“What Life Means to Einstein,” by George Sylvester Viereck. Published October 26, 1929 .

7/28/2019 What Life Means to Einstein, by George Sylvester Viereck. Published October 26, 1929 [PDF].

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THE SRTURDRY EVENING POST

RELAT I V IT Y!Wha t word IImore lIymbolic oftheage? Wehllvecea&edto be positive of anything. We look upo n allthings in the light ofrelativity. Relativityhas become the plaything of the parlor Ilhilosopher.Is the re any standardthat hlU! not been cha llenged in this our postwar world? Is thereBnyabsolute lIystem of ethics, of economics or oflaw, whose stability orpennanence is not H -ulled somewhere? Canthere be any permanentvalue or any absolutetruth in II world in whichthe three angles of th etrianale have ceased tobe equal to two rightangles- in a world inwhich time itaeJr has 1011tits meaning. in which infin ity become s finit e, an dthe finite iA \OIIt in theinfinite ?

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EinJltein'a patiencinfinite. He likes tnplain hi s theories.bo m teacher, Einatdoes nn t r t&ent qutions. 1:(:!lnveschildTh e ten -year-old 1101'a friend was convinthat he ha d disco veth e secret of perpetmotion . EilUltein paitakingly explainedhi m th e flaw in hisculationll.

Whenever a q uestinvnl ving a difficmathematical problcome. up, Einsteinmediately takelll uppencil and covers pafter page with th e min tri cate equatinna.does nn t refer to a tebook ; he wnrks nu t sformulaa immediathirnaelf. Often th emula thus obtaineddearer , mnre com phemible and mnre pfeet than th e equatthat ill found in boolreference.

Tim e in SpaceEi n llte in refuses tn8ponsor newfangled the-

ori815 which draw theirjU8tifi cat io n trnm hiaown ll8SIlul t upon thecertainties nf mathemat-.iCII. His vnice was bell

Th . Wor l d .,.. .. . . . . . PhJlideb f ... M .. , I o .m. , 'c l",,, It"..,.,.,,,,,, Problem f. Hb J. er.'."" Whl l . D I e t " , " " . to H er RECENT LY someta lked to him abtolor photography. Eatein immediatelylike and gentle, bu t his wnrds were decisive when hesmashed with nne sentence th e nlIIh a pp licatinn nf t he term"relativity" to philosophy an d to life."The meaning nf r elativity," he sai d, "has been widelymisunderstood. Pb ilosophers play with th e wnrd, like achild with a dnll. Relativity, u I see it, m ere ly denntestbat certain physical an d mechanical faeb, whi ch havebeen regarded as poeitive an d permanent., aN!: relative withrl'gard to certain nther facts in th e aphere nf physics a ndmechaniCII. I t doea nn t mean that everything in life isrelative and that we have therigbt tn tum th e whnle wnrldmiachievoualytoJ'l8Y-turvy." I nnw remembered that someyears agn, when I first met Eil\8tein in New Ynrk, he ha demphatically reaiated the suggestinntha t he wu a philosopher. "I am, "he uid , "lIOlely a physicist." Inspite I'll these denials, Einstein8tandsin a aymoolic re latinn to our age -an age characterized by a revnltagainst th e absolute in every apherenf lICience and nf thought. He is achild of his age even if he eschewsmetaphysics.

T IK E N a ~ l e o like MUMOlini,.u Albert Einstein hu th e distinctinn nf having become an almoetlevendary figu re in his own lifetime.Nn ma n aince CopemiCUII, Calileoand Newton hu wrought mn re fundamental chang.. in nur attitudetoward th e universe. Einlltein's universe is rmite. Seen through Einstein'a eyes, space and time are almOllt interchangeab le terma. Timeappears caparooned al l a fnurth di m ension. Space, nnce und efinable,ha s BllSurned th e ahape nf a sphere.Einstein taught us that light travelsin curves. All tht&e facta are de-duct.ed frnm th e theory nf relativityadvanced by E ins tein in 1915.

