(birds singing)
Good morning, Herr Minister.
Good morning, Eric. To the Reichstag, please.
(groans softly)
(trolley bell clangs)
(engine revving)
What are they doing?
Eric!
Walther Rathenau,
Minister of
Foreign Affairs for the Weimar Republic? Eric,
drive! Death to the Elders of Zion.
(groans)
(yelling, groans)
(yelling)
(groans)
And this is for ruining Germany,
Jew pig.
All right.
(indistinct chatter, groaning)
(explosion)
Go, go, go, go!
(woman moaning)
I have a proposition to make.
Not now, Albert.
It is an unorthodox idea, but...
Please be quiet. (moans)
(moaning)
(man moaning, bell tolling)
But crazier thoughts of mine have worked
in the past. Pick me up!
(both moaning)
Oh, God.
Oh, God! Oh, God! God would
most likely disapprove of this idea, but I would convince him.
(panting)
Move in with me, Betty.
(moaning)
You haven't given me
an answer.
You're late for your lecture.
My lecture can wait.
Fine.
Since you have so much time, shall we address your schedule?
The Telegraph, Life Magazine
and the Los Angeles Times have all requested interviews, and
please don't forget you invited Minister Rathenau
to dinner on Sunday.
Betty,
move in with me.
You have a wife.
Whom I adore.
You're insane.
No. (bells tolling)
I'm quite rational, actually.
Monogamy is not natural.
It is a construct of religious authority.
And a foolish faith in authority, my dear Betty,
is the worst enemy of truth.
Truth being that rules don't apply to you?
I love Mozart and Bach.
I love the Swiss Alps and the Baltic Sea.
Why can't I love you and Elsa?
For a man who is an expert on the universe,
you don't know the first thing about people, do you?
No, no, no.
Forgive me, Betty.
Perhaps...
triangular geometry is not as simple as I'd like it to be.
(phone ringing)
Professor Einstein's office.
Yeah, one moment, please.
It's Mileva Maric.
I can't.
Not now.
I apologize. The professor is busy.
May I take a message?
Yes, Frau. (door opens)
She says it's urgent.
As you said, I'm late for my lecture.
EINSTEIN: What is...
time?
A deceptively simple question,
yet it is the key to understanding relativity.
It is also the reason my hair is going gray.
(laughter)
When we describe motion,
we do so as a function of time:
ten meters per second, 100 miles per hour.
But a mathematical description of velocity is moot
unless we can define "time."
Is time universal?
In other words, is there an audible tick-tock
throughout the galaxy?
A master clock, so to speak,
forging ahead like Mozart's metronome?
The answer, my friends,
is no.
Time is not absolute.
In fact, for us believing physicists, the distinction
between the past, present
and future is but a stubborn illusion.
(people murmuring)
A lot to consider, I know.
I know.
(laughter)
But understanding time is essential
to understanding relativity.
Now,
I want you all to close your eyes.
Not to worry. I don't bite.
But I am on the lookout for a new pen.
(laughter)
Go on.
Close your eyes.
To truly grasp the idea of time,
we must take a step back and ask: what is light?
So, journey with me to the Sun.
(whooshing)
(whooshing, tinkling)
Light travels from the Sun to the Earth through space, yes?
When I was your age, I wanted to know how
can something-- light-- travel through nothing--
space? Let us isolate a light beam
and travel alongside it, but let us go faster.
Are you there with me?
Faster. Faster!
(whooshing)
What is time?
Herr Einstein, wake up!
I wasn't sleeping, sir. I was thinking.
Oh, really?
About what, exactly?
The secrets of the cosmos, I suppose.
I suggest you think about trigonometry instead.
With your eyes open.
And sit up!
Laws of Sines and Cosines.
ALL: C-squared equals
A-squared plus B-squared subtract two-AB-cosine-C.
TEACHER: Area of a triangle.
ALL: Area equals C-squared Sine-A Sine-B over two-Sine-C.
