Einstein's Humor

He's simply the super-genius scientist slash mathematician who ever lived. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 and he was best known for his famous relativity theory. In wider culture his surname has become synonymous with the word genius.

Any guesses? Yes, that would be the great Albert Einstein. But, have you ever wondered who really was THE Albert Einstein back those days? *PICTURE* Can you guess who this is then? ...Indeed, He's the same person I've introduced to you. This is the famous and the most controversial photograph of him sticking out his tongue. I am guessing this isn't the first time you would see this. But have you pondered the story behind that picture? I did. Due to my curiosity, it was like I found out a whole new side of Einstein.

The photo was taken last March 14, 1951, his birthday. Based on some articles, he really was tired of smiling for the paparazzi. So being worn-out and all, he made the last one a wacky shot and it was luckily photographed by Arthur Sasse. Einstein was so amused by the image that he contacted the photographer and requested nine prints for his personal use. This photo was sold at an auction for $74,324, a record for an Einstein picture.

And I quote from John Reznikoff of University Archives, "This photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out captures his spirit of rebelliousness and non-conformity" End of quote.

I think rebellion and non-conformity are not the right words for it; it was more like of Einstein's humor. For an extraordinary genius like him, you wouldn't even imagine he did pursue his comical career back when he was still young. For everybody's information, Einstein was not that smart when he was a kid and he was not able to speak fluently until he reached the age of twelve. When school did not work for him, he tried being a comedian and believe it or not, his jokes are not as good as those you usually hear. His jokes were confusing and some were riddle-like ones. Fortunately, he was kicked out from the profession and he was crowned as the greatest of the great ones in the field of science. Good for him that he became successful in the academic career and also, good for us not to hear any more of his lame jokes.

So I suppose that people like Einstein are not that distant from normal human beings. Like us, they laugh, fool around and try things the world wouldn't even imagine. Then again, just like what Albert Einstein quoted, The only difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.