Albert Einstein in popular culture

The famous tongue image

Albert Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many works of popular culture.

On Einstein's 72nd birthday on March 14, 1951, UPI photographer Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera, but having smiled for photographers many times that day, Einstein stuck out his tongue instead.^[1] This photograph became one of the most popular ever taken of Einstein,^[2][3] often used in merchandise depicting him in a lighthearted sense. Einstein enjoyed this photo and requested UPI to give him nine copies for personal use, one of which he signed for a reporter. On June 19, 2009, the original signed photograph was sold at auction for $74,324, a record for an Einstein picture.^[4]

In 1999, leading physicists voted Einstein the "greatest physicist ever".^[5] "Einstein" has become a word used to describe someone extremely intelligent; the name is also applied sarcastically to someone who states the obvious or displays a lack of intelligence or insight ("Way to go, Einstein!").

Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels, films and plays, such as Yahoo Serious's intentionally inaccurate biography of Einstein as a Tasmanian in the film Young Einstein, Jean-Claude Carrier's 2005 French novel, Einstein S'il Vous Plaît (Einstein If You Please), Alan Lightman's collection of short stories Einstein's Dreams, and Steve Martin's comedic play Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He was the subject of Philip Glass's groundbreaking 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach and his humorous side is the subject of Ed Metzger's one-man play Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian. In the early version of the BrainPop movie about relativity, Tim & Moby named him the scientist of the century.

An Einstein-like character also appears in Nicolas Roeg's 1985 film Insignificance. Set in New York in 1953, the film includes a scene in which "The Professor" (played by Michael Emil) the character evidently representing Albert Einstein, discusses Relativity with "The Actress" (Theresa Russell), a Marilyn Monroe-like character.

Einstein was portrayed by Walter Matthau in the 1994 romantic comedy I.Q.. In the film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, he was portrayed as a holographic personality called Dr. Know (voiced by Robin Williams). He was also portrayed in the real-time strategy game Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Most recently, he was the subject (along with Arthur Eddington) of the BBC Two film Einstein and Eddington, featuring David Tennant as Eddington and Andy Serkis as Einstein, and detailing Einstein's development of his theories and Eddington's attempts to prove them. A holographic representation of Einstein, played by Jim Norton appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Einstein is a favorite model for depictions of mad scientists and absent-minded professors; his expressive face and distinctive hairstyle have been widely copied and exaggerated. The Star Wars character Yoda's eyes were modeled after Einstein's.^[6] Time magazine's Frederic Golden wrote that Einstein was "a cartoonist's dream come true."^[7]

Einstein is one of the celebrities immortalized on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A verse of James Taylor's song Secret O' Life mentions Einstein and his special theory of relativity. Kerry Livgren of the progressive rock band Kansas stated that he wrote the song “Portrait (He Knew)” about Einstein. Mariah Carey's eleventh studio album is entitled E=MC² after Einstein's celebrated equation. Greek singer Giorgos Lembesis has released a song titled "Einstein" in which he states that he always admired Albert Einstein, but now he needs his help in his relationship problems.^[8]

In the 1984 comedy film Ghostbusters Peter Venkman says "Einstein did his best stuff when he was working as a patent clerk" in order to convince his coworker not to worry too much about his reputation and studies.

In the movie Back to the Future, the character of Dr. Emmett Brown, portrayed as a brilliant scientist, time traveler and inventor, has a dog called "Einstein", named after Doc Brown's favorite scientist.

In the Red Dwarf episode "Meltdown", he is one of the last good waxdroids on waxworld, where he argues with Pythagoras over the solution involving triangles.

In the 1989 cult classic science fiction TV series Alien Nation, one the Tenctonese people was given the name Albert Einstein. The character is the janitor at the LAPD precinct that the main characters Matthew Sikes and George Francisco work at.

In 2011 Einstein was depicted in a special mini-episode of Doctor Who called Death Is The Only Answer and was played by Nickolas Grace.

In the strategy game Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, he appears in several cut scenes, played by Larry Gelman, to demonstrate new Allied military technologies; in Red Alert 3, he is shown for a few brief seconds during a title screen video, where he is vaporized by Anatoly Cherdenko.

Character designer Keiji Inafune for Mega Man Game released in 1987, Dr.Wily's design is inspired by Albert Einstein, and was initially conceived to appear as a tall, thin scientist with a mustache, glasses, balding hair, and lab coat.

Licensing

Einstein bequeathed his estate, as well as the use of his image (see personality rights), to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,^[9] which from the mid-1980s has sponsored the Einstein Papers Project with the Princeton University Press (see the Einstein Page from PUP). Einstein actively supported the university during his life and this support continues with the royalties received from licensing activities. GreenLight licences the commercial use of the name "Albert Einstein" and associated imagery and likenesses of Einstein, as agent for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As head licensee the corporation can control commercial usage of Einstein's name and theoretically ensure compliance with certain standards (e.g., when Einstein's name is used as a trademark, the ™ symbol must be used).^[10]

Handedness

Einstein is often pictured writing with his right hand^[11] Consequently some sources claim he was right handed.^[12] Yet many sources also say he is left handed^[13]. There is evidence that he was originally left handed and possibly switched due to social pressure or upbringing. According to hand analysis research, a person with a longer middle finger on the left hand than on the right is likely to be left handed. This is the case with Einstein.^[14] Furthermore, autopsy on Einstein's brain suggests that he was left-handed.^[15]

See also

	Book: Albert Einstein
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

References