A Truly Beautiful Mind Important Questions Class 9 Beehive English
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What problem did develop in Albert when he learnt to speak?
Answer
He uttered everything twice.
Question 2. What kind of toys attracted the attention of Einstein when he was a child? Why?
Answer
As a child Einstein was attracted only by mechanical toys. It showed his scientific temperament since mechanical toys work on some kind of scientific principles.
Question 3. At what age did Albert leave the school?
Answer
He left school at the age of 15.
Question 4. Which musical instrument did Einstein begin to learn? Why?
Answer
Einstein began to learn playing the violin at the young age of six because his mother wanted him to. He kept this interest alive throughout his life and became a gifted amateur violinist.
Question 5. What was Einstein’s first job that he got in 1902?
Answer
He got the job of a technical expert in the patent office in Bent.
Question 6. Why did Einstein hate school?
Answer
He hated school and the strict regimentation because of its extreme sense of discipline. He felt suffocated in this atmosphere. He often clashed with his teachers.
Question 7. In what subject was Einstein much interested?
Answer
He was much interested in physics.
Question 8. Who was Elsa? How did she come into Einstein’s life?
Answer
Elsa was Einstein’s cousin. He married her within a year of his divorce from Mileva.
Question 9. Why was Albert’s mother against his marriage with Mileva?
Answer
She was against this marriage because Mileva was three years older than her son.
Question 10. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Answer
Einstein was shocked at the extent of destruction caused by the bombing. He wrote a long letter to the United Nations and suggested that there should be a World Government.
Question 11. What type of toys did Einstein love especially?
Answer
He especially loved mechanical toys.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Why did Einstein try to look for wheels on the body of his newly born sister?
Answer
Einstein was much too interested in mechanical toys and had scientific inclinations. When his sister was born, he thought her to be a new toy; that is why he tried to search for wheels on her body.
Question 2. What did Einstein’s mother think him to be? Why?
Answer
Einstein’s mother thought him to be a ‘freak’ or someone with an unusual physical abnormality or behavioural problem. She thought of him as a freak because his head seemed too large to her. This made him look different from the other children of his age.
Question 3. Which musical instrument did Einstein begin to learn? Why?
Answer
Einstein began to learn to play upon the violin at the young age of six. He kept this interest alive throughout his life and became a gifted amateur violinist. He began learning the violin because his mother wanted him to.
Question 4. Einstein showed no early signs of his genius one day. Comment.
Answer
As a child, Einstein had a large head and did not start to speak till he was two-and-a-half years old. Finally, when he did speak, he used to utter everything twice. He could not interact freely with his playmates either. All this showed the absence of any traces in him of becoming a genius one day.
Question 5. What did Einstein’s playmates call him? Why?
Answer
Einstein’s playmates called him ‘Brother Boring’ as he could not mix up with other children. Neither did he find their games interesting nor did he know how to interact with other children. Also, he did not talk till he was two-and-a-half years old, and even then he repeated each word twice. This made his company boring to his playmates.
Question 6. Why did Einstein shift to Switzerland to continue his education?
Answer
Einstein shifted to the German-speaking part of Switzerland to continue his education because he had left his school in Munich midway. This new place was more liberal than Munich and Einstein’s curious and free temperament got a favourable environment over here.
Question 7. What did the headmaster think about Einstein?
Answer
The headmaster did not think much of Einstein. He once told his father that whatever profession he chose for Einstein, he would never make a success in his life. He thought that Einstein was incapable of achieving anything in life.
Question 8. What kind of toys attracted the attention of Einstein when he was a child? Why?
Answer
Einstein could not enjoy the company of playmates because of his introvert nature. Instead as a child, he was attracted only by mechanical toys. It showed his scientific temperament since mechanical toys work on some kind of scientific principles.
Question 9. Why did Albert Einstein leave school in Munich?
Answer
Albert Einstein left his school in Munich because he was not happy with the education system and he felt stifled by the strict regimentation of the school. He felt the environment suppressed his inquisitive scientific mind and had frequent clashes with his teachers. He felt suffocated and had to leave school.
Question 10. Who was Mileva Marie? Where did Einstein meet her?
Answer
Mileva Marie was a Serbian student who had come to Zurich University to study because was one of the few universities in Europe where women could get degrees. Einstein met at the University. He found her to be a clever girl. She also shared similar interests in art, literature and music and he developed special interest in her. Later they got married.
Question 11. Why did Einstein’s mother not want him to marry Mileva?
Answer
There were two reasons for Einstein’s mother not wanting him to marry Mileva. Firstly, the girl was three years older than Einstein and secondly, she was much too intelligent – ‘a book’ just like him, in his mother’s opinion.
Question 12. Why did Einstein’s marriage with Mileva not survive long?
Answer
Although Einstein and Mileva had been in love, still their marriage did not survive long because Mileva gradually lost her intellectual vigour and aspirations. She became a frustrated housewife. There were frequent scuffles between the couple which resulted in their ultimate divorce in 1919.
