Dr. Albert Einstein, the man who formulated scientific work that is second to none in history, died on April 18, 1955, at Princeton Hopital in New Jersey. An autopsy was performed by Dr. Thomas Harvey, and his body was cremated, according to his wishes. There's just one catch to this. His brain wasn't with the body. Some claim that Einstein wished for his brain to be studied, and others say he wanted his whole body to be cremated. Either way, Dr. Harvey kept the brain for his personal research. It has been mentioned that Einstein's son gave Dr. Harvey permission to study the brain only for research that should be published in highly regarded scientific journals. Dr. Harvey was only a pathologist, so he had to learn how to preserve the brain, which he did in a formulin solution, then encased the brain in a plastic-like substance called collodion before he took pictures of it and cut it into small segments.
And thus began the remarkable journey of Einstein's brain. You see, Dr. Harvey was soon fired from his job because he wouldn't return the brain. Apparently, he was so fascinated with studying the brain that it cost him his first marriage. (But then again, who wouldn't want to stay married to man that kept a famous scientist's brain in mason jars in the basements?) Dr. Harvey went on the road, taking the brain with him. He was married two more times, and ended up working at jobs in Kansas and Texas.
Einstein's brain fell out of the limelight, and most people forgot about it. In the 1950's, he was interviewed frequently and asked when he would publish his discoveries; Dr. Harvey would always say that he was close to finishing, but he never did find anything, and he never published anything. By the 1970's, nobody cared anymore. He had turned almost into a vagabond by then. In 1978, journalist Steven Levy found that Dr. Harvey still had possession of the brain, which had been in mason jars in a cider box for over 20 years. There had been pressure off and on for Dr. Harvey to turn over the brain to more qualified people for study, but he had always refused. (Supposedly in the late 1970's, he decided that he would turn over the brain to a relative of Einstein's if she wanted it. Levy thought it would be a good article, so he drove Dr. Harvey to California to give her the brain, but she didn't want it. The funny thing is that from one source, part of the brain was accidentally left anyway, but Dr. Harvey and Levy turned around and picked it back up.) This part in parentheses is according to the legend, but it may not be true. What is true is that Levy published the article in New Jersey Monthly, and it became a sensation, which made people once again try to convince Dr. Harvey to give up the brain.
Dr. Harvey had actually given some of the sections to a few qualified individuals throughout the years, but most of the brain he kept for himself. One of the scientists who received some brain sections was Dr. Marian Diamond from University of California at Berkeley. She made the first breakthroughs in discoveries from the brain. These breakthroughs once again called for Dr. Harvey to surrendur the remaining pieces. But it wasn't until the late 1990's (over 40 years after Einstein's death) that Dr. Harvey moved back to Princeton and gave the remaining sections to Dr. Elliot Krauss of Princeton Hospital (who oddly enough had the job that Dr. Harvey had been fired from for not returning the brain in 1955).
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| Dr. Harvey with Einstein's remaining brain segments |
There have been some great discoveries made on Einstein's brain since the remaining portions had been turned over. It seems that even in death, Albert Einstein still is educating us. As for Dr. Thomas Harvey, he died in 2007 at the age of 94, back at Princeton where he had taken Einstein's brain in the first place. As far as the public knows, Dr. Harvey's brain was not removed and studied. However, it took 23 years (1955 until 1978, when Levy's article was published) for most people to know that Einstein's brain was missing, so maybe by 2030 we'll see if Dr. Harvey's brain is missing. (just kidding!)
Here is a link to Steven Levy's website where he talks about finding the brain.
http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/about/einsteins-brain
Bet you didn't know that!
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