The chapter, Albert Einstein at School, is from class 11th snapshots and is an excerpt from the biography of Albert Einstein, by Patrick Pringle. The lesson enables the readers to take a glance at those years of Einstein where he was struggling in school days and passing out and taking formal education seems to be a herculean task for him. It also focussed on the behavior his teachers would have with him and he has only one friend named, Yuri. The story about how Albert struggled with all these things and managed to tackle them is the interesting part of this lesson.
Albert Einstein At School Central Theme
The summary will help the readers to learn and know about the lesson in detail and the struggling period of an extraordinary man would let us know how to tackle these odd days while proving ourselves. The story has been taken from the biography, ‘ The Young Einstein’ written by Patrick Pringle. We came to know that he did not like school much and he was considered dumbo because he did not fit in that criteria and used to defy the primitive methods. 
Further, we came to know that teachers also do not like him as he stated some facts with valid reasons. We will also be able to know that the greatest of all minds had faced a lot of challenges to prove his worth.
Albert Einstein at School Summary Class 11
The story is about the greatest of all minds, Albert Einstein. He was known for his great contributions in the field of physics and he also propounded the theory of relativity. Everyone feels that he was a genius so he must be good at studies and excelled in all things. But it wasn’t true.
The story takes place in the history class where Einstein was asked about a certain event and he tells his teacher that it was pointless to learn the dates. He did not believe in mugging up unnecessary things that he can see by flipping some pages.
So, with this incident, we all came to know that he did not believe in traditional schooling approaches. He dislikes the primitive methods of teaching and learning. And so, teachers also did not pay any heed to him. When all this incident took place the history teacher asked him to leave the classroom.
Einstein did not feel comfortable at home also and he feels that he will never be able to complete his formal education. He has a keen interest in science and so he thought to continue with that subject only. He does not find any reason to study other subjects.
Later on, he moved to Munich and the story remains the same here also. He did not take any interest and was just wasting his father’s hard-earned money. He now wishes to give up schooling and for this plan to succeed, he told everything to his one and only one friend, Yuri.
He told him to arrange for a doctor and asked him to write that he was a lunatic and not fit for the school. He confessed to the doctor that he loves mathematics and the headmaster reveals shocking things about him.
He also told about his behavior and his wishes to leave the school. Ridiculously, before he presented his medical report, he himself got rusticated by the school for misbehaving and he did not fit in the criteria.
Einstein left the school without even looking back once and bid farewell to Yuri. yuri also wishes him luck in his future.
Albert Einstein At School Questions Answers [NCERT Solutions]
A. Reading With Insight
Q1. What do you understand of Einstein’s nature from his conversations with his history teacher, his mathematics teacher, and the headteacher?
The dialogue exchange shows that Einstein accepted his flaws and explains very frankly what he feels about the subjects and teachers and basically about the schooling system. He has a different opinion about everything. His mathematics teacher told him one day that he will soon teach him mathematics.
His intelligence and logical reasoning were highlighted in this lesson. The headteacher told that he would expel him from the school and to this fact Albert was also wishing the same. He was ready to be expelled and thought that schools are not his cup of tea.
He held his head high and not even looked back at the school once and left happily. Though he addressed his teachers very respectfully yet he was always misunderstood.
Q2. The school system often curbs individual talents. Discuss.
A2. The system did not have the space to nurture the individual talents and this type of schooling can be seen today also in most places. Big ideas for improving and bringing the new changes have just made its space in the papers itself.
Primitive methods used, lack of knowledge of child’s development and pedagogical behavior, the behavior of teachers towards students, and their incapability to judge their inner strength has worsened the situation a lot more. It has ignored the divergent thinking and blooming of original ideas but mug up unnecessary things. Students are able to perform well in academics but they are not able to use that knowledge further.
For the situation to improve we have to use our best approaches and ideas to flourish and use new modern ways to teach and learn.
Q3. How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation?
A3. The primitive approaches of teaching and learning have always focussed on cramming things and learning by heart. But the new methods of education focussed on creating new and thinking out of the box technique. The students should not be told to learn like a parrot but to nurture their creativity and the way to interpret ideas.