With th e advent nf Einstein, mathematics ceased to bean exact lIC ience in th e rash nn nf Euclid. Th e new mathe-matics appeared in th e midst nf th e Wnrld War. I t is nn timpollllible that in th e evnlutinn nr human t hnught Einatein'a discovery ma y play a greater part than th e GreatWar. Hi s fame ma y nutlive Foch and Lu dendorff, W ilsonan d Clemeneeau.EilUltein, in th e wnrds of his favnrite colle.-gue, ErwinSchriklinger, explaina th e fundamental I an nt mechanicsas geometrical prnportinna nf IIpace and time.t ahall nn t attempt to expound th is lltatement. I t issaid that nnly ten men undCl"lltand Eil\8tein's theory ofrelativity.

volved the subject in hit mind. He studied the camehe made various calculations, an d befON!: th e eveningover, he had evolved a new method of color photograp

It is difficult for him to explain hi s theorie. whe writes an article for lay consumption. Bu t wthe inquiring layman expUeII th e abY.eII of his i(rance face to face with Einstein, th e gre.-t mathematicusually suece!ds in bridging th e gulf ,,';th an ap t illust inn. Talking to him , I uw in a fluh nn t only a foudimensinn bu t numerous nther.. G1nwing with prin my achievement, I seribbled dnwn a sentence herethere, bu t afterward my nntes were as difficult to interpas th e fantastic netwnrk nf a dream.

"Hnw ta n 1 fnnn at least aide.- nf th e fnurth dimenainn!".. Imagine," Ei ns tein repli

slightly inclining his head withcrnwn nf curly white hair. fla scin two-dimensinnal space-fnratance, th e painting 01 a ma nclining 1111 a bench. A tree atabeside th e bench. Then imagthat th e man walka from th e beto a rock 11 1'1 t henther aidenf tbe tHe cannnt reach the rock excepwalking either in fro nt nf nr behthe tree. Th is is impollllible in td imen aional apace. He can rethe rock only by an excursionthe third dimensinn.. Now 1mapne annther ma nt ing on th e bench. Hnw did hethere! Since twn bodi. . cannntcupy th e same place at th e satime, he can have In t there onlyfnre or after th e l int ma n mnvHe rnuat have mnved in time. Tis th e fnurth dimensinn. In a alar manner it is poesible to expfive,aixandmnredimensinns. Mproblema of mathematics are aimfied by U8uming th e existenCO')mnre dimenllionll."


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(C. ,.U . . . . . d ( ,..m P as . 110 )James Huneker once remarked to me, noroom in one fam ily for two prima donnas.Th e !torm and stress of thi ! period hasgraven it s mark on Einstein 'lI features andin hill heart. Einstein's relations with hisformer wife are still friendly. He i! deeplyinterested in the children of his first marriage, and he has adopted as his own thechildren sprun g from his cousin's fi m union.One of his commentators, AlexanderMoskowaki, cal ls Einstein a masculinesphinx. When Einstein speaks, his animated race reminds one somewhat ofBriand, except tbat h is features are morerefined and more intellectual. If Briande!lPOU8efl Pan-Europe, Einstein's vision embra ces the world.Einstein's str uggles with fate have left nobitterness on his tongue. Every line of hisface expresses kindliness. I t alllO bespeaksindomitable pr ide. Some friencls and admirers learned that he had decided to builda lIummer house with his h a r d ~ a r n e d sa vinp. They offered him a princely gift ofland. Bu t Einstein shook h is head. "No,"he gid; "I could accept a gift f r o ~ a community. I cannot accept such a gift froman individual. Every gift we accept is atie. Somet imes," he added with Talmudicwisdom, " one pays most for the thinp onegets for nothing."

H is Rtt ic Re treatAlthough the most-talked-about scient is tof the world, Einstein absolutely refW1C8 tocapitalize his reputation. He a u g ~ e d wh.enhe was asked to indorse an Amencan cIgarette Th e money offered for hia namewould'have paid the expense of hia summerhouse. Knowing that fame has set himapart from other men, he feela that he mustpreserve at all cost the integiity of his lIOUI.He escapes the interviewer .by every ~sible device. His shyness dIctates and hISwile abets hia seclusion. Unabl e to checkthe avalanche of offers and requests whichoverwhelm him, he leaves mos t letters,

