NCERT Solutions Class 9, English, Beehive, Prose, Chapter- 4, A Truly Beautiful Mind.
Thinking about the Text
1.Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the number(s) of the paragraph(s) for each title against the heading. The first one is done for you.
(i) Einstein’s equation - 9
(ii) Einstein meets his future wife
(iii) The making of a violinist
(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother
(v) A letter that launched the arms race
(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas
(vii) Marriage and divorce
Solution:
(i) Einstein’s equation - 9
(ii) Einstein meets his future wife - 7
(iii) The making of a violinist - 3
(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother - 10
(v) A letter that launched the arms race - 15
(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas - 8
(vii) Marriage and divorce - 11
2. Who had these opinions about Einstein?
(i) He was boring.
Solution: Einstein’s playmates thought that he was boring.
(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life.
Solution:
Einstein’s headmaster thought that he was stupid and would never succeed at anything in life.
(iii) He was a freak.
Solution: Einstein’s mother thought that he was a freak.
3. Explain what the reasons for the following are.
(i) Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good.
Solution:
Einstein left the school in Munich because he did not like the discipline of the school. He hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with teachers.
(ii) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich.
Solution:
Albert’s parents moved to Milan and left their son with relatives. After prolonged discussion, Einstein got his wish to continue his education in German – speaking Switzerland. Actually, it was more liberal than Munich.
(iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally.
Solution:
Einstein saw in Mileva Marie an ally against the “Philistines”—those people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds. He found that she was a “clever creature”.
(iv) What do these tell you about Einstein?
Solution:
These tell that Einstein was a genius and had the capabilities to achieve his targets. Moreover, he had his own view of life. He liked freedom too much.
4. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?
Solution:
Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical physics”. This was because the drawer was where he used to store his secretly developed ideas.
5. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?
Solution:
Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt to warn about bomb effect and also wanted to encourage them to make a bomb to utilize its destruction potential.
6. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Solution:
Einstein was deeply shaken by the disaster in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He wrote a public missive to the United. He proposed the formation of a world government to stop the nuclear weapons.
7. Why does the world remember Einstein as a “world citizen”?
Solution:
Einstein is remembered as a “world citizen” as much as a genius scientist because of his efforts towards world peace and democracy, and for his crusade against the use of arms.