It’s All Relative!

Today’s assembly continued my science theme this term, learning a little about Albert Einstein. We discussed how he was inspired by the work of Isaac Newton whom we had learned about earlier this term; and also how influential he was on the work of Stephen Hawking and recalled Hawkings quote: ‘Each generation stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before them, just as I did as a young PhD student in Cambridge, inspired by the work of Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein.’

We were surprised to discover that a young Albert didn’t speak until he was 4 years old and despite struggling at some lessons in school, he excelled at Maths and Physics, eventually going to university to study as a teacher of these subjects.

We discussed the theory of relativity along with his famous equation E=mc2, it would be interesting to see if the children can remember what these are, and not mix them up like we did in the assembly at one point!

Finally, we ended on some of his most famous quotes, including:

‘Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’

‘Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved through understanding.’

‘A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new.’

Some wise words from a supremely intelligent historical figure!