even from celebrities, unanswered. Bu t henever ignores even the amallest note from afriend. He turned down princely offers toexploit his theories and his life in a book forpopular consumption. " I refuse," he saidagain and agai n, " to make money ofmy science. My laurel is not for sale like somany bales of cotton."I t ia no t generally known that .ProfeMQrEin ate in is no t merely a n expert m th e upper regions of higher mathemati cs bu t thathe takes a special delight in the practicalsolution of technical problems, such all confront the huilder of machines and thee lectricia n. His mind almost instinctivelycomes to conclWlions which Cl!capc t he ord ina ry engineer. He 0"''CfI his tr aining inth is practIcal work to the fact that he w ufor several ye&fII an adviser to thepatent office. I t is work of th IStype that Ein stein bas .bwlt up' a modestfortune which enables hIm to bUIld a housefor him!J(!lt without relying upon the mu-nificence of the city of Berlin. .Einstein lIOlves the mathematu:al andtechnical problems are .submltted tohim in the lIOlitude of hl8 attIc on the topfloor of the apartment hoU8C in the H ~ b e r -landstraMe where he lives. He fum l8hedthe li ttle attic exclusively with the ratherprimitive furn iture which bought manyyeafll ago with his first I18vmp.I expected to see queer utensila and raretomes in Einstein'lIlIwet retreat. 1 sbouldnot have been aurprised if his den reoaembled the laboratory of a med Ievalmagician. I was doomed todiaappoint ment.Einstein does no t emu late Doctor . Faust.Th ere are a few books, also a few Plct?res.Faraday, Maxwell, N e w ~ n . n e l t ~ e rci rcles nor tr iangles. Emstem a only InIItrument is the head. He neds no books.His brain is his libraryFrom his desk Einstein sees only roora-:an ocean of roofs- and the aky. Here he laalone with his speculat ions. Here,like, leaped from his head the t h ~ r l e swhich have revolutionized modern socnce.Here no human interference impedes the

THE SI ITURDAY EVEN/NG POSTflight of his thoughts. Even hia wife doesnot enter this holy of holies without trepida t ion.Albert Einstein does not bury himself inhis studies uninterruptedly . He is no t amollycoddle physical1y. He loves aquaticsports. His favorite toy is a sailboat withall modern technical improvements,' inwhich he enjoYll himself on the lakes andthe rivers near his country place, Caputh.A towel wrapped fantastically around hishead, he looks more like a pirate than like aprofessor of a great university, Battlingwith the wind, he forgets relativity and thefourth dimension. When the spray glistensin the silver of his ha ir and t he sun st rokeshis cherub like features, hIS thoughts are farfrom curved time space.

Our In tell ec tual Dem oc ra cyA speculative thinker, a practical engineer, a sportsman and an artist, Einsteincomes close to the Greek ideal of harmonioWldevelopment. When he neither sails hisboat nor permits his mind to meanderth rough fourth-dimenaionalspace, Einsteinenjoys himself with his violin. While Iwaited at the door of his apartment, itseemed to me that I heard strains of elfinmusic. Perhaps it was Einstein playing.When I entered, he was wrapping up hisviolin for the night like a mother puttingher child to bed.Professor E instein looks more like a musician than like a mathematician. " If, " hecorne led to me, with a smile that was halfwistful, half apologetic, "I were not a pbysicist, I would probably be a mWlician. Ioften think in mWl ic. I live my daydreamsin music. I see my life in terms of muslc."" Perhaps," I remarked, "i f you hadchosen to become a mWl ician you wouldoutshine Richa rd StraU88 and ScMnberg.Perhaps you would have given WI the musicof the spheres or a fourlh-dimensionalmusic."Einstein gazed dreamily- was it into thefar cornenl of the room, or was it intoapace- that space which his investigationshave robbed of infinity!" I cannot tell," he replied, "i f I wouldhave done any creative work of importancein mWlic,lIut I do know that I ge t most jo yin life ou t of my violin." As a matter offact, Einstein'lI taste in mWlic if! 8CVerelycla.vical. Even Wagner is to him no unalloyed feast of the eanl. He adores Mozart and Bach. He even prefers their workto the architectural music of Beethoven.

