Back to: CBSE Class 11th English Summary
Table of Contents
Introduction
The story is about Albert Einstein’s experience in a school. His friend Yuri helped him getting a certificate from his doctor friend. Einstein did not like this school as well as his neighborhood. The rest of the story is inspirational.
Facts Versus Ideas
When the history teacher (Mr. Braun) asked Einstein a question, he replied that he did not know. He told the teacher that there was no point in learning dates, and they can be found in books. The teacher said that everything found in the book should not be ignored. They both argued on learning.
Einstein told the teacher that he was not interested in knowing the dates of battles or which side had less or more causalities. Instead, he was more interested in knowing why two sides were fighting each other. Ideas were more important than facts, according to Einstein.
The teacher was furious as Einstein disagreed with the conventional education methods being practiced in the school. He labeled Einstein as a disgrace.
Einstein was expelled from the class that day. He was sad because he had to come again to that school. Moreover, his father would never take him away from that school.
A Legend in the Making
Albert Einstein’s father was a poor person. However, he did not mind the bad food and dirty room. He only disliked the violent atmosphere of his neighborhood. People fighting around him was his worst nightmare.
Yuri (Einstein’s friend) told him that at least he had a room of his own. Einstein liked the fact that Yuri lived among civilised human beings. Yuri replied that one of his neighbours killed the other and was worried because the authorities would not let him have duels anymore.
Einstein talked to Elsa (his cousin who visited her) about his school diploma. He thought that he would never pass. Elsa told him to repeat everything that was being taught at school to pass the exam.
Einstein told Elsa that he was awful at learning. Elsa asked about a book Einstein was reading, and it was a book of Geology. Else told Einstein that he was out of the course, creating problems for him in his examination.
Fake Illness
Apart from science, Einstein loved music. However, his landlady considered music as noise and would shut him up every time he tried to play guitar. Albert Einstein wanted to shift to somewhere else. He had an idea.
Einstein asked Yuri if he had any doctor friends. Yuri had doctor friends, and he fixed Albert’s appointment with a doctor Ernst Weil. Einstein wanted a doctor to declare that he had a nervous breakdown.
The Doctor Friend
Yuri warned him that he should not cheat someone. Einstein said that he would have a nervous breakdown himself so that the doctor would declare him unfit for going to that school.
Dr. Weil had been qualified as a doctor last week. So Einstein became nervous before the fixed appointment. Einstein could not describe his feelings before the doctor. Dr. Weil told him that Yuri had told him about Einstein’s problem.
Einstein was upset because he thought that Dr. Weil would not help him now. The doctor asked him if he certified that Einstein had a nervous breakdown, where would he go. Einstein told him that he would go to Italy and join an Italian college.
The doctor asked him that it was impossible to get admission to an Italian college without a diploma. Einstein told him that he would ask the head to give him any math problem because he had read all the books and could solve any problem.
The doctor gave him a certificate of six months of rest. Albert Einstein took Yuri to a supper though he had no money. Einstein got the referral letter that he needed from his teacher to get admission into higher studies. Mr. Koch was sad about Albert leaving the school.
Rude Headmaster
The headteacher summoned Albert Einstein. The teacher told Einstein that he was expelling him from the school. The headteacher told him that his presence was a problem for the teachers to teach. Albert was very upset about this event. He only met Yuri before leaving. Yuri wished him luck.
