In phrases like “Einstein, he received bad assessments in mathematics and physics” people are often trying to convince that school grades do not affect anything in life. We check whether the great physicist was really an ordinary hawk in childhood.

One of the most popular methods of argumentation in a dispute is an example from the life of some celebrity. We are faced with such arguments throughout our lives. “Gaidar at the age of 16 commanded the regiment,” “Lomonosov on foot reached Moscow”, “Napoleon and Hitler also thought that they would conquer Russia” - it is difficult to object to these arguments, because the hero of the example is well -known. However, we do not always think: is everything right here? If from childhood we heard that the great Albert Einstein studied poorly at school, then, probably, it was ... Or not?

Einstein's first place of study was the Catholic primary school in Munich (1885-1888). Albert left it at the age of eight, so this period of his studies is not particularly indicative. It is much more interesting to his successes in the Lutitpold gymnasium, which today bears the name of the scientist. As of the end of the 1880s, the gymnasium was distinguished by the level of teaching of mathematics, natural sciences and ancient languages, as well as a modern laboratory.

What was Einstein’s performance in this advanced school? The world learned reliable information about this only in 1984, thanks to publications In the newspaper New York Times. Her conclusions are clear: Einstein was a child prodigy.

By the age of 11, he took possession of physics at the level of college, brilliantly played the violin. Among classmates, he had a reputation as a sore and big bores, although he was quite friendly to peers. At the age of 12, I read a geometry textbook and literally fell in love with this science. And at 15 he threw a gymnasium to go to his parents in Milan. In parallel, he tried to enter the Swiss Higher Technical School Zurich.

Where did it come from legend About Einstein's poor performance? The fact is that the entrance exams to the Higher Technical School, young Albert failed. Yes, he perfectly surrendered physics and mathematics, but filled up biology and French. What was no wonder with his biography.

However, this is not the only reason. The second base for the birth of the legend appeared six months later. The 16-year-old Einstein decided to get a certificate of secondary education and graduated from a local school in the canton of Arau. Let's take a look at this certificate:

We see that the highest marks of the young man in algebra, geometry, physics and (suddenly) history. Otherwise, Einstein met expectations: the three in French, the fourth - by geography and drawing. Where does the myth come from? The fact is that the German assessment system was ten -point, and against its background Einstein’s six points looked like a Troyak. But in Switzerland it was Maximum grade. In addition, it is known that in the first two trimesters, the scope of assessments was upholstered - from six to one, which could also confuse journalists who saw the "shameful" six.

Thus, Albert Einstein studied brilliantly in the subjects profile for himself. Although he had, as journalists write, there are many complaints about the education system.

Well, finally, we will give the word the genius itself. The misconception that our study is dedicated arose during Einstein’s life. They say that when the father of the theory of relativity showed one such newspaper note, he burst out laughing:

I never made mistakes in mathematics, and I mastered the differential and integral calculus by 15 years.