Einstein’s Brain: The Tale of Stolen Mind and an Immortal Intellect

The Final Equation

On April 18, 1955, Albert Einstein died in Princeton Hospital at the age of 76. Known for changing how we understand space, time, and matter, his final wish was for privacy and simplicity, no shrines, no autopsies, and no lingering over his remains.

 The Pathologist’s Choice

Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the pathologist on duty, made a decision that would haunt science and ethics alike: he removed Einstein’s brain ⁽¹⁾ without consent.

Harvey photographed, weighed (1230g—average), and sectioned the brain into 240 blocks. He preserved them in collodion, hoping they would unlock the mysteries of genius.

Einstein’s family was not informed until afterward. His son, Hans Albert Einstein, eventually gave retroactive permission for research, but the damage, ethical and personal, was done.

A Brain in Hiding

What followed was a bizarre odyssey:

• The brain was stored in mason jars, a cider box, a beer cooler, and even a mayonnaise jar.

• Harvey moved across America, taking pieces with him.

• He sent slices to researchers, kept others in a box under his bed, and even once cut a fragment on a cheeseboard for a visiting professor.

• “It was clay-coloured and fragmented… I couldn’t believe I was looking at Einstein’s brain in a cooler labelled ‘Costa Cider.’”
  — Steven Levy, journalist who rediscovered the brain in 1978

 Science or Neuromythology?

Over the decades, scientists began to examine the fragments. Some claimed they found anatomical clues to genius: ⁽³⁾

• Enlarged parietal lobes (linked to math and spatial reasoning)

•  An extra ridge in the mid-frontal lobe (associated with memory and planning)

•  A thicker corpus callosum (enhanced brain hemisphere communication)

•  More glial cells per neuron in certain areas

Criticisms included:

• Tiny sample sizes

• Lack of proper controls

• Non-blinded analysis (everyone knew whose brain it was)

• Over-interpretation of normal variations

The Price of Obsession

Harvey didn’t profit from the brain, but he paid dearly in other ways. He lost his job, his medical license, and his marriage. He became an obscure figure, remembered only as the man who stole Einstein’s brain.

 A Brain Becomes a Relic

Today, fragments of Einstein’s brain reside in strange places:

• The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia (on display)

• Harvard, McMaster, and Princeton (in storage)

• And likely, a few forgotten drawers and jars around the world

Its story inspired:

• A road trip memoir (Driving Mr. Albert)

• A BBC documentary

• Stage plays and novels

• Countless media myths

Epilogue: What Remains

Despite decades of slicing, scanning, and speculation, no anatomical “key” to Einstein’s genius has ever been found.

The real mystery wasn’t in the brain’s structure, but in how Einstein ⁽²⁾ used it, through imagination, relentless curiosity, and moral clarity.

Final Reflection: The Mind Outlives the Matter

Einstein’s brain is a cautionary tale:

• About the limits of reductionist science

• About the ethics of consent and legacy

• And about the human need to make sense of genius

No microscope ever revealed what truly made Einstein extraordinary. His ideas live on,not in tissue samples, but in the way we think about the universe.

Reference:

1. Virginia Hughes, “The Tragic Story of How Einstein’s Brain Was Stolen and Wasn’t Even Special,” National Geographic, April 21, 2014, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/article/a-wronged-genius.

2. Brandon Specktor, “Where Is Albert Einstein’s Brain?” Live Science, November 2, 2022, https://www.livescience.com/where-is-albert-einsteins-brain.

3. “On the Brain of a Scientist: Albert Einstein,” Experimental Neurology 88 (1985): 198–204, ScienceDirect, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0014488685901232.

4. New Jersey Monthly, “My Search for Einstein’s Brain,” August 1978; Steven Levy rediscovery.

(Rh/Dr. Anjaly KTK/MSM)