(clock ticking)
What is the... (muffled distant speech)
...differential equation?
Herr Einstein, are you still too busy
contemplating the secrets of the cosmos
to solve this equation?
Oh, no, sir. I-I've already solved it.
Leave. Now.
On what offense?
Your mere presence
spoils the respect of the class for me!
That is not an objective reason! Out!
The natural log of a constant multiplied by X equals
the natural log of one plus V-squared.
And since V equals
Y over X, that gives us
the final function: X-squared plus Y-squared
minus C-X-cubed equals zero.
And speaking truthfully, sir,
your mere presence spoils my respect for the future
of Prussian mathematics.
Out.
(rhythmic drumming, children shouting)
(children shouting)
(child blows a raspberry)
MAN: Boots, pay attention.
Well?
What do you have to say for yourself?
How do people get pleasure by
marching in step? It makes me think
they've been given their big brains only by mistake.
Turn around!
Look at me.
I want you to listen to me very carefully, son.
Rebellion will get you nowhere in life.
You step on enough toes,
and I promise you, one day you will trip.
I'm not going to apologize for thinking that...
That's exactly what you're going to do.
The headmaster is willing to give you one last chance,
so I want you to go in there and say you're sorry.
(bell tolling)
Wait. No, Father, please.
No, I can't.
You need an education. I agree!
But blind regurgitation
and rote memorization is not an education.
Let me study on my own, and I promise I'll make you proud.
How exactly will you do that, huh?
Look around you. What do you see?
I see my impudent son. Yes, but
what am I made of? Matter.
And what keeps my feet on the ground? Gravity. Oh, Albert,
I don't have time for... This is not...
Time, yes, that, too! And light and magnetism.
These invisible forces that nobody fully understands.
Where do they come from? What are they made of?
And why do they act as they do?
I want to be the one who solves those mysteries.
Solving mysteries is not a vocation.
But it is. I'm-I'm going to be a physicist.
No, not without a degree you won't!
And if you get thrown out again, I will not be here to save you.
I don't need saving, Father. No, I-I don't... mean that.
I mean, I will not... be here at all.
What are you talking about?
Your mother, sister and I are moving to Italy.
Italy? I don't understand.
Why? Well...
big demand for street lamps in Milan.
But what about your business here?
Our business is bankrupt.
Why didn't you tell me?
It is not your concern.
Let me come with you. Please. Albert. Albert.
You don't speak Italian.
How would you expect to go to school?
I'll learn Italian. I'll le...
I'll learn faster than anyone has ever Albert.
learned it before. So...
So you're abandoning me? No
I'm looking out for your future.
It's time you learn to be independent
and take responsibility for yourself.
You will live with your cousins
until your studies are complete.
Now go back to school.
HERMANN: Pauline!
Maja! The train will not wait
for your hair to be pinned up. Coming.
Coming already.
Albert, I left you two roast hens,
green beans and potatoes.
Oh, and I ordered extra milk delivery
to your aunt's house,
so drink plenty. Come. I won't forget to eat, Mother.
(sighs
Oh
I also left you
a few extra marks.
Don't tell your father.
It's not his money, anyway.
Make us proud.
HERMANN: Come on, now, we must hurry.
(sighs) This is awful.
I know. How will I ever sleep
without your incessant snoring?
(chuckles)
(sniffles)
Promise me you'll write.
Of course, Maja.
Driver.
Hyah.
TEACHER: Derivative of logarithmic functions.
CLASS: The X derivative
of natural log X
is one over X.
MAN: One,
two, three, four.
Hydrogen.
One. Carbon
Twelve.
TEACHER: Lithium. CLASS: Seven.
TEACHER: Nitrogen.
CLASS: Fourteen. J'aille.
Tu ailles. Come on, come on.
Il aille. Nous allions.
Vous alliez.
Ils aillent.
Double angle formulas. (whistle blows)
CLASS: Sine 2 theta
equals 2 sine theta...