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I I . THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

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th e dollar ill an American feti8h. Th e American student is not interested in dollars,no t even in succeu Ill! such, bu t in his task,th e object of th e lJearc.h. It is hi t painstaking application to th e study o( the infinitely little and the infinitely large wh ichaCl!Ounts for his success in astronomy.""What," I asked, .. have been our mOltoutstanding accompl ishments in yourfield? .," America ," Einstein replied, "has beenespecially succw fuJ in increasing ourknowledge of th e fixed stars. Bu t in Hoiland and rue! where there are men who havedone remarkable work."The Americans," Einstein continued," are idealists. Wilson, notwithstandingth e collapse of his Fourteen Points, was inspired by high ideals. America entered thewar for idealistic reasons, in spite of thefact that material interests were exertingth e utmOlit pressure in th e same direction."" We are inclined " - Einstein inclined hishead lightly to one side like a bird- "t ooveremphasize th e material in fluencel!l inhistory. Th e RUllSians especially make thismistake. Intellectual values and ethnic influencel!l , tradition and emotional factorsare equally important. U this were not thecne, Europe would be today a federatedstate, no t a madhouse of nationalism."Born in Ulm, Gennany, in 1879, educated partly there, partly in Italy an dpartly in Switzerland, a Swiss as well as aGennan citizen, Einstein regards international jealousies with th e serenity withwhich a teacher looks upon quarrelingschoolboya. In politics he leans to Socialism. He looks upon pacifism sa th e ultimateideal. Poor, a Jew, a Socialist and a pacifist, Einstein carried four handicapa likemillstones around th e neck. Einstein conquen all obetacles, including his ownshyness, by the sheer force of his cerebration. He does no t reject any form ofgovernment except absolutism. He is tolerant, but by no means uncritical, in hisattitude toward RWII5ia."What," I inquired, " is your attitudetoward Bolshevism?".. Bolshevism is an extraordinary experiment. It is no t impoeaible that th e drift ofsocial evolution henceforward ma y be inthe direction of communism. Th e Bolsheviat experiment may be worth trying.Bu t I think that RWII5ia errs badly in theexecution of her ideal. The RUBfIians maketh e mistake of putting party (aith aboveefficiency. They replace efficient men bypoliticians Their test stone of public eervice is no t the accomplishment bu t devotionto a rigid creed.".. Do you believe in the Germa n Reput).lic?""Undoubtedly. The people have therilht to rule themselves. Now, at least, ourmistakes are our own."We Ca n Do Wh a t We Wi ..h . But -

"D o yo u blame the Kaiser for the downfall of Germany?"" Th e Kaiser," Einatein replied, "meantwell. He often had the right in!tincta. Hisintuitions were frequently more inspiredthan the laboN!d reasons of hia ForeignOffice. Unfortunately, th e Kaiser wsa &1-waya surrounded by poor advisers."" It teem. to me, " I interjected, .. thatthere are two pa rt ies in Germ any. Oneblamee t he Kaiser for t he Gennan debacle,the ot her at tempta to saddle the reaponaihility upon the Jews.".. Both," Einstein remarked , .. are lar&:elyruiltle8B. T he German debacle was du e tothe fact that th e German people, eapeciallythe upper c1s'!E!8, failed to produoe men ofcharacter , strong enough to take bold of thereins of governmen t and to tell the tru th tothe Kaiser."It wa partly," Einstein added some.what hesitati nli y, " the fau n of Bisma.rclc:.Bismarck'i philoeophy of government waswrong. Besides, there was no one to weceed to the giant. Like mlny men ofgenius, he was too jealous to permit I nyotber man to walk in his {OOtiteps. 1nfact, it is doubtfuJ if any other man could

