A Matter of Appearance

Peter Bucky, a friend of Einstein, wrote of Albert in order to give the public a more private insight to the physicist. His book starts off with some reminiscences that luckily give us a view of what it would be like to just "hang out" with Einstein.

With these reminiscences I'd like to shed light first on the ever popular topic of Albert Einstein's appearance:

When badgered by wife, Elsa, about his appearance, Albert replies, "It would be a sad thing if the bag was better than the meat which is wrapped in it!"

Another example of Einstein's attitude toward dress is his thank you note to some children who had sent him cufflinks and a tie as a gift:http://www.albert-einstein.org/

In his book, Peter recalls an incident as he was driving Albert down the highway in his convertible. Einstein was wearing a felt hat when it started to rain and Peter could not get the top down fast enough. Noticing that Peter was surprised after seeing him take off his hat and tuck it under his coat, Einstein said, " Here Peter, ou see, my hair has withstood water many times before, but I don't know how many times my felt hat can withstand it."