(grunts)
...cosine theta. Cosine
CLASS: Cosine 2 theta equals cosine...
No!
I beg your pardon,
Herr Einstein?
I am feeling sick.
I must go.
(panting)
(exhales)
(watch ticking)
(ticking continues)
60 beats per minute.
Normal. Take my temperature.
I already did. It's normal.
Then take it again. Albert.
I'm feeling feverish. I may faint.
You're fine.
Then I must have a rash somewhere.
Albert, what's going on?
I'm not asking as your doctor,
but as a friend of your family.
I must leave Germany, Dr. Talmud.
Uh-huh.
Your father wants you to stay.
(sighs) My father doesn't understand me.
Chin up.
It's only two more years.
Maybe to you two years feels like the blink of an eye,
but to me, it's an eternity.
I don't mean that literally, of course.
Everybody knows that time can't move at two different speeds.
What do you want me to do? Hmm?
Deem me medically unfit to finish school.
For what reason?
The Prussian malaise?
Nervous breakdown will do.
(train chugging)
(train whistle blows)
(woman speaking Italian)
Spelt, milk, and do not forget the...
Eggs. Yes, please, I heard you.
I'm late. Eggs, eggs, eggs.
I can't afford to be late. I always ha...
Buongiorno, Papa.
That is the extent of my Italian thus far.
You were right. It is a difficult language to grasp.
Why are you not in school?
I've decided to go
to Zurich Polytechnic instead.
Zurich Polytechnic? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You cannot expect to enter university
without finishing your studies. They'll admit me...
if I pass the entrance exam in June.
I-I was hoping I could stay here with...
with you and Mother and Maja
while I study. (sighs)
Hermann, who are you talking to?
Hello, Mother. Oh.
Albert.
Hermann, let the boy in. No.
He will go back to Munich immediately
and finish his studies.
And that is an order. I'm sorry, Father,
but I'm not going back to Germany.
Ever again.
EINSTEIN: All right, let us all open our eyes...
...and return to Germany.
Here is our traveling light beam.
Now, I will ask you again.
How can something-- light--
travel through nothing-- space?
It cannot,
Herr Professor.
Cannot. Good.
Therefore, if light is only a wave, then...
Space is not empty?
Exactly.
So just as sound waves travel through air,
light waves must travel through some sort of medium in space.
Scientists called it the ether,
an invisible
but all-encompassing substance
pervading the universe.
I believed in it when I was your age.
Trust me.
I knew everything.
(laughter)
But as it turns out,
I was wrong.
(door opens)
Walther Rathenau is dead.
(alarmed chatter) Assassinated in the street.
(thunder rumbles)
EINSTEIN: I just saw him yesterday.
He was coming to dinner on Sunday.
(phone rings)
I'll get it.
That's quite all right, Fraulein.
If you don't mind,
I'd like some time alone with my husband.
(ringing continues)
Why did you send her away?
I don't want to be disturbed by the press.
I need Betty to answer the phone.
I know why you need Betty.
(ringing continues)
And that is not the press. It's Mileva.
She's been calling all morning.
Why should I talk to her?
She brings us nothing but misery and pain.
We have enough of that as it is.
(ringing stops)
Where are you going?
My study.
Please don't.
Don't what?
Do what you always do.
Hide in your work.
Your friend just died.
You need to grieve.
Machine gun...
and grenade.
What sort of animals would do this?
You know exactly what sort of animals.
Death to the Elders of Zion!
Hold.
(panting)
We die for our ideals!
(shouts in German)
(shouting in German)
(screams)
(pounding on door)
The revolution is coming,
and Germany will rise again.
(knocking)
Good day, Frau Einstein.
Captain Muller. Berlin Police.
Is your husband at home?
Good day, Herr Professor.
It's an honor to meet you,
though I regret the circumstances.
I understand you and Minister Rathenau were close.
We were. Thank you.
