YOUNG
EINSTEIN
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Albert Einstein was born at
Ulm in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a
featherbed
salesman who later ran an electrochemical works, and Pauline.
At age
five, his father showed him a pocket compass, and Einstein realized
that something in "empty" space acted upon the needle; he would later
describe the experience as one of the most revelatory of his life.
Though he built models and mechanical devices for fun, he was
considered a slow learner, possibly due to dyslexia, simple shyness, or
the significantly rare and unusual structure of his brain (examined
after his death). He later credited his development of the theory of
relativity to this slowness, saying that by pondering space and time
later than most children, he was able to apply a more developed
intellectual viewpoint.
Einstein
began to learn mathematics around age twelve. There is a recurring
rumor that he failed mathematics later in his education, but this is
untrue; a change in the way grades were assigned caused confusion years
later. He had two uncles who helped to stimulate his intellectual
interests in his
late childhood and early adolescence by suggesting and providing books
on science and mathematics.