If, in addition, you could secure him an Assistant's
position for now or the next autumn, my gratitude
would know no bounds....

I am also taking the liberty of mentioning that my
son does not know anything about my unusual step.

I remain, highly esteemed Herr Professor,
your devoted

Hermann Einstein

No answer from Professor Ostwald was ever received.

The world of 1905 seems distant to us now, but there
were many similarities to life today. European newspa-
pers complained that there were too many American
tourists, while Americans were complaining that there
were too many immigrants. The older generation every-
where complained that the young were disrespectful,
while politicians in Europe and America worried about
the disturbing turbulence in Russia. There were newfan-
gled "aerobics" classes; there was a trend-setting vege-
tarian society, and calls for sexual freedom (which were
rebuffed by traditionalists standing for family values),
and much else.

The year 1905 was also when Einstein wrote a series
of papers that changed our view of the universe forever.
On the surface, he seemed to have been leading a pleas-
ant, quiet life until then. He had often been interested in
physics puzzles as a child, and was now a recent univer-
sity graduate, easygoing enough to have many friends.
He had married a bright fellow student, Mileva, and was
earning enough money from a civil service job in the
patent office to spend his evenings and Sundays in pub
visits, or long walks--above all, he had a great deal of
time to think.

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