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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. After Einstein becomes famous, the visitors coming to the house want a variety of things. Which of the following is NOT one of their demands?

2. Einstein is very happy to travel to California as Chapter Eleven begins because he gets to meet ______________, one of his early inspirations.

3. As Einstein grows older, he discovers that he enjoys a new hobby. What is it?

4. Einstein has a medical issue in Chapter Ten. While in Switzerland, he has a ___________.

5. At the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Einstein finally resumes his research on what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the reader learn about Einstein's tastes, based on his reaction to the quarters on the ship reserves for him?

2. What does Einstein's behavior after Elsa's death in Chapter Thirteen tell the reader about him? Is he insensitive?

3. Explain the approach Einstein wants the U.S. to take in regards to the atomic bomb after its creation.

4. Explain why Einstein, a former pacifist, agrees to speak to President Roosevelt about the creation of an atomic bomb.

5. Why are the Einsteins happier in California than on other trips? What is different?

6. Why is Hitler's persecution of Einstein as a Jew ironic? Explain.

7. Why is Einstein so enthused to meet Dr. Albert Michelson in California?

8. Why does Einstein finally decide to settle in America?

9. Why is Einstein no longer a pacifist in Chapter Fourteen?

10. Einstein brings national attention to Germany, so it seems logical that Hitler celebrates Einstein's success. This is not the case. Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Einstein's changing relationship with his religion, from his attitude toward it as a child through young adulthood and finally to old age. In what ways does religion influence him through his life, if at all? How does he reconcile faith with science?

Essay Topic 2

What impact does Einstein's theory have in areas other than science? What philosophers use his work, and for what purposes?

Essay Topic 3

Imagine parenting Albert Einstein as a young child. Do his parents do a good job with him, or are they so far off the mark in understanding him that they parent badly? In what ways could they do things differently, or make greater efforts to understand him more completely? Be sure to use supporting material from the text.

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