Oc tobe r 2 6, 1929have followed the tortuous path of Bismarckian politiC!!." In a aense," he added, "w e can hold noone reaponsible. I am a determinist. A!such, I do not believe in free will . The Jewsbelieve in free will. They believe that manshapes his own life. I reject that doctrinephilOllOphically. In that re!lpect I am no t aJew .""Don't you be lieve that man is a freeagent at least in a limited sense? "Einstein smiled ingratiatingly. " I be-lieve with Schopenhauer: We can do whawe wish, bu t we can only wish what ,.,emust. Practically, I am, neverthelesa, compelled to act as if freedom of the willexisted. If I wish to live in a civilized community, I must ac t as if man is a reaponsiblebeing." I know that philosophicallya mu rdereris no t reaponsible for his crime; nevertheless, I must protect myself from unpleMantcontacts. I ma y consider him guiltlessbu t I prefer no t to take tea with him.""D o you mean to say thlt you did nochooee your own career, bu t that your actiOn! were predetermined by BOrne poweroutside of yourself? IITh e Da ng . ,. o f Too Mu c h. Rnaly:sis

"M y own career was undoubtedly determined, no t by my own will bu t by variousfactors over which I have no control primarily thoee mysterious glands in whichNature preparea the very e.ence of life, ourinternal secretions. "" I t may intereat you ," I interjected," that Hen ry Ford once told me that he.too, did no t carve ou t his own life. bu t thatall his actions were determined by an innervoice."

" Ford ," Einstein replied. " may call ithis inner voice. Socrates refeJTed to it a.his daimon. We modems pre fer t o speak ofour glands 01 inte rna l secretion. Each explains in his own way th e undeniable factthat th e human will is no t free.""Don' t you delibera tely ignore all peychic factors in human development? Whatfor instance," I asked, "ill your attitudetoward th e eubconscious? ACI!Ording toFreud, psychic eventa registered indeliblyin our nether mind make and mar ourlives."

"Whereaa materialistic historians andphilosophers n@il:lectpsychic realitiee Freudis inclined to overstrt'Sll their importance.I am no t a P8ychologist, bu t it seems to mefairly. evident that physiological factorsespecially our endocrines, control our destiny.""Then you do not believe in psycho-anal)'llis?"" I am no t," Einstein modestly replied,"able to ventuJ'1! a judgmen t on 10 importantl phase of modem thoultht. However, it

1!E II I$ to me that psychoanalysis is no t always salutary. I t may no t a1ways behelpful to delve into the subconscious. Themachinery of ou r legs is controlled by ahundred d ifferen t muscles. Do you thinkit would help us to walk Jif we analyzedour le p and knew exactly which one of th elittle muscles must be employed in locomotion and the order in which they work?" Perbaps," he added with th e wh imsicamrile that sometimes nghta up th e somberpools of hiseyeelike a will--o . the.wisp , "youremember the story of th e toad and th ecentipede? T he centipede was very pro udof having one hundred lep. H is neighborth e tOf'd , was very mu i1l depr: sped becausehe had only four. One da y a diabolic inspiration prompted th e toad to write a let.-te r to th e C'@fItipede as follows;

" HoNOred Si r : Can you tell me ...hleb ODof your hundred le p you movtl first, ...hen youtn.nllrer your dilltinguillhed body from oneplace to another. and in ...hat you movtthe other nl.netynine lep?"When th e centipede received this lette r be hepn to thi nk. He tried first one

l@il:, then the other. Finally be discoveredto his consternatio n tbat he lIVas unableto move a linltle l@il:. He could no lonrer( C."U ,. . . d ." Pq. II ' )


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(Co . U .. .. .. d .. . P . . . . . 114 )walk at all! He was paralyud! It is po8SihIe that analysis ma y paralyze our mentaland emotional proccnes in a similar mannero."Are you then an opponent of Freud?"" By no means . I am no t prepared toaccept all his conclusions, bu t I considerhis work an immensely valuable contribution to the science of human behavior. Ithink he is even greater as a writer than as apsychologist. Freud's brilliant style is unsurpl!,.,ed by anyone since Schopenhauer. "There was a pause. filled by more fruitsalad and IItrawberry juice." Is there," I resumed th e conversation,"s uch a th ing as progjC ss in th e st ory of

