Short Questions (2 Marks)
Question 1 : Did Einstein’s letter to American President Franklin D Roosevelt have any effect? What was the result?
Answer : Einstein wrote a secret letter to Roosevelt. His words did not fail to have an effect. The Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret projects and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 destroying it completely.
Question 2 : Which remarkable incident happened in the life of Einstein 1921?
Answer : The remarkable incident was that Einstein received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. He was showered with honours and invitations from all over the world and lauded by the press. It made him famous all over the world.
Question 3 : How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Answer : Einstein was shocked at the extent of destruction caused by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and reacted by writing a letter to the United Nations, suggesting the formation of a world government. Later on he got more involved in politics and agitated for an end to arms build up and campaigned for peace and democracy.
Question 4 : What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office and why?
Answer : He called his desk drawer at the patent office the ‘bureau of theoretical physics’ because he was working as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern where he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions. But here Einstein was developing his ideas secretly. He called his desk drawer at work the ‘bureau of theoretical physics’.
Question 5 : What is Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity?
Answer : According to the Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, time and distance are not absolute. From this followed the world’s most famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy i.e. E=mc2.
Question 6 : Why does the world remember Einstein as a ‘world citizen’?
Answer : The world remembers Einstein as a ‘world citizen’, because, deeply disturbed due to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he started agitating for an end to the arms buildup and used his popularity for peace and democracy in the world.
Question 7 : How was Einstein’s private life unravelling after he finished his studies?
Answer : In his private life, Einstein wanted to marry Mileva, but his mother was against it. She thought Mileva was three years older than her son and also too intelligent for him to become just a housewife. He had to put the wedding off for some time then.
Question 8 : Why did Einstein play with himself in the childhood?
Answer : Einstein played by himself in his childhood because he did not know what to do with other children and his playmates called him ‘Brother Boring’. He was not as active as other children of his age. He was unable to interact properly with others so he played with himself.
Long Questions (8 Marks)
Question 1 : What was the outcome of Einstein’s letter which he wrote to the American President, Roosevelt? Did this warning have any impact on America?
Answer : One of the colleagues of Einstein came to know about the mass build-up of arms by Germany. He urged Einstein to do something for the same. On his colleague’s urging, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Roosevelt warning him of the consequences of the atomic bomb being developed by Germany. His letter had the necessary impact as the Americans developed their own atomic bomb in a secret project. Einstein feared that Germany might use the atomic bomb for mass destruction but what happened was just opposite. Instead of stopping Germany from developing the bomb they dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 causing much destruction and loss of life. Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. Therefore, we can say that there was no impact of Einstein’s letter on America. He thought that America would do something better for arms-build was a rat-race and very dangerous but the reality disturbed Einstein very much.
Question 2 : Albert Einstein is called a scientific genius. Write down his achievements and comment on his genius.
Answer : Albert Einstein was definitely a scientific genius. He developed his ideas on relativity secretly and too at a very young age. The Special Theory of Relativity was published when he was just 26 years old. This shows that he was definitely a genius.
This gave a revolutionary concept of the relationship between time and distance. He also gave the revolutionary formula E=mc2. Then in 1915, he proposed the General Theory of Relativity, which was proved correct four years later. These achievements were recognised and he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. Einstein’s theories changed our concept of time, space, energy and gravity. A lot of scientific developments took place based on the theory of Einstein. His contribution in science is much sought after. The world knowns him as a visionary and a world citizen. His contribution is also remembered for agitating against the mass build-up of the arms in the world.
Question 3 : Einstein was an unusual child with no indication of his potential greatness. Comment.
Answer : Greatness and giftedness don’t come with a measure. It is just felt from the beginning of the life. Such was the case with little Einstein since his childhood. It was first spotted by his mother. Einstein was an unusual child as his mother felt that he had a larger than usual head for a child of his age. He was called ‘Brother Boring’ by his playmates as he did not know what to do with them. His playmates didn’t think him good enough to be with them. The games they played were not appreciated by Einstein. He loved mechanical toys and even thought his baby sister to be a toy. There was no indication of his potential greatness because his headmaster in school thought him to be good for nothing and felt that he would never succeed in life. But, he was proved wrong. Therefore, an unusual child, who was thought to be not as great as he later became world’s most sought after scientist.