Albert Einstein, Scientist and Mob Idol

A Profile of the reclusive theoretical physicist, published in 1933. View in browser | Update your preferences Profiles Albert Einstein, Scientist and Mob Idol How the theoretical physicist came to tolerate his popularity. By Alva Johnston Even more than most years, 2022 sometimes seemed to be a pileup of celebrity misbehavior, a time when famous narcissists stumbled or trolled their way into the spotlight. In 1933, The New Yorker profiled a figure who eschewed public notice—and drew admiration for doing so. “He had been almost a recluse,” The New Yorker’s Alva Johnston wrote, of Albert Einstein. “His contacts had been with quiet, scholarly men of his own type, and his sudden glory appalled him. Interviewers, photographers, lion-hunters, cause-promoters, testimonial-seekers, and reflected-glory chasers of every kind came swarming into his life.” And yet Einstein, despite his objections, also thrived as a household name, his resistance to attention only generating more of it. Johnston, who had won a Pulitzer Prize a decade earlier for his coverage of a science convention, also devotes the two-part Profile to matters of substance, including Einstein’s theory of relativity and his political activism—an increasingly high-stakes endeavor following the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany, earlier that year. Nine decades later, Einstein’s legacy centers more on his intellectual achievements than his media-friendly eccentricities—just as it should. His fame, in hindsight, reflects something flattering about the culture and interests of the public at the time. “The Einstein theory,” Johnston writes, “is almost as great a landmark in sociology as in astronomy or physics; it revealed in the man in the street an unsuspected craving to get his teeth into the red meat of science.” Read the story Also from the Archive Profiles Scientist and Mob Idol—II From 1933: Life as a world hero brought its own difficulties for Albert Einstein, especially as Hitler rose to power. By Alva Johnston A Reporter at Large The Great Foreigner From 1947: A pleasant visit to Albert Einstein, with an unimpressed six-year-old in tow. By Niccolo Tucci More from The New Yorker A Critic at Large The Making of Norman Mailer The young man went to war and became a novelist. But did he ever really come back? By David Denby 2022 in Review The Top Twenty-five New Yorker Stories of 2022 Our most popular pieces reflected the anxieties of the moment—but also the need for levity—and interest in an unusual way to retire. By Michael Luo Thanks for Reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from the products and services that are purchased through links in our newsletters as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.