Albert Einstein 6 - Science, mathematics & Philosophy Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

By the age of ten,
Albert read, studied and gained immense knowledge,
In physics, mathematics and philosophy,
All on his own.
He not only tackled difficult problems and puzzles,
But also solved rare Pythagorean theorems.

Albert's Uncle Jacob - an engineer and
Max Talmey- a young medical student,
Who visited their home for dinner, once a week,
For five years regularly, between 1889 to 1894,
Became his best teachers, guides and friends.
Jacob and Talmay were amazed too,
By young Albert's questioning mind,
And were attracted by his unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

Talmay got him plenty of books on science and philosophy
And spent a lot of time with Albert discussing these subjects.
These five years - tender ten to teenage fourteen,
Made a deep impression in the young brilliant mind.
The boy grew up into an independent thinking adult.
And even developed keen interest in natural sciences as well.

Just like how the gift of the compass by his father
Created awe and wonder in Albert's mind at the age of five,
A gift by Uncle Jacob at the age of twelve became
His memorable prized second wonder of his childhood.
Albert named it as " the sacred little geometry book".
Geometry with lines and curves fascinated him so much
That he pursued it with deep interest and enjoyment,
To experiment, invent and discover new scientific theories.

Later in 1935, he told a reporter in Princeton, New Jersey:
" As a boy of twelve years making my acquaintance
with elementary Mathematics, I was thrilled in seeing that it was possible to find out truth by reasoning alone…. I became more and more convinced that even nature could be understood as a relatively simple mathematical structure."

A Biographical Poem