You may have heard that we located and killed
Minister Rathenau's assassins.
Who were they?
The members of a fringe group
called the Organization Consul.
What is your definition of "fringe," Captain?
A hundred members?
Ten members? A thousand?
Elsa.
You're not here to offer your condolences,
are you, Captain?
No, sir, I'm not.
In the possession of the assassins,
we found a list of targets.
Minister Rathenau's name was on that list,
and so was yours, Herr Professor.
These men are part of a larger movement.
I'm afraid it may not be safe for you to remain in Berlin.
I'll call the movers in the morning.
They can have the apartment packed by Friday.
We can go to the Baltic Sea for the summer.
That would give us a chance to consider
a more permanent option.
Albert, are you even listening to me?
We're not going anywhere, Elsa.
Did you hear what the man said? You're on a list.
The killers are dead.
And they have accomplices. No
I will not kowtow to bullies.
And I will not sit by and wait for fascists to kill my husband.
I want to leave, Albert. Please.
You don't even like Germany.
This is not about Germany.
Elsa, this is about my work,
my colleagues at the Academy,
our friends, my sailboat,
this apartment. Our life.
It's all here. It's home.
That's what Walther Rathenau thought, too.
Walther was killed because he was a politician.
I'm only a scientist.
And you're both Jews.
HABER: Where on God's Earth would you go?
I have teaching offers abroad.
Oxford. Princeton.
Ha! I've known you for over a decade, Albert.
You despise British formality,
you despise American exceptionalism.
I also despise
German nationalism.
So do most Germans.
The country has declared a national holiday
for Walther's funeral tomorrow, for God's sake.
Elsa is overreacting.
Do you know what I find extraordinary
about you, Fritz Haber?
It might be my brilliant mind
or my scintillating wit, but knowing you,
you're not about to flatter me.
That you see yourself as one of them, and not as one of us.
One of us?
You talk like a Zionist.
No, I'm a realist.
And I'm a German patriot,
a proud war veteran, and a devout Christian.
Really, Fritz?
You're proud of your military service?
You may have changed your religion, but don't think
for a second you can change your heritage.
Is that how you really see me?
As some sort of fraud?
No, no. It's not how I see you that matters.
It's how men like this Adolf Hitler character see you.
Adolf Hitler is a loud-mouthed art school reject
with a handful of supporters
in country of 60 million.
He'll be gone in a year.
Tell that to the esteemed Professor Lenard.
Read it to me.
"Albert Einstein
"should hereby be barred
"from attending the annual conference for German science
"on grounds that his theory of relativity
offends against the common sense of scientists."
I'm quite certain it took him all the restraint
he could muster not to refer to relativity
as a Jewish theory.
Forget Lenard.
He's just jealous of your success. Perhaps.
But look how many others have signed it.
People are listening to him, Fritz.
He's dangerous.
MAN: Please, Professor Lenard, I beg of you.
It's only one day of classes.
I couldn't agree more.
That's why I'm choosing to teach.
But a national day of mourning has been declared.
The University of Heidelberg must respect it.
A national day of mourning for a Bolshevik Jew
who bankrupted our nation and left behind a generation
of jobless young men? No, thank you.
The death of Walther Rathenau should be cause for celebration,
not mourning.
Professor. No
This funeral is a garish spectacle
led by left-wing radicals like Albert Einstein
to paint German patriots as criminals.
Philipp, I'm begging you.
As your friend.
Don't let old skirmishes cloud your vision.
If that is what you think this is, sir,
then we are not friends.
(heavy footsteps in unison)
MAN: Stand!
Gentlemen,
there is a new war festering.
A war against reason,
against clarity,
against this very institution.
Germany and German physics are under threat.
Quite the turnout for a Jew,
wouldn't you say?
LENARD: Our forefathers based their science
on experimentation and fact.
Not artificial formulae
based on arbitrary definition
or publicity-seeking fabrications
of space and time.