Gathering information and keeping it in your brain box will not help to make use of it but insight information like finding out the causes of war and related actions will help us to find out the relations between past and present i.e. analysis would make us think about why this certain event took place.
Short wer Type Qs
Q. 1 Why was Mr. Braun speechless for a few moments?
Mr. Braun Albert’s history teacher asked him about the Waterloo battle and to this he very frankly told him that he didn’t know the wer or the date. Albert further told him that it is pointless to learn and mug updates. These could be referred to again and again by books. This made his teacher speechless.
Q. 2 Who asks for the Einstein theory of education? How?
2. The history teacher asked Albert to give Einstein the theory of Education to mock him in front of the whole class.
Q. 3 What is Einstein’s view about education? How far do you agree with it?
3. Albert’s views were completely different as he did not believe in mugging up the facts and laid the stress to know the certain reasons behind anything. He thought it was meaningless to learn the dates and events. If anyone wishes to learn he should try to know the reason who led the soldiers to kill each other.
Q. 4 How did the history teacher react to Albert’s replies? Will a modern student agree with the teacher? Why /Why not?
4. The history teacher felt amazed on the one hand and on the other he also vexed at Albert’s views. Albert was not of the view to accept the conventional methods of education. Modern students definitely would not agree with the verbatim approach.
Q. 5 Why did Albert see no point in learning dates and facts?
5. Learning dates and mugging up facts are just gathering information. Albert thought it was useless as information gathering is not knowledge. Do we have to know the causes also why did this happen? Dates and facts could be ascertained again as and when required but the reasons and causes will help us to know the true information.
Q. 6 Do you think Albert is being impolite while wering the history teacher’s Qs? Give your reasons.
6. No, he was not being impolite rather he respects every teacher. But he actually hates being in this confined environment as they all were not able to observe his true knowledge. The schooling system was not inclusive to adjust him so he thinks that he is only not made for the school.
Q. 7 What was the history teacher’s opinion of Albert?
7 He thought that Albert should be ashamed of his behavior and suggested telling his father to drop him out of school.
Q.8 What punishment did the history teacher give to Albert for not wering his Qs?
8. Mr. Braun did not want any lecture from Albert about the way education should be imparted in school. He punished him by making him stay for an extra period. He felt bad to continue with the class.
Q. 9 Why did Albert feel miserable when he left school that day?
9. Albert was punished for his frank and different attitude that day and made him stay for an extra class. He did not want to return the next day to the miserable place.
Q. 10 ‘Going back to his lodgings did not cheer him up.’Why?
10. He lived in a slum and his landlady beat her children and her husband was a drunkard. The noise coming from there made them afraid.
Q. 11 What did Albert conclude after six months alone in Munich? What reasons did he advance?
11. After half a year of staying all alone in Munich, Albert was not in a mood to stay and feels that he is wasting money. So, he thought it would be better to stop schooling.
Q. 12 Why does the biographer refer to Albert’s interest in music as a ‘comfort’?
12. Albert felt miserable both at his lodgings and at school. He hated the school and the atmosphere at his home also could not cheer him up. His only source of comfort was playing violin.
Q. 13 Who is Elsa? What does she think is enough to pass the examination?
13. Elsa was his cousin and lives in Berlin with her father. His father was a businessman and she thinks that cramming things and then vomiting out in the examination hall is the best one can do and there is nothing to understand.
Q. 14 What sudden idea does Albert hit upon to get away from school?
14. Albert made a plan that if he had a nervous breakdown, he would not have to go to school again. The idea should also be certified by the doctor so that he does not have to call his father again to do the same.
Q. 15 Who is Yuri? What part does he play in Albert’s plan?
15. Yuri was his senior and a medical student. He knows a lot of medical students who can help to execute this plan. Yuri only introduces Dr. Ernest to Albert and planned to display the certificate he desires to show at school.
Q. 16 “Ugh!” Exclaimed Albert, “these are the students”. Comment.
16. Albert felt disgusted when he learned that one boy killed another and felt proud of it. Albert felt bad as he hated violence.
