How true is it that Albert Einstein did poorly in school and failed university exams?

    At the end of the 20th century, Time magazine recognized Albert Einstein as the "Man of the Century". Albert was a scientist who came up with very strange things about relativity. His brain can be called a real Megamind. After all, he is said to have even received a Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of relativity. On the other hand, generations of schoolchildren comfort themselves with their bad grades at school, believing that Einstein did not study well. Some motivational speakers also claim this, but the claim is just as false as the Nobel Prize claim.

    First, Einstein failed to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his work on the theory of relativity. Let's go back a little. In 1905, Einstein had the greatest year of his life. With the help of his wife Mileva, he wrote five scientific articles that, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "changed the way people see the world forever." Any scientist would be proud to write at least one of these wonderful articles, but Albert published five of them in one year!

    The first article, of course, looked at Relativity - what happens to objects when they move relative to other objects. In another article, he proved that atoms and molecules must exist based on the fact that when you look at a drop of water through a microscope, you can see the tiny particles vibrating. In the third article, a strange property of light, the photoelectric effect, was considered. When plants and solar panels convert light into electricity, they realize the photovoltaic effect. His article explains the photoelectric effect in detail.

    The theory of relativity may have captured the public consciousness, but it was the photoelectric effect that won Einstein the Nobel Prize.

    Second, Einstein definitely didn't fail high school. Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. The following year, his family moved to Munich. He entered school in Munich at the age of 7. At the age of 9, he began studying at the Luitpold Gymnasium. At the age of 12, he learns to count. This was a very good situation for the time, because students usually learned math at the age of 15. He was very good at science. However, because the German education system in the 19th century was so rigid and regimented, he did not develop his non-math skills (such as history, languages, music, and geography). In fact, it was his mother who encouraged him to learn the violin, not his school, and he also excelled at it.

    In 1895 he passed the entrance exams for the prestigious Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, Switzerland. He was 16 years old, two years younger than the applicants. He studied very well in physics and mathematics, but poorly in non-obvious subjects, especially in French, so he was not accepted. So, in the same year, he continued his studies at the cantonal school in Aargau (also called Aarau). He studied well and this time passed the entrance exams to the Federal Polytechnic.

    So, the following year, he finally began to study at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich (although he was a year younger than most of his students). Also, in 1896, when he was only 16 years old, he wrote a remarkable essay that led directly to his later work on relativity.

    He didn't fail high school and certainly wasn't a bad student.

    So how did the myth that he was a failure in high school come about?

    Light. In 1896, when Einstein was in his senior year at the Aargau School, the school's grading system was changed.    

    "6", which used to be the lowest rating, is now the highest rating. So the highest score of "1" is now the lowest score.

    Thus, anyone who looks at Einstein's grades will see that he scored a lot around "1", which means "unsatisfactory" according to the new grading scheme.  

    And this means that schoolchildren should not use this myth as another crutch - they should study more and work on themselves.

 

    Translation by Otabek Sadullayev from the ABC Science page