I was going through random readings on the internet as usual. I came across stories that could mean that Einstein didn’t honor his wife. Albert Einstein’s wife was thought to be more brilliant than Albert. So, why was Mileva Marić never celebrated as Albert Einstein if she ever contributed to his works or better?
Let us first review one woman; Maria Curie. Maria was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The first person and only woman to win it twice and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences; physics and chemistry. What of Mileva Marić-Einstein? Mileva Marić-Einstein was Albert Einstein’s wife. She was the only woman in the Physics department at Zurich Polytechnic when Albert Einstein studied. In fact, she was the toughest academic rival of Albert. She was reported to score higher than Einstein in mathematics at the entrance exam. Such was Maric’s brilliance. Now, what was the difference between these two brilliant women? One of them went down in history as a great scientist with two Nobel Prize. The other one went down as just Albert Einstein’s wife? Why? Many will say it is their husbands!
Mileva and Albert
Mileva Einstein-Maric was born in Titel, Austria-Hungary (now Serbia) in the year 1875. Her parents, Marija Ruzić and Miloš Marić were fairly affluent and of Serbian descent. She was allowed to attend an all-boys’ school in Zagreb as a teenager. Maric excelled at mathematics and physics. She eventually moved to Switzerland to progress her studies. After finishing her secondary school in 1896, Maric enrolled at the University of Zurich. After a brief stay at Zurich University, She transferred to the Zurich Polytechnic School (later called the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology or the ETH). While at the university, she had Albert Einstein among her friends at university. They shared a love of science among other love schemes!
Mileva and Albert
Albert Einstein was born in Ulm in Germany in 1879. He had one sister Maja. His father was Hermann and His mother, Pauline Koch came from a wealthy family. Albert was inquisitive and rebellious. Also, he hated the rigor of German schools. So he too finished his high school in Switzerland and his family relocated to Milan.
Mileva and Albert
Albert and Mileva were admitted to the physics-mathematics department of Zurich Polytechnic (now ETH) in 1896. They had three other coursemates; Marcel Grossmann, Louis Kollros, and Jakob Ehrat. Albert and Mileva became friends and very inseparable. They spent plenty of time studying together. Albert preferred to study from him and so attended only a few lectures. Unlike Albert, Mileva was methodical and organized. From a number of Albert letters, Pauline Gagnon writes that Mileva helped him channel his energy and guided his studies. The academic career of Milevic was disrupted in 1901 because she became pregnant by Einstein. She wrote exams in her pregnancy and failed twice because she could not cope. In fact, Mileva discontinued work on her diploma dissertation. This was to become her Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of the physics professor Heinrich Weber.
Albert and Mileva were divorced when he won the Nobel prize. Albert gave the money to her and the kids. Mileva Marić died at age 72 on August 4, 1948, in Zürich. Mileva was interred there at Nordheim-Cemetery.
The Argument
In a Twitter thread, Dr. Chiemeziem said that Mileva Marić-Einstein got married to Einstein. That she helped him in writing some of the most profound papers that changed science but Einstein never cited her in his works. This remains a strong debate among science Historians. Dr. Chiemeziem also wrote that Albert was Selfish comparing him to Pierre Curie. Pierre initially rejected the 1903 Noble price if his wife, Marie, was not a recipient. Before looking at the actions of Albert let us look at Pierre action again. Pierri was pushed by Mittag-Leffler to make a case for Marie. Mittag was an advocate of women scientists. She wrote to Pierre advising him to take the position he took in 1901. Therefore, some strings were pulled, and a nomination of Marie Curie in 1902 turned into validation for 1903 Nobel price.
Actually, the fact of Albert Einstein and his wife may not be fully known. But they both a bitter and troubled marriage. They separated for some years. Eventually, they got divorced. Many historians of science argue that she made no significant scientific contribution. Other Argue that she was a supportive companion in science and may have helped in his research. A Russian physicist Abram Joffe, attributed co-authorship of the three Annus Mirabilis Papers to Albert and Maric. John Stachel wrote in 2002 that there are no hearsay accounts of conversations she had with anyone else that has a specific, scientific content, let alone claiming to report her ideas. There is a very interesting report of 2016 By Pauline Gagnon titled The Forgotten Life of Einstein’s First Wife. Pauline argued strongly that Maric a physicist, too, and there is evidence that she contributed significantly to his groundbreaking science.
But
Maria Curie married Pierre Curie; a gentleman who understood partnership. When the Nobel Prize committee wrote Pierre Curie in 1903 informing him that he had won the Nobel Prize, He rejected it. Pierre wrote the Nobel Prize committee acknowledging the honor but rejecting it if his wife would not be honored. He said the papers had a heavy input from his wife. The committee budged and Marie Currie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
So
Was Albert Einstein really consumed with personal recognition that he didn’t consider Mileva’s contribution to his works? This debate will rage on. But one thing that many are drawing from this argument is that the right marriage will reinforce your legacy. The wrong marriage will diminish it. This assertion is not gender-specific even though that the female is the focus here.
Making sure your partner is your partner in the true sense of the word is key to growth. It has to be someone who recognizes your contributions and will rather turn down any Prize than being honored without you.
