. He stayed there for three years and transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium to receive advanced primary and secondary school education for the next seven years until he left Germany. (The Luitpold Gymnasium is now called the Albert Einstein Gymnasium, and I dare say this has been a name-change for the better.) 

Like many familar stories about some scientists being intellectually late bloomers, I'm sure you've heard about how Einstein was allegedly notorious for bad grades in school. In actuality, this is a hoax- his archives found in his high school show that he positively excelled in all his classes. Splendid, now I can no longer find comfort in thinking that a good future can await me despite my sometimes less-than-stellar academic performance.

Fourteen-year-old Einstein
Source: Wikipedia

One day, Einstein's dad showed him a pocket compass. Immediately, the young scientist-in-the-making realized that there had to be a mechanism causing the needle to move; a profound interest in theoretical physics was thus manifested in him. As he grew older, Einstein built many models and mechanical devices for his amusement and began to explore mathematics. Remember, questioning the universe as a whining child is the first telling sign of intellect beyond measure; so if you ever feel something stirring within your chest, and find yourself relating quantum mechanics to bacon, you'll know you're on the right track.

By the time Einstein was fifteen, his father's business had failed and therefore caused him to move the family to Italy. Back in Germany, Einstein was made to finish his studies, but he absolutely detested the teaching methods of his school; he constantly expressed distaste for what he called 'rote learning', where lessons only entailed memorization. Eventually, he convinced his school to let him go after conjuring up a doctor's note, and joined his family in Italy. It was during his stay in Italy that he wrote his short essay 'On the Investigation of the State of the Ether (theorized medium) in a Magnetic Field'. Well, when I was fifteen, I did not start my ISP essay until the night before, and proceeded to leave seven paragraphs for the next morning...

When Einstein turned sixteen, he took the entrance exams for the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich. His results in the physics and mathematics sections were exceeding expectations, but he failed the exam as a whole. After listening to advice from the principal of the polytechnic, Einstein decided to finish his schooling in the Argovian Secondary School in Aarau, Switzerland.

And then he went back and officially enrolled in that polytechnic when he was seventeen. Now, now, what has he done with my self-esteem?

Sources

"Albert Einstein." Albert Einstein. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://einstein.biz/biography.php>.

"Albert Einstein." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein>.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity#On_the_theory_of_relativity>.

(I Am Not A Paid Advertiser, I Swear)

It's the last day of school. You stumble home, stagger up the stairs, fling yourself onto your bed, and vow to stay there forever. You proceed to marvel at all the stress and toil repressed in your system and realize you're on the brink of eruption. You stare at the ceiling and remark, "I need a vacation".

You soon break your oath to stay eternally spread-eagle'd on your bed to go demand a reward for all your hard work in the semester. Your family brings up the idea of going on a guided tour to somewhere nice. Now, what does a tour involve? Yeah yeah, visits to some famous landmarks, a taste of some signature cuisine, and of course, being inevitably shepherded to a bunch of local shopping centres your annoying tour guide has most obviously been colluding with. In short, not worth it!

But what if you can take your aforementioned urge for eruption to a volcanic site? What if, instead of going to Hawaii just for the beaches and suntanning, you abolish these cliches and take an aerial tour of its fabled archipelago of active volcanoes in a helicopter? Now that's something. 


Source: Peek

As claimed in the title of my post, I'm not paid to advertise for Safari Helicopters Co., but boy, does the world deserve to be informed of this cool stuff. My fellow sufferers, take home a decent mark in Earth and Space Science at the end of the semester, so as to have your hair ruffled and your volcano sightseeing flight sponsored by your delighted parents.

Safari Helicopter's touring flights depart from Hilo; during departure, you can feast your eyes upon the thousand-foot volcanoes Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. However, the real adventure lies ahead- your helicopter will take you to Big Island's most active volcanoes, where you will most likely see for yourself flowing lava!


Source: Safari Helicopters

If you have concerns about safety, fear not. Being in one of Safari Helicopters' ASTAR 350B2-7's means experiencing a "balance of power, technology and comfort"! Their cabins are all air-conditioned, soundproof, and equipped with noise-cancelling headsets. You should visit safarihelicopters.com to see for yourself!

With the prospect of experiencing such luxury and excitement sweeping us off our feet, there is but one more question left to ask. 

How much is this darn thing going to cost?????


Works Cited:

"Exploring Hawaii's Lava." Safari RSS. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
"Volcano and Valley Landing | Helicopter Tours from Kona in Big Island | Peek." Peek. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Childhood Learnings

'What are the two most abundant elements on Earth?'
"Oxygen and nitrogen?"
"Yes for oxygen, no for nitrogen. You have one more guess."
One more guess before what? Failing a course? Having to re-write eleven mighty pages of homework? Every fear I had ever felt in my life flashed before my eyes. Rack your brain, Gracie.
"OH. Silicon."
"Correct."

Yeah, I exaggerated. No fears whatsoever were flashing before my eyes, because I made a simple mistake in thinking about the atmosphere. Although, had the flashing occurred, I know exactly what I would've remembered.

When I was a kid, I would get my toddler hands on any book around me. As a result, I was often terrified by the things I saw in non-fiction picture books. I vividly remember not being able to sleep after seeing an illustration of the fabled ball lightning. Right now, I want nothing more than to snuggle up beside the small bundle trembling in bed and tell her that in eleven years, she would be alive. Yes, procrastinating and lacking common sense, but very much breathing and not incinerated by a ball of light. I also wish that I can explain to her what ball lightning is, but I can't.

I had completely forgotten about this childhood learning until the huge storm some weeks ago. Ball lightning stayed out of my mind until then, and is now back to do its 'haunting'.

For centuries, ball lightning has been told to suddenly descend from the sky, burning buildings and often causing fatal injuries. However, because of its rarity and erratic nature, it has never been caught on camera until January this year! While researchers were mapping radiation during a thunderstorm in Qinghai, China, they miraculously recorded one by accident: (the white dot in the left corner)

Source-Mail Online



Here is a 1886 depiction of ball lightning wreaking havoc: (source-Wikipedia)


It is hypothesized that the silica in Earth's crust is vaporized when struck by lightning. (Yes, I finally concluded my non-scientific ramble.) Due to reasons still unknown to man, it is possible that the oxygen is, during that instance, temporarily separated from the silicon dioxide. When the silicon cools, oxidation takes place and it is proposed that the "ball of light" phenomena is in fact caused by energy emitted from the silicon bonding back with oxygen. Well, who knows? There have been a few more theories, like the Charged Solid Core Model and the Microwave Cavity Hypothesis, but my bet is on the only one I can make sense of-the one I described.

Although I am nowhere close to understanding anything about this phenomenon, it is nonetheless rather satisfying to experience an 'uh-huh, learned that'-moment when reading about the Vaporized Silicon Hypothesis because, heck, silicon and oxygen, I know from my beloved earth and space class that the crust is loaded with that stuff. It's a start.