Ever heard about the great physicist Albert Einstein? Hopefully you have so I don't have to go into details about who he was. But let's face it - I'm gonna tell you about him anyway.
Albert Einstein was a German - born(March 14, 1879) theoretical physicist whom was regarded by many as the greatest physicist and scientist of all time. He is commonly regarded as the father of modern day physics and equally responsible for developing the theory of relativity – E = mc2.
So basically, he was a genius. No doubt everyone knew that about him. But what many did and still do not know about him was the conspiracy that happened between his corpse, his brain, and Dr Thomas Harvey.
The case of the missing Brain
On April 18, in the year of 1955, Albert Einstein passed away in Princeton, New Jersey. His death was due to an abnormal aortic aneurysm. Einstein, prior to his death, had given instructions on what to do with his body after his death. He made clear that he wanted his body to be cremated and the ashes spread in a secret place free from any idolization or worshiping.
Unfortunately, a very stubborn Princeton pathologist by the name of Thomas Harvey, took it upon himself to harvest Einstein's Brain from his corpse without any permission and then kept it in secret inside a jar where he hoped to discover the secrets of Einstein's genius.
Later on, Harvey's act was discovered by Einstein's son - Hans Albert. However, Harvey was able to convince Hans to allow him to keep the brain in order to investigate potential biological causes for Einstein’s brilliance. And so, a pathologist with very little experience in neurological science was left in the possession of a genius scientist's brain.
Harvey would later get fired from his job at the Princeton hospital and move on to travel around the United states with several sections of Einstein's Brain which he had cut into pieces. Harvey would provide several sections of the brain to scientists for analysis but kept most of the brain with him.
Einstein's brain would go on to travel far around the United States and overseas over a long 40 years span but eventually will end up in the same hospital in Princeton, New Jersey where Einstein died 50 years ago.
Even after many years of Einstein's brain travel adventure and scientific research, not much evidence have surfaced that might explain what truly made the scientist a genius or even what biological difference his brain possessed in comparison to a lay man's. Although, a 2012 study suggested that there are some aspects of Einstein’s brain that are different from the average brain, such as an extra groove on his frontal lobe, a part of the brain linked with memory and planning abilities, regardless, it is still unclear what exactly made Einstein so damn brilliant. Brain shapes, after all, are different in every person so Einstein's brain variation could merely have been due to that common variation in people.
Based on an old photograph of Einstein's brain, before it was cut, researchers also claimed that Einstein had an abnormal folding pattern in parts of his parietal lobe. It is this part which is linked to his mathematical ability.
Unfortunately, even despite its long adventure, Einstein's brain has not led to any profound discoveries that will prove what exactly makes someone susceptible to intelligence.
Today, there are still parts of Einstein's brain that are kept in museums for all to see. Currently, one of the only two museums that exhibits the brain is Philadelphia's own Mütter Museum.