Einstein.
(people muttering)
Einstein. Einstein?
MAN: Einstein.
LENARD: This foreign influence has been
gaining momentum for far too long.
And it is your job,
as the future of this great nation,
to protect our Aryan respect
for empirical observation.
Abstruse theories devoid of reality
have no place in our field.
If we do not fight against them, I promise you,
the foreigner will spread through these hallowed halls
like a virus. And before we have time to react,
German physics will be no more.
It is time to stand up, gentlemen.
Stand up for Germany!
(students exclaiming)
Excuse me. Dr. Einstein?
We would just like to say
that we are deeply sorry for the loss of your friend.
And we want you to know that we are proud
to call men such as Minister Rathenau and yourself
our compatriots.
Nice to meet you, Professor Einstein.
It's an honor, sir.
Rathenau's killers are German heroes!
Rathenau's killers are German heroes! We should leave. Now.
No.
We're not going home until the funeral is over.
And we're not leaving Germany.
Albert.
If we leave...
...they win.
...German heroes!
Killers are German heroes!
*
Herr Einstein?
I am Professor... Weber.
Heinrich Weber. Chair of the physics department, I know.
I... I read your paper on heat conduction.
It seems you have read quite a few papers,
young man.
You passed the mathematics and science sections
with flying colors.
Where did you learn all of this?
I am self-taught, Herr Professor. Ah.
That makes sense.
Why is that?
Because you failed everything else.
Literature, zoology,
botany, French, politics,
to be specific.
That's... that's quite a few subjects.
Indeed.
Oh, my father...
Can you make an exception, sir? I-I only want to study physics.
No, that is not how a university works.
But literature is a pastime.
I-I've never been to a zoo in my life.
Botany I place under the same sub-section
as literature-- bourgeois.
And French, well...
pourquoi, sir?
You forgot about politics.
Politics are frivolous. They're only a matter
of present concern. But a mathematical equation,
Professor, well... that stands forever.
I tell you what,
I am going to bend the rules
and invite you to audit my classes
and to work in my laboratory.
Will I be an official student?
No.
I need to earn a degree, sir.
Because without one,
I'll never be taken seriously as a physicist.
And I'll never get an office like this, will I?
There is a good school
25 miles west of here. I know a teacher
who will take you in. You study for a year,
well, you go to a zoo, you learn some French,
and then you'll come back here
and you'll retake the exam.
I won't disappoint you, sir.
(indistinct conversations)
YOUNG WOMAN: Get the door! YOUNG MAN: No, you get the door!
GIRL: I'm doing homework! YOUNG WOMAN: Liar, you're in the bathroom!
GIRL: I have cramps! BOY: She always says that.
YOUNG WOMAN: Everyone relax. I'll get it.
Hello. May I help you?
Yes. I... I am...
Well, spit it out, then.
Buzz off, you gnat.
Mother! Marie called me a gnat!
I must apologize.
MATHIAS: Oh, my God.
Marie has a boyfriend. What?
In her dreams. JULIUS: Paul! I'm so sorry.
JULIUS: Who are you?
Marie's boyfriend.
Mathias, shut it.
Marie has a boyfriend? Since when?
Do you have brothers and sisters?
ROSA: Anna, you said you couldn't do dishes
because you had cramps.
I do, but look A real boy.
Who are you?
I already asked him.
Yes. Right. I-I am...
JOST: Albert Einstein.
Your reputation precedes you.
Disobedient son,
perennial truant,
unrepentant flouter of authority.
Please, please, sir, I can explain.
I'm not chastising you.
I'm congratulating you.
We Wintelers respect a true rebel.
You are welcome here for as long as you like.
Thank you, sir.
Julius, Show him in.
Quick. (laughs)
Thank you.
Darling, Albert is here.
MAN: And I quote...
(indistinct conversation)
...understand the things of nature as philosophers,
and not to stare at them in astonishment like fools,
are soon considered heretical and impious.
