Albert Einstein – the planet’s best-known physicist, and often used as the prime example of exemplary human intelligence – was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14th 1879. On his birthday, Crave is going to look at the man’s brain, how powerful it was, and explore the odd saga of where it went when Einstein died in 1955.
Einstein, it was often speculated, had a special biologically “enhanced” brain. He wasn’t merely brilliant, the theory goes, but was blessed with a physiological advantage over the hoi polloi. To test the floated theories about neurological anatomy, Einstein’s brain was removed a mere 7 hours after his death for pathological examination. The name of the pathologist was Dr. Thomas Harvey, who died in 2007. Harvey dissected Einstein’s brain, cut it into small pieces, injected it with various chemicals, and tried to get to the bottom of Einstein’s genius.
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As it turns out, Einstein’s brain was a little different than most people’s. The centers of the brain devoted to speech were smaller than average, where the centers devoted to spacial reasoning and numbers were larger. Whether or not this was an in-born trait, or Einstein’s brain developed that way is a matter of debate. There was also some controversy as to Einstein’s actual wishes. According to a 1979 biography, Einstein said “he had insisted that his brain should be used for research and that he be cremated.”
And even though his studies were done, and Einstein wanted his body to be cremated, Dr. Harvey wasn’t finished with Einstein’s brain. Taking a few pieces and preserving them in alcohol, Harvey absconded with portions of the brain back to his home. It remained there until 1978, when a journalist busted Harvey, and rediscovered it. Evidently, Dr. Harvey had been storing the pieces of Einstein’s brain in mason jars in a cider box.
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Why did Dr. Harvey want to steal pieces of Einstein’s brain? It has never been revealed. Perhaps he merely thought they’d be valuable collectibles someday. Or perhaps he intended to do more research when technology had advanced enough. We can only speculate.
The only scientific hope that Einstein’s brain could provide in 1978 was offering some potential DNA for Einstein’s granddaughter Evelyn. Evelyn Einstein, who was adopted by Einstein’s friend Hans Albert, suspected for many years that she may be Einstein’s own illegitimate daughter who was given to Albert as part of an attempt to cover up an affair. However, since Einstein’s brain was stored in alcohol, the DNA was more or less destroyed, and Evelyn couldn’t get a DNA test out of it.
Harvey, and even his heirs, managed to hang into the brain until as late as 2010. Eventually, the pieces were donated to the National Museum of Heath and Medicine, including some photos of the brain that Harvey also had in his possession. If you’re in Philadelphia, you can also check out microscope slides of the brain at the famous Mütter Museum.
Top Image: Getty Images
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at@WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