Question 13. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?
Answer
Einstein jokingly called his desk drawer at the patent office as “Bureau of theoretical physics”. He did so because his office job required him to assess the inventions of other people while he secretly developed his own ideas regarding his keen interest in Physics.
Question 14. When and for what did Einstein gain international fame?
Answer
Einstein gained international fame when his paper on General Theory of Relativity was found to be accurate in 1919. The calculations made by Einstein in advance about the deflection of light in the solar gravitational field during the eclipse were proven true in line with his theory. This theory was treated as “a scientific revolution.”
Question 15. Why did Einstein leave Germany and emigrate to America?
Answer
Einstein had always been a lover of freedom and liberal ideas. The Nazi government, which came to power in 1933, was very suppressive and autocratic. Therefore, Einstein left Germany and emigrated to America.
Question 16. ‘The discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American physicists in an uproar”. Why?
Answer
The American physicists were disturbed by the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin because they were afraid that Germany would make an atom bomb and use it for destructive purposes.
Question 17. When and why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?
Answer
Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt when the Nazis in Germany discovered Nuclear fission. He, and other American physicists were afraid nuclear fission, if used for destructive purposes would cause immense damage. So, Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, warning him of the imminent threat.
Question 18. How did Einstein react to the bombing of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki by America?
Answer
Einstein was completely shaken by the immense destruction caused due to the bombing of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki by America. As a reaction to this tragic event, he wrote a letter to the United Nations proposing the establishment of a world government that could counter such fierce enmity among nations.
Question 19. Why does the world remember Einstein as a world citizen?
Answer
The world remembers Einstein as a world citizen as he was deeply hurt by the mass destruction in Japan. He wrote to the United Nations for a world government and campaigned for peace and democracy in the world. He worked for humanity across countries and for the formation of a world government.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What was Einstein’s contribution to the knowledge of science? Which values in his character made him a ‘global citizen’?
Answer
A special theory of relativity was published by Albert Einstein in 1905, according to which time and distance are not absolute. The famous equation E = mc2, based on his theory of mass and energy, made him a renowned scientist.
In his General Theory of Relativity, Einstein calculated in advance the extent to which light from fixed stars would be deflected as it passed through the gravitational field of the sun. The theory was declared as “a scientific revolution” by the newspapers. For his contribution to the development of science, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
As a result, he received several honours. He was against arms build-up. He advocated peace and democracy in the world. He did not wish for his invention to be misused. He thought of humanity, of world peace and democracy. All these values in his character made him a global citizen.
Question 2. Write a short note on Einstein’s education from school to university.
Answer
As a young boy, Einstein did not show any signs of genius. His headmaster had a very poor opinion of him and he even informed Einstein’s father that his son would never amount to much in life as he wouldn’t be successful in any career that he chose. However, as he grew up and joined a school in Munich, he showed appreciable progress in his studies scoring good marks in almost all the subjects.
But the strict discipline of the school was not to his liking. As a result, he had frequent clashes with his teachers. Being a person of liberal ideas, he felt so suffocated that he ultimately left that school for good. He chose to complete his studies in a school in Switzerland where the environment was more liberal as compared to Munich. Highly gifted in mathematics and having a great interest in Physics, Einstein joined the university in Zurich after completing school and graduated in 1900.
Question 3. Which values does the life of Einstein teach you?
Answer
Einstein was not only a great scientist but also a man of peace. All discoveries in science should be aimed at establishing peace and his life history contains the moral lesson that one must love one’s fellow beings. Einstein had written a letter to American President Roosevelt to warn him against the destructive atomic bomb that Germany would build on the principle of nuclear fission. But Einstein was shocked when America caused large-scale destruction in Japan by dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Einstein made sincere efforts to spread the message of peace. He even wrote a letter to the United Nations proposing that a world government should be established. He did not use his popularity for selfish or personal gains. Instead, he worked to further the cause of democracy and peace. He was never carried away by his achievements; on the contrary, the honours bestowed on him encouraged him to work more for the welfare of humanity. The life of Einstein inspires in us the values of sincere work, devotion to humanity, selfless service to mankind, and love of peace.
Question 4. Einstein wrote two letters – to President Roosevelt and the United Nations. Did his letters have the desired impact? Justify your answer.
Answer
Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 in which he warned him about the atomic bomb made and used by Germany. It could not only destroy the whole port on which it could be dropped but also the territory surrounding it. The impact of the letter was immediate as the Americans at once developed their atomic bombs in a secret project. These bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945, and as anticipated by Einstein, these bombs caused terrible destruction.
The large-scale damage caused by the bombing of Japan perturbed Einstein so much that he wrote a letter to the United Nations. In this letter, he proposed that there should be a world government. This would put an end to the enmity between nations and hence stop wars. This letter did not have any impact.