JULIUS: Oh, please, Baruch Spinoza is a buffoon,
not a philosopher.
At least Descartes was a military man.
Oh, here we go again.
Piss off, Anna.
Julius, language.
Fine.
Albert, eat.
JULIUS: But did you know that Spinoza never taught
a day in his life?
He was a lowly optical lens grinder.
Why should someone's vocation define his intellect?
Well said, darling. Thank you.
Fine, fine, but his treatise on God is hearsay.
"Natura Naturans?" Please.
And what does it even mean?
It means God and Nature are one and the same.
I am a certified teacher now, if you need a Latin tutor.
(laughing) Very funny.
Albert may take you up on that.
I will? (women laugh)
Professor Weber tells me you need a little help
in the humanities.
Is that why you are so silent tonight?
My opinions are usually unwelcome.
Not here, they aren't. Speak.
Yes, speak, Albert. We want to hear it.
Speak. Albert, speak.
Yes. We really want to hear it.
From a scientific perspective,
what Marie said is very exciting...
and-and, well, funny enough, "Very exciting."
it's an idea I've been considering for a while now.
"Natura Naturans."
Everything is connected.
Nature isn't a product of God,
nature is God.
And if we suppose that's true, well, then, we must conclude
the universe isn't some mystical netherworld
outside our grasp of understanding.
From the smallest molecule to the largest galaxy...
every question must have a definable answer.
And, well,
I intend to find those answers.
JULIUS Well, that is the most hedonistic thing
I have heard all night.
Show us a bit of respect, Julius.
Julius, don't be rude. There are no more potatoes.
Thank you so much.
*
Newton's second law of motion.
You all know it,
but as we delve deeper into Newtonian mechanics,
I need you to more than "know" it.
I need you to be able to see it.
So when I ask, what is acceleration?
Don't immediately think "numbers."
Instead, close your eyes...
Good.
And imagine a ball
being shot across the sky.
Now imagine an identical ball in outer space
racing with the ball on Earth, with the same force applied.
Which ball would win a race?
You don't need to raise your hand to speak here, Albert.
Oh. (clears throat) Really? Well...
Uh, the ball in outer space would win
'cause it's travelling in a vacuum.
But I have another question.
Go on.
Well,
now I'm imagining
that the ball is traveling in deep space...
...with...
...with no stars or planets around it.
Acceleration is the derivative of velocity
with respect to time.
How do we know that the ball is moving at all
if there's nothing to compare its motions to?
In other words...
what is time?
And for that matter...
what is space?
Newton's Principia, Volume One:
"Absolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself
and from its own nature, flows..."
"Equitably without relation to anything external."
Time and space are absolute, I know.
TEACHER: Yes, well, then, let's move on.
But when pressed on the subject of absoluteness,
Newton said, "The Deity endures forever,
"and by existing always and everywhere,
He constitutes duration and space."
Which, in short, is saying... (laughs)
"I have no idea, but God must, so there."
Albert.
I-I know. I sh-- I should go.
Sit down.
Well, it looks like we are going
to have an interesting year.
So let us move on to the next chapter.
When we are looking at Newton and some of his other ideas...
Here you are, sir.
Thank you.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth
"is to hold in higher esteem
"those who think alike
than those who think differently."
Nietzsche?
Excellent.
"If you step on enough toes, one day you'll trip."
Confucius?
Close. My father. (laughs)
MARIE: Albert
A letter for you. Looks official.
I don't believe it.
What is it?
My application to renounce my German citizenship.
It's been approved.
I'm officially stateless.
MARIE: So now you have no passport?
That seems reckless.
Why would you do that?
Because nationalism is an infantile disease.
The measles of mankind.
Where on Earth did you get such an idea?
Papa, you didn't.
I'm proud of you, Albert.
Now you are a citizen of the world.
Let us celebrate. Sorry, that will have to wait.
Albert and I have work to do.
