Albert Einstein
Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm Germany. He lived there with his parents, Herman and Pauline. After a year in Ulm, due to the failure of his father's electrical and engineering workshop, the Einstein family moved to Munich (the capital of Bavaria), where after a year in residence there, Einstein's mother had Maja, Einstein's sister. Despite the fact that he was Jewish, from age five until age ten, Einstein attended a Catholic School near his home. But, at age 10, Einstein was transferred to the 'Luitpold Gymnasium,' where Latin, Greek, History, and Geography were pounded into childrens' heads. His parents wanted him to finish school, get his diploma so he could go to a University, and then become an electrical engineer. But Einstein had other Ideas for his future.
Einstein's father wanted him to attend a university but he could not because he did not have a diploma from the Gymnasium.
English: receiving from Judge his certificate of A...
English: Albert Einstein, official 1921 Nobel Priz...
English: Albert Einstein Français : Portrait d'Al...But there was a solution to this problem over the Alps, in Zurich, there was The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology which did not require a diploma to attend. The one thing it did require was the applicant to pass an entrance exam. But then yet another problem arose, most scholars were 18 when they entered the institute, and Einstein was only 16. Einstein took the risk, and in the autumn he was dispatched over the Alps. Einstein took the exam, but did not pass. The principal of the school was impressed with his abilities, so he was admitted to the cantontal school at Aarau, with the hope that a year's study there, would enable him to pass the exam. Einstein enjoyed this school, and it is said that it was here that Einstein began to 'open up.' Toward the end of his stay...