human effort?""The only progt(!l I can see is progressin organization. Th e ordinary hu man beingdoes no t live long enough to draw sn y sub-stantial benefit from his own experience.And no one, it seems, can benefit by th eexperiencea of others. Being both a fatherand teacher, I know we can our chi!dren nothing. We can transmIt to themne ither our knowledge of life nor of mathe-matics. Es ch must learn it s lesson anew."" But" I interjected, .. nature crylltal.lizes experiences. Th e experiencea ofone generation are the inst inct;'.of the.next."" Ah." Einstein remarked , that IS true.Bu t it takes Nature ten thousand or tenmillions of years to transmit inherited experiencea or characteristics. It must havetaken the bees and the ants !eOns beforethey learned to adapt them.selves 110 mar-velously t-O their envi ronments. Humanbeings, alas, seem to learn more slowly thaninsecta. ""D o you think that mankind will eventuaUy evolve the u p e ~ a n ? ':. . ." I f so," Einstetn rephed, It WIll be amatter of millions of years."" You don't agree with t z a c h e ' 8 8 i sthat 1\1 wsolin i is th e superman prophesIedby her brother? " . . . ,Again a amile m L n ~ ~ Ems tem s features bu t it was not so JOVlal as before. Apacir:at and i n t e m a t i o n ~ l Einstein is th every antithesis of th e dictator.

Although he denies f.reedom of th ewill philosophically, ~ \ I l . s t e ! n resents anyattempt to circumacnbe snll further th elimited sphere within :which ~ u m a nwill may exert itself WIth th e IllUSIon offreedom. . . ," I f we owe 80 little to th e expenence 0others how do you account for sud denleaps iorward in the ~ of a c i ~ n c e ' ?oyou ascribe you r own dl8COvenea to mtu ition or inspiration1"

Th e M ea d . , o f M a nk in d" I believe in intu itiona and inspirationa .I sometimes feel that I am right. no tknow that I am. When two expeditions of

scientists, financed by th e Royal ~ e I ! l Y '","ent forth to test my t h e o ~ of relatn:,ty,I was convinced that tbelr conclUSlonswould tally with my hypothesis. I was notsurprised when t he eclipM! of Ma y 29, 19 19,confirmed my intuitions. I would havebeen surprised if I had been w r o n ~ ."Then you trust more to your Imagmation th an to your knowledge' "" I am enough o f the artist. to fl'fl!:l yupon my imagination . m a g \ l l . ~ t t \8 mor:eimportant than knowledge. KnO""ledge \8limited. Imagination encircle:- th e world .""T o "" ha t eJ:tent are you mftuenced byChristianity' " ."As a child, I received inst ructton bothin th e Bible and in th e Talmud . I aJew bu t I am enthraned by th e luminous, ,.figure of th e Nazarene... H sve you read Emil Ludwii's book onJesus'?" . ."E m il Ludwig', JesWl," Elnatem re.plied, "i s shallow. JeaWl is too colr.P'1 forth e pen of phruemona:ers, h ~ w ~ v e . r Irtf.w.No man can dispoM of Ch rlStlamty Witha 0011.m." .., You accept the historical exIStence ofJf!I!IWI? ""U nquf!l!ttionably . No one can read th eG08pela .".jthou t fcel ina th e actual preeence

THE S R T U R D A Y E V E N IN G P O S Tof Jesus. His personality pulutes in everyword. No myth ill filled with such life.How differe nt , for illllta nce, is the impr es.sion which we receive from an account oflegendary heroes of antiquity like TheseusThesew and other heroes of his type lackthe authentic vitalit y of Jesus."" Ludwig Lewisohn, in one of his recentbooks, claims that man y of the sayings ofJesus pa raphrase th e sayings of otherpropheta.""N o ma n," Einatein replied. "can denyt he fact that JCSUII existed. nor that hissayings are beautiful. Even if !lOme ofthem have been said before, no one hasexpr psed t hem so divinely as he.".. Gilbert Chesterton told me that , I.e-cording to a Ca tholic writer in a DublinReview, you r theory of relativi ty merelyconfirms th e cosmology of Thomas Aquinas. ".. I ha ve not," Einatein replied. "read allth e worb of Thomas Aquinas., bu t I amdelighted if 1 have reached th e same conelusions as the comprehenlive mind of thatgreat Catholic scholar. "., Do you look upon yourself as a Germanor as a Jew?".. I t is quite poeaible," Einatein replied," to be both. I look upon myself as a man.Nationalism il an infantile disease. It ilth e measles of mankind."

