JULIA GLOVER:
100 years after Relativity Einstein's still a celebrity
CBC News Viewpoint | January 17, 2005 | More from Julia Glover
Julia Glover is a freelance journalist currently working in Jerusalem. Before moving to the Middle East, she worked in Canada and the United Kingdom for both print and television media. She is interested in covering all sides of the current conflict and is especially keen to cover the personal stories behind the headlines.
Several scientists could be described as being ahead of their time. But when the description includes an unruly mass of grey hair and a thick moustache to match with dark, pensive eyes, only one name comes to mind: Albert Einstein.
His image is instantly recognizable and synonymous with genius. Appearing on everything from fridge magnets to movie screens, his face and name are familiar worldwide.
"Everybody knows he was the greatest scientist of the 20th century, maybe of all time," says Professor Hanoch Gutfreund, a former president of the Hebrew University, which Einstein helped establish in 1925.
But this year, his image may be more prevalent as countries, colleges and corporations mark the centennial anniversary of his "miracle year."
In 1905, Einstein published four revolutionary papers that answered questions physicists had grappled with for centuries. Before Einstein, the concepts of duration and length were believed to be absolute and universally the same. But in Einstein's world, time and length depended on the relative motion of the observer – especially if that observer was travelling close to the speed of light.
His theories defied common sense, but he proved them and they changed the way we see our world today. His special theory of relativity led to the most famous scientific equation of all time: E=mc2.
But whether it's a commemorative stamp or a commercial marketing campaign, anyone using Einstein's image must first get approval from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Consistently ahead of his time, long before anyone had heard of celebrity rights Einstein bequeathed his intellectual property to the university, including the rights to his image.
Carefully catalogued, the university collection consists of about 50,000 items including writings by him and about him, personal correspondence, photographs and more. "The material sheds light on Albert Einstein – his scientific activities, his political involvements, his personal life," says Gutfreund.
The university's association with genius has also been a stroke of good fortune. Over the last 20 years, Einstein's image has delivered $10 million to the institution. This year the university expects to make more money from Einstein than any other year.
"I think he would welcome the fact that even after his death he can help the university that was so dear to his heart," Gutfreund says.
Some turn to the university to use his image while others simply seek advice on the icon. Steven Spielberg paid a huge fee to use a picture of Einstein in a film, and Pepsi Cola used his image in a marketing campaign. Educational and charitable organizations are often granted use of the material for free or at very low cost.
But not every proposal is granted. When the United States Defense Department wanted to use his image they were denied on the grounds that Einstein was a pacifist.
The university aims to keep Einstein's image dignified and in form with the ideas and identity of the man himself, representing him as a scientific genius, a passionate individual, a prolific writer and a political activist.
In 1919, Einstein joined the Zionist movement and soon afterwards began to campaign for a Jewish national home, including a university where he dreamed the universality of mankind would come together.
Until the summer of 1947, Einstein advocated a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. After Israel achieved independence, he supported the state but criticized its leadership, saying its treatment of the Arab minority would be the test of its moral integrity.
He described himself as a "militant pacifist" and urged leaders on both sides to find a solution based on mutual understanding.
Einstein died before the 1967 Middle East war, before talk of a security barrier or a Gaza pullout plan, even before the first suicide bomber struck against Israel.
It's impossible to imagine how he would have reacted to an attack so close to his heart. But on July 31, 2002, a bomb exploded on his beloved campus. An innocent-looking bag left in the cafeteria was, in fact, loaded with shrapnel.
Although classes were not in session, the cafeteria where the bomb detonated was crowded with diners and students cramming for exams. The attack killed nine people – four Israelis and five foreigners – and left another 85 injured.
Today the university's entrance is heavily fortified. Professors, students and visitors alike have their bags checked as they pass through metal detectors on their way to their classrooms.
With the recent death of Yasser Arafat and the election of a new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, there is renewed hope in the region that peace may be possible, just as Einstein believed it was. But even he could not know the future for certain, despite everything he knew about space and time.
He did, however, realize that some answers are less likely to appear on a chalkboard and more likely to appear with time. "I never think of the future," he once said. "It comes soon enough."
One hundred years after some of his greatest work, he proves himself correct once again.
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