Why was Einstein’s IQ so high? What made the genius scientist so smart? These questions, perhaps along with a desire for notoriety, motivated pathologist Thomas Harvey to remove Einstein’s brain without permission during the autopsy that was performed shortly after the physicist’s death.
In a bizarre true-life story filled with drama, intrigue, and controversy, Harvey took Einstein’s brain without authorization for what he later justified as the benefit of science. Yet scientists remain skeptical that the subsequent dissection and research of the genius brain has uncovered any secrets of how brain composition results in superior intelligence.
Fate of Einstein’s Brain
On April 18, 1955, Albert Einstein died at the age of 76 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm at New Jersey’s Princeton Hospital. Einstein had left explicit instructions that his body should be cremated.
During his lifetime, Einstein had become a celebrity as a result of his groundbreaking scientific theories and high IQ. Einstein did not want his body venerated, scrutinized, or worse after his death. The Guardian article, “My dad has Einstein’s brain,” includes a revealing quote from Einstein: “I want to be cremated, so people don’t come to worship at my bones.”
Einstein’s instructions to cremate his body were followed — mostly. His body was cremated per his wishes; however, Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the pathologist on call at Princeton Hopsital the morning of Einstein’s death, could not bear the thought of losing the chance to preserve the genius physicist’s brain as well as his eyeballs. He gave the eyeballs to Einstein’s ophthalmologist, Dr. Henry Abrams, and intended to study Einstein’s brain himself.
The Guardian quoted Harvey as saying, "I felt lucky. I had the great fortune of being the one, at the right place at the right time. It was the biggest moment in my life."
Einstein Brain Controversy
After word got out that he had removed Einstein’s brain without authorization, Thomas Harvey found himself needing to do damage control. Einstein’s son, Hans Albert, was especially upset about the illicit removal of his father’s brain.
Harvey did his best to smooth over the situation with Albert by explaining that standard autopsies include removal of the brain for study and/or teaching purposes. Albert eventually acquiesced to Harvey’s assurances that his father’s brain would only be used for scientific purposes, the results of which would be published in scientific journals.
A few months after Einstein’s autopsy, Princeton Hospital fired Harvey for refusing to hand over Einstein’s brain to the institution.
Scientific Studies of Einstein’s Brain
After he removed the brain from Einstein’s skull, Harvey photographed it and then a hospital technician sliced it into 240 pieces. According to the Postcards from the Brain Museum book excerpt on NPR.org, Harvey gave some of the pieces to Harry Zimmerman, Einstein’s personal physician, and kept the remaining pieces himself.
Over the next 43 years, Harvey was the caretaker of Einstein’s brain. He stashed the brain away in his various places of residence. When Harvey moved from Princeton, New Jersey; to Wichita, Kansas; to Weston, Missouri; to Lawrence, Kansas; and finally to Princeton again, the brain traveled with him.
Over the years, Harvey also sent sections of Einstein’s brain to various researchers. Three scientific studies on Einstein’s brain were published.
The first study, “On the brain of a scientist: Albert Einstein,” published in 1985, examined the number of neurons in relation to glial cells, which are cells that provide nourishment to the brain. The study claimed that Einstein’s brain had significantly more glial cells than an average human brain.
The second study, "Alterations in cortical thickness and neuronal density in the frontal cortex of Albert Einstein,” published in 1996, analyzed the weight of Einstein’s brain in comparison to other brains. The study concluded Einstein’s brain had more neurons, the cerebral cortex was thinner, and the brain itself weighed significantly less than other brains.
The third study, "The exceptional brain of Albert Einstein,” published in 1999, discovered atypical grooves in the area responsible for math and spatial reasoning.
Despite this research, many scientists do not believe the studies of Albert Einstein’s brain yielded much insight into the nature of genius IQ. This conclusion is primarily due to their criticisms of the faultily designed studies and manipulated results.
No Closer to Unraveling Mysteries of High IQ
In retrospect, perhaps Harvey was indeed hoping that Einstein’s brain would be a great boon to scientific research, yet evidence makes it seem more likely that Harvey was acting on the dictates of his ego.
As explained in the book excerpt from NPR, “Thomas Harvey was not a brain specialist. His understanding of the brain did not extend beyond the postmortem diagnosis of disease, atrophy, or injury. Which is to say that he had neither the means nor the expertise to undertake the study he had proposed to Einstein's son.”
Harvey himself remarked, according to the Guardian article, “It was the brain of a genius. I would have felt ashamed if I’d left it.”
Where is Einstein's Brain Today?
In the final chapter of the Einstein brain saga, Harvey made a grand cross-country trip from Princeton to California, brain in tow in the back of his Buick Skylark, to bequeath the organ to Einstein’s granddaughter, who it turned out did not want it. So Harvey drove back to Princeton, donating the brain instead to Princeton Hospital. The brain had come full circle, once again ending up where it had begun its fateful journey.
Sources:
"I Found Einstein’s Brain," StevenLevy.com. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
"The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain," NPR.org. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
“My dad has Einstein’s brain,” Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
"Neuroscience for Kids: What Became of Albert Einstein’s Brain?," Washington.edu. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
Aimee Larsen Stoddard - Aimee is a professional writer/editor. She has a BA in English and is currently completing an MS in Theology.
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