Unit Four

Einstein’s Painful Romance

Walter Sullivan

Albert Einstein (1879---1955)

Mathematical physicist of German birth, naturalized American.

Is best known for the theory of relativity

Is considered as the greatest scientist and thinker since Galileo and Newton.

Is rewarded Nobel Prize for Physics 1n 1921

Intelligent Knowledgeable Rational Serious Diligent romantic

1903---1919 1919---1936

Test your vocabulary

anguish disdain meager offensive vehement impending transparent depict infinity spectacular

crystal

pain

inadequate

boundlessness

describe

striking

attack

forceful

dislike

approaching

Structure of the text

Part 1 ( Paras1---4) Part 2 ( Paras5---11) Part 3 ( Paras6---19) Part 4 (Paras20---21) Part 5 (Paras22---26)

Summary of Part 1

The newly disclosed correspondence between Albert Einstein and his first wife Maric reveals their anguished love affair, their excitement over the impending birth of their child and their love for science.

Summary of Part 2

The disclosed letters reveal Einstein's efforts to participate in the revolution taking place in many fields of physics and also his mother's disdain for Maric.

Part 3 perceive

To become aware of … through the senses

察觉， 发觉，看作 See / realize / observ

e

He was learning to perceive.

He perceived that he could not make his son change his mind.

perceived threats Nobody hopes to be

perceived as a loser.

Summary 3

Discussions of scientific questions such as relative motion, absolute rest and infinity with which Einstein and Maric were both concerned dominate their correspondence.

Part 4 fall into place

If something falls into place, you suddenly understanding something that you previously have been unable to understand

If things fall into place, they start to happen in the way you want them to.

It all fell into place when I learned he’d been to London that weekend.

After weeks of total chaos, suddenly everything just fell into place.

Summary of Part 5

Their excitement over the impending birth of their child is described in these letters and the mention of scarlet fever is the last reference to the child in the correspondence.

Text summary

The newly disclosed correspondence between Albert Einstein and his first wife Maric is of great importance to historians of science. These letters reveal their anguished love affair, information about their little girl, and last but not least, their passion for science.

New Words

version perceive confide dominate intertwine propagate intersperse contemplate diminutive

version

An interpretation of a matter from a particular viewpoint

看法， 诠释， 版本 Interpretation / repres

entation

Give me your version of what happened.

the film version of Tom Jones

Einstein had already adopted some version of the relativity principle, although not in its final form.

confide

Reveal in private Give … to the care or prot

ection of another Show confidence by impa

rting secrets 透露，委托，信赖地向某

人述说 Expose / reveal / disclose

/ unwrap

Einstein confided in her his efforts to participate in the revolution taking place in many fields of physics.

Don’t confide your secrets to your friends.

The children were confided to the care of a neighbour.

dominate

To have a commanding place or position in …

Have control over…

支配， 左右， 操纵，占优势

Rule / control / govern / act upon / command

Their interest in physics dominates the correspondence despite their personal difficulties.

Don’t let yourself be dominated by circumstances.

Name brands dominate the market.

The strong dominate over the weak.

intertwine

To unite by twisting one with another

To become mutually involved

纠缠，缠结 --- Twist / twine / knit /

distort

Intertwined with the disclosures of a difficult romance are fragments of Einstein’s thought.

There was a fence intertwined with ivy.

Propagate To cause to continue or increase by sexual or asexual r

eproduction 繁殖 To cause to spread out and affect a greater number or

greater area 传播 To travel through space or a material 传送

1. The trees propagate themselves by seeds.2. Since bacteria propagate more quickly in

unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.

3. Light is propagated through space in a straight line.

contemplate

To view or consider with continued attention 仔细考虑 To view … as probable 预期，期待

1. contemplate the vastness of the universe

2. She is contemplating a change of work

3. We did not contemplate such as a consequence.

intersperse

To place something at intervals in or among 配置 To insert at intervals among others 点缀

He interspersed the text with explanatory diagrams.

Bushes are interspersed among the trees. Interspersed among

diminutive

A name formed with suffixes indicating “small” (kitchenette), by clipping (Jim) or altering (Peggy) to express endearment 昵称

small / little

1. She has diminutive hands for an adult.

2. Despite its diminutive size, the car is quite comfortable.

3. “Lieserl” is a diminutive of “Liese”.

Paraphrase

Maric appears to have been more of a sounding board than a contributor to Einstein’s ideas.

---(music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument; here, it refers to a person whose reactions to Einstein’s ideas as an indication of its acceptability 共鸣板；宣传者

The theory ruled out the possibility of absolute rest. ---to make impossible （ eg, Heavy rain ruled out the picnic.) 排除 The little fellow had not been so cruelly confined to the earth. ---restrict; close on; hold within a location 限制；禁闭 … how a body’s relative motion with respect to the luminiferous ether aff

ects the velocity of a propagation of light in transparent bodies. 物体与传光以太的相对运动如何影响光在透明物体中的传播速度…… ---concerning (eg. With respect to your proposal, we are sorry to say that we cannot agree to it.) 关于 …promises to be a capital paper. ---first-rate, excellent, of primary important 极重要的

Grammar 1 ：定语从句 Particularly remarkable, Mr. Holton said in

an interview, is the extent to which their interest in physics dominates the correspondence despite their personal difficulties.

Grammar 2 ：连词的作用 Neither of us has gotten a job and we sup

port ourselves by private lessons—when we can pick up some, which is still very questionable.

Writing Exercise

The only thing … is … The only thing that must be solved is how to have our Lie

sel with us. … describe the …; the …; and …. Many of the letters describe the love between the young

scientist and his future wife, Mileva Maric; the pain associated with his mother’s vehement disapproval of the relationship; and their excitement over the impending birth of a child.

Reading Comprehension

Why is Einsteins’ first romance painful? What happened to their daughter? How do people get to know about Einstein’

s first wife? Talk about the relationship between Einste

in’s first marriage and his theory of relativity.