Einstein

In his article on Albert Einstein, Lee Dye mentioned that “scientists around the world have spent the last few decades trying to prove that he (Einstein) was right in his theory of relativity” (Part I, Nov. 6).

This brought back to me one of my strongest personal memories.

On May 1, 1952, I was privileged to be the speaker at a dinner in honor of Einstein given at Princeton University. While conversing with the great man I asked him if he would quote something he had said and meant, so that I could cherish his quote as a direct statement to me.

Einstein smiled and then said:

“When I first published my Theory of Relativity, it was just a theory not yet proven. I had no doubts that should my theory prove correct, the Germans would acclaim me as their countryman and the French would call me a citizen of the world. If my theory, however, had been proved wrong, the French would have called me a German and the Germans a Jew.”

I wonder what Albert Einstein would have said today.

RALPH J. KAPLAN

Beverly Hills