Q. 17 Yuri calls Albert ‘the world’s worst liar’—do you think this is an insult or a compliment to Albert? Why?
17. According to Yuri, Albert can tell a lie and he is so simple and pure by heart that he cannot cheat anyone. It is a compliment, Albert is honest and truthful. He can’t tell a deliberate lie. He can’t deceive anyone. He is so simple-hearted that if he tries to tell a lie, his face betrays him at once.
Q. 18 Why was Albert quite nervous when he met the doctor? What does this nervousness indicate about his nature?
18. Albert wondered what to tell the doctor and felt quite nervous. It shows that he was hypersensitive and even a minor worry breaks him.
Q. 19 How did Albert hope to convince the doctor?
19. He told me that he might have a real nervous breakdown and it would be easy for the doctor to certify. Yuri found that Albert really had lost his high spirits and the doctor certified him.
Q. 20 Who was Ernest Weil? How did he help Albert?
20. Ernest Weil was a doctor and qualified as only the previous week. He was also a good friend of Yuri. So they both were ready to execute their plan of a nervous breakdown and certified the same for the school.
Q. 21 What advice did Yuri give to Albert before meeting Dr. Ernest Weil?
21. Yuri advised Albert not to pretend about anything and tell him the truth. He needs to be frank and honest with the medical doctor.
Q. 22 What opinion do you form of Dr. Ernest Weil?
22. Though he had taken his degree the previous week, he was qualified enough to know the truth. He was straightforward and won his patient with his smile. His diagnosis is based on facts collected after thorough analysis and gives prescriptions accordingly.
Q. 23 What did Albert tell Dr. Ernest Weil if he certified that he had a nervous breakdown?
23. Albert told him that he was planning to go to Milan, Italy to get admission into a college.
Q. 24 How, according to Yuri, could the medical certificate help Albert?
24. He felt it would give him 6 month’s leave and if the situation worsened he could rejoin the school and continue with his studies.
Q. 25 How did Albert hope to get admission to an Italian college without a diploma from the German school?
25. Albert thought and told his mathematics teacher that he had learned a lot of maths and a bit more. So, Albert was confident enough that he could get admission to an Italian college.
Q. 26 What did Mr. Koch think of Albert?
26. Mr. Koch thought that he couldn’t teach and guide Albert. He thought that one day Albert was going to teach him. So, he himself certified him to go and get admission to an Italian college for studying higher mathematics.
Q. 27 What did Yuri suggest to Albert before seeking an interview with the Principal? How far did Yuri’s efforts and suggestions prove useful during Albert’s meeting with the Principal?
27. Yuri suggested that Albert should get a written reference from his mathematics teacher. But all his plan failed.
Q. 28 What reference did Mr. Koch give to Albert regarding his wish to join a college in Italy?
28. His mathematics teacher was ready to give him a written reference for studying in higher college. He believed that he had already learned so much mathematics that one day Albert would teach him.
Q. 29 What did the headteacher tell Albert when he met him?
29. The headteacher wanted him to leave the school as he did not fit in the scenario and other children are not able to learn anything. He wanted him to leave the school immediately.
Q. 30 What did the headteacher tell Albert when the latter asked him what ‘crime’ he had committed?
30. The headteacher told Albert that with his presence the classroom could not function properly. The pupils are unable to learn and constantly remain in a mood of rebellion.
Q. 31 “Albert felt the medical certificate almost burning a hole in his pocket.” What does the author mean?
31. Einstein was very keen on showing the certificate to the headteacher but he was surprised as the headteacher himself planned to expel him.
Q. 32 How did Albert leave his school where he had spent five years?
32. Albert happily left the school and did not even look back, he was not proud but he had high spirits leaving the school. He was arrogant towards the behavior given by the headteacher.
Conclusion
We here would like to sum up the lesson Albert Einstein At School. The lesson was a biography by Patrick Pringle which actually laid stress on the attitude and the persona of the Genius. He from his childhood stressed the fact of progressive education and focussing insight information. We have also included the ncert solutions to help out the students with relevant powers.
