Bookmark and Share
Blog

The World's Most Famous Patent Clerk

Monday, April 5, 2010 7:50 am

Our story begins in 1886 with a 7 year old Jewish boy attending catholic school in Munich, Germany. Although he displayed an aptitude for mathematics and for playing the Violin, his school grades were nothing special. Teachers noticed that his mind seemed to wander.

At age 15, the family moved from Germany to Italy for work leaving the boy behind in Munich to finish school. Perhaps it was the family separation or just poor study habits; regardless, the boy failed his college entrance examination. Later he wrote of this period saying: “If I were to have the good fortune to pass my examinations, I would go to Zurich. I would stay there for four years in order to study mathematics and physics. I imagine myself becoming a teacher in those branches of the natural sciences, choosing the theoretical part of them. Here are the reasons which lead me to this plan. Above all, it is my disposition for abstract and mathematical thought, and my lack of imagination and practical ability.”

Undaunted, the boy persevered and graduated in 1900 determined to become a math or physics teacher. Unfortunately, finding a teaching position proved difficult. By mid-1901 he settled on a temporary appointment teaching math in a Swiss Technical High School, which was followed by another temporary position in a private school. Rather than go from one temporary position to the next, the young man applied for a clerkship in the Swiss Patent Office as a Technical Expert 3rd Class.

As a young man now of 22 making his way in the world, he worked in the Patent Office from 1902 to 1909 being promoted to Technical Expert 2nd Class in 1906. While working as a Patent Clerk, he married in 1903 and had a child the following year. His Patent Office duties came easy to him affording plenty of spare time to work on other projects. As for his education, he was a late bloomer earning a doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905.

The year of 1905 was full of astonishing achievement. Besides working at the Patent Office and earning his doctorate, the young man published three ground-breaking, scientific papers. The first paper contradicted the current accepted electromagnetic theory. His second paper outlined the theory of relativity. The third paper of the year centered on statistical mechanics. All three papers were academic sensations and formed the foundation for his future work.

By 1909 having turned 30, he resigned from the Patent Office never having been promoted to Technical Expert 1st Class; however, this Patent Clerk Second Class had grown to be recognized as the greatest scientific mind in the world. Before his death in 1955, he earned every significant accolade possible as a scientist and an intellectual. Posthumously, Time Magazine named him “The Man of The 20th Century.”

The Swiss Patent Clerk’s name was Albert Einstein.

Previous Posts: