Albert Einstein: Humanist educator (Last term)

Einstein died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, USA, and enjoyed the life of 76 years. The memorial ceremony is simply organized within the most intimate friends.

According to his will, there is no eulogy, ritual, no flower, no music, no tombstone. Otto Nathan, who carried out his will, walked to the coffin to read the lines of Goethe's verse with two sentences: ' He shines before us, like a comet and turns. Endless light - intertwined with his light '.

Several hours before his death, Einstein repeated with his daughter Margot: 'I have done my work on the earth'. The last secret he brought was the whispering sounds in German before he ended the journey to permanently return to dust. The duty nurse didn't know a German word. 'The last words of the intellectual giant were lost to the world' , which was the big word on the New York Times the next day. When he died, Einstein left a will to bring his ashes to the space where no one knew.

' Nightmare ' examination

Looking back on his life and career, Einstein identified independent education and thinking factors that determine his path. He recalled: 'When I moved to Aarau in Switzerland in 1896 and entered the university of technology and science, I realized for the first time that I did not like how to cram and memorize the way of teaching. math. I believe my physical preferences form at this time. ' He said the school's goal was to 'let young people develop in a spirit where these principles (personal development and self-responsibility) become as natural as the air the person breathes. . Only teaching does not achieve anything '.

Time magazine (USA) voted Einstein ' The Character of the 20th Century '.

As for cramming, Einstein said: 'I think one can lose the voracious appetite of an animal that eats raw meat if it keeps eating under the whip, even if it is not hungry, especially when people are I choose to give it food under that pressure. '

It was during his time at the patent office in Bern, without the pressure and attraction of the academy apparatus, that Einstein had enough peace and calm to develop and create his new ideas. He said: 'Because the academic career places a young researcher in a kind of imperative situation, it is necessary to produce impressive research papers - a temptation that leads to superficiality. Only strong personalities are irresistible. '

Einstein hated running for exams and achievements: 'During my school days, as soon as the test day was announced, I was so pressured that I felt like I didn't have to take an exam. step onto a scaffold. My mind after exams (bachelor's degree) is completely blocked for a while for scientific research and analysis. My mental ability is completely depleted by having to memorize useless information '.

After a year, he started his scientific work again. Christmas in 1917, Berliner Tageblatt published an article by Einstein, entitled "Nightmare". Exams for him are nightmares. He offered to remove the Baccalaureate exams, because it was useless and harmful, because when the teacher knew a student's performance for many years, it was not necessary to test.

He also did not build a school, did not want to impose thinking on anyone. He said as a teacher with an open heart: 'I never teach students, I just try to create conditions for them to learn'.

The 'lonely traveler'

During his trip to America in 1921, in Boston, Einstein was given a questionnaire by Edison to answer, people wanted to see how well he answered as a clever test. To the question of sound velocity, he replied: 'That I don't know. I don't want to aggravate my memory with such events, things that I can easily find in any encyclopedia. '

He also disagrees with Edison's view that knowledge is more important than higher education. He answered: 'For people, knowledge is not very important. To have human knowledge do not need to go to college.

That one can learn from books. The value of higher education is not in memorizing so much knowledge but in thinking practice, which one never learns from textbooks. '

Einstein argued that the worst of capitalism was ' crippling individuals '. 'Our whole education system suffers because of this evil. An overly competitive attitude is carved into students, he is trained to adore mercenary success as a preparation for future careers , 'Einstein said. Morality for him is the first criterion: ' A good and solid personality is more valuable than the ability to understand and erudite '. The foundation of all human values ​​is morality.

Einstein argues that the goal (of the school) must be the training of individuals to act and think but to see in serving society the highest task of life. Einstein once said: ' I believe that the terrible decline in human morality first relates to mechanization and the loss of individuality in our lives - a product Unhappy dignity of the development of scientific - technical spirit. Our fault '.

In the relationship between the community and the individual, Einstein places a strong role on the individual: ' Because all great and great things are created by the individual in the struggle for freedom '. It is the individual who creates cultural assets for humanity.

He said: ' It is easy to see that all the material, spiritual and moral assets we receive from society come from individual personalities through countless generations. Only single individuals think and create new values ​​for society . ' Einstein witnessed in the 20th century countless individuals suffered a grim fate by the rejection of society, of the majority, of the government representing them.

It was the majority who allowed me to succumb to the political power easily, to push each other into unhappiness, while 'a few people did not participate in the ruthless way of thinking of the majority, still living according to reason thinking human love, unaffected by their passions, suffers a much more tragic fate: they are thrown out of society and treated like lepers if they do not act motivated by their conscience against, and cowardly silence about what they see and feel '.

Einstein is living alone. Wherever you are, Switzerland, Prague, Berlin or Princeton, you have the feeling of being a stranger and an outsider. In addition to the loneliness caused by science, Einstein also had the loneliness of a person who did not always belong to this world. He is still a ' lonely traveler ' who does not dock on his way to find his truth, the path he takes to bring him to an infinite horizon and he is alone on it.

The great value of Einstein's book (Nguyen Xuan Xanh, Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, published in February 2007) is a lively presentation of thinking processes, methodologies and qualities of Einstein people to lead to the That's it.

Readers do not have to be knowledgeable about theoretical physics or relativity to read this book. Young readers can learn from the book of precious qualities for their lives, that is, honest work, virtue that doubts truths that are considered eternal, love of freedom of thought, duel The uncompromising painting of dogma is not practically proven, commitment to truth, peace, for the future of humanity.

Qualities such as curiosity, imagination, perseverance, spirit will not succumb to any imposing power, which are lively lessons that readers can find through statements, vivid examples of Einstein's life.

The book launches you to read at the right time when our country is in great need of intelligence, creativity, thinking and action ability to explore new things, breakthroughs to rise in global competition.Therefore, it is a very useful contribution to the current economic reform and education reform.

Dr. Le Dang Doanh

Term 1 : Albert Einstein - Seeking truth
Term 2 : Albert Einstein: Toppling the old order
Term 3 : Farewell to Germany
Term 4 : Dream 'eternal peace'

NGUYEN XUAN XANH compiled