Albert Einstein’s brain was sliced into 200 pieces!

Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76. His brain was removed without the consent of his family by Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the pathologist who performed the autopsy. There were two reasons for this autopsy. First, Harvey wanted to study the brain of a genius to see if any physical differences could explain his extraordinary intelligence. Second, Einstein’s family had requested that his brain be donated to science for research.

The controversy

It is said that Einstein’s family did not permit to remove his brain. However, some reports said that his son, Hans Albert, permitted the autopsy; this is still a matter of debate. There is no clear consensus on this issue, and there are conflicting accounts from different sources.

Some sources say that Hans Albert did permit the autopsy, while others say that he did not. Some sources say that he gave permission only after being persuaded by Harvey, while others say that he permitted it without any persuasion.

It is possible that Hans gave permission, but that he later regretted his decision. It is also possible that he did not permit the autopsy, but that Harvey took the brain anyway.

What happened to the brain?

Harvey took 200 small slices of Einstein’s brain and preserved them in formalin. He kept the slices in his possession for decades, and he eventually donated them to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC in 1978.

Harvey’s actions were controversial, and his motives for taking Einstein’s brain have been the subject of much speculation. Some people believe that he was simply curious about the brain of a genius, while others believe that he hoped to find clues to Einstein’s intelligence. Whatever his motives, Harvey’s actions have left a lasting legacy. The theft of Einstein’s brain is a reminder of the importance of respecting the wishes of the deceased, and it raises questions about the ethics of scientific research.

200 slices of Einstein’s brain divided between two institutions

As of 2023, Albert Einstein, who won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect” brain is divided between two institutions:

·         The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC, has 170 slices of the brain. These slices were donated by Thomas Harvey in 1978.

·         The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has 46 slices of the brain. These slices were donated by Harvey’s heirs in 2010.

Brain slices studied for years

The slices are kept in formalin and are not on public display. However, they have been studied by scientists for many years, and they have helped to shed some light on the biological basis of genius.

In 1999, a study published in the journal The Lancet found that Einstein’s brain had a higher number of glial cells, which are cells that support neurons. The study also found that Einstein’s parietal lobes, which are involved in spatial reasoning, were larger than average. However, these findings have not been replicated in all studies, and it is still not clear whether they are related to Einstein’s intelligence.

The study of Einstein’s brain is ongoing, and scientists may one day be able to find a definitive answer to the question of what made Einstein so brilliant.