Th e St a nda Nl iz a tl o n P .. ll"H ow then," I sa id, "d o you jus tifyJew ish national ism? "" I support Zionism," Professor Ein.

stein replied, "i n spite of th e fac t thst itis a nationsl experiment, because it givesus Jews a common intereet. T his nat iona lism is no menace to other peoples . Zionis too small to develop imperialisti c de-sians.".. Then you do not believe in asaimila.tion? .... We Jews," Einstein replied, .. have beentoo adaptable. We have been too eagff tosacrifice our idiosyncruif!l!t for th e sake ofsocial conform ity ."" Perh aps assimilation makes for greaterhappiness.".1 do not think so," Einstein replied." Even in modem civilization, th e Jew ism08t happy if he remains a Jew."" Do you believe in race as a substitutefor nationa lism?".. Race, at least, constitutes a larger unit.Nevertheless. 1 do no t believe in race lUIsuch. Race il a fraud. All modem peoplea re th e conglomeration of so many ethnicmixtures that no pure race remains."" Do you," I remarked, "look upon re.ligion as th e t ie which holds th e childrenof lsrael together? "" I do not think," Einstein repliedthoughtfully , " that religion is th e m08t important clement. We are held togetherrather by a body of tradition, handeddown fro m father to son, which th e childimbibes with his mother's milk. Th e at,.m08phere of our infancy predeterm inee ouridi08yncraalee and predilections. Wh en 1met you, I knew I could talk to you freelywith out the inhibitioDil which make th econtAct with others so difficult. I lookedupo n you not as a German nor as an Amer.ican bu t as a Jew.".. I have written the autobiograp hy o f th eWandering Jew with Paul Eldridge," I toldhim . .. Nevertheleaa, it 110 happens thatI am no t a Jew. My parents and myprogenitors are Nordics from Pr oteetantGermany."" It is imp'tsible," Pro fessor Einsteinobserved, " for any individua l to traceevery drop of blood in his constitution.Ancestors multiply like the famOOIl eeed ofcorn on th e chessboard which emba rrasredthe sultan. After we go back a few generations, our ancestors inCle 77 E10 prodigiouslythat it is practically impoodble to determine exactly th e varioWl elementA whichconstitute our being. You have the PIIychicadaptability of t he Jew. T here is some-thing in your psychology which makes itpt ible for me to talk to )'OU witboutbarrier."

" Why should quickneas of mind be onlya Jewish cha racte ristic? Is it not also pas.sessed by th e Irish and to a large extent byth e Americans1 ""Am ericans undoubtedly owe mu ch tothe melting pot. It is possible that thi lm ixture of races ma kes thei r nationalismless objectionable tha n th e nationalism ofEu rope. Nationalism in the United Statesdoes no t assume such disagt (eable formsas in Europe. Th is ma y be due partly toth e fact th a t your country is so immen!!e,that you do not t hink in terms of narrow

borders. It ma y be due to th e fact that yo udo no t l uller from th e heritage of hatredor fear which poiMlns the re latiolUl of t hena tions of Europe." Bu t to return to th e Jew ish question.Other groups and nations cultivate theirindividual traditions. Th ere is no reasonwhy we Ih ould ucrifice ours. Standardizat ion roba lile of ita spice. To deprive everyethnic group of ita s pecial traditions is toconvert th e world into a huge Ford plant.I believe in standardizing au tomobiles. Ido not believe in standardizing humanbeings. Standard ization is a great peril""hich threatena American culture.""D o you consider Ford, then, a menace?""Ford is undoubtedly a ma n of genius.

No man can create what Ford has created,unless th e life force has provided himwitb conl Picuous gifts.. Nevertheleaa, I amsometi mes sor ry for men like Ford . Everybody who comes to th em wanta somethingfro m them. Such men do not alway.realize that tb e adoration which they re.ceive is no t a tribute to their per80nalitybu t to their power or t heir pocketbook.Great ea ptains of indu str y and great kingsfall into th e same errl)r. An invisible wallimpe

“What Life Means to Einstein,” by George Sylvester Viereck. Published October 26, 1929 .

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