"And though she be but little, she is fierce."
William Shakespeare.
Good luck.
(church bell tolls)
(Marie speaking French)
Are you listening to me?
Of course.
You were sleeping.
I wasn't. I promise.
I was having the most wonderful thought.
Oh, yes? And what was that?
It's been bothering me for over a year now.
How does something... travel through nothing?
What are you talking about, Albert?
I... I-I imagined I was riding
alongside a light beam.
Guess what happened?
I have no idea.
Let me show you.
Come.
Ah...
Come on!
Come!
Imagine I'm a light beam
traveling to Earth. Now catch me!
How fast must we go?
About 300,000 kilometers a second.
Albert! You are mad!
No, I'm a wave.
Traveling through the ether.
Come on!
(Marie laughs)
Catch me!
*
As you catch up to me,
the strangest thing happens:
I appear to slow down. Am I right?
*
But here is the best part...
When you are traveling the speed
of light alongside the wave... me...
I appear...
frozen in time.
Is that it?
Well, so far, yes.
*
(distant shouting)
(shouting continues)
ELSA: Have you read this?
Yes.
Hitler didn't win.
ELSA: He won 230 seats.
That's almost a majority.
Elsa, please.
Not now.
(sighs): Albert, you've been saying "not now"
for ten years.
You know why?
Because my old friend Sir Isaac Newton
was really right about some things.
An object at rest really does tend to stay at rest.
Albert, this is not a joke.
Where are you going?
I need tobacco. No
I-It's not safe. I'll send someone.
I'm an able man.
And I am scared.
When Walther was murdered,
you chose to stay, and I accepted.
It was brave
and defiant.
But this is different.
Enough already, Albert.
Everything is fine.
Hitler did not win.
(vehicle engine running)
MAN: One loaf per family.
Move along. One loaf per family.
Keep moving.
Afternoon, Ernst.
I took your advice and listened to Erik Satie.
Little too French for me, but you were right.
His ability to evoke complex emotions
with simplicity is remarkable.
Though I must admit I am surprised
that a Wagnerian such as yourself
should enjoy experimental minimalism.
Is everything all right, Ernst?
Yes, Professor. Of course.
Well, that will be all for today.
Elsa has me cutting back.
It is only because
my customers requested them.
Everyone has a choice, Ernst.
HERMANN: Oh, no.
Damn it. Oh, no, no, no, no.
Dear God, Jakob, not now.
Patience. No, no, no. I have to deliver this by Monday
or I don't get paid.
I'll fix it.
Your induced voltage is too high.
Thank you, nephew.
That is obvious.
Energy equals magnetic field times length of conductor.
Times velocity of conductor.
I don't need a physics lesson.
I need to get the damn rotor spinning at the correct speed.
So why not shorten the length of the conductor
instead of trying to change the speed of the rotor?
How the hell do we do that?
Wire cutters.
Try it now.
I think the patient will survive.
(Hermann chuckles)
You should have seen him, Pauline!
He's here for one week--
one week-- and he fixes all our problems.
(Pauline and Hermann chuckle)
We should have school vacations
more often. (chuckles)
Albert. Albert.
I'm very proud of you.
Thank you, Father.
How is Marie, darling?
Wonderful.
She sends her regards.
She's teaching me French.
I bet she's teaching you more than that.
Maja, please.
I've been corresponding with her mother.
Everyone is quite excited.
Excited? About what? The courtship, of course.
The potential of it.
Albert, your Uncle Jakob
was mentioning how we could use another gifted engineer
in our company.
I've been saying that for years.
(sniffles) I'm sure
Marie would love Milan.
The food,
the fashion. We could even help them
rent a nice apartment,
couldn't we, Hermann?
Mother, I appreciate
your interest, and I adore Marie,
but I'm not ready for marriage,
and I don't plan on moving to Milan.
Not immediately, of course. I mean, obviously you would have
to finish your engineering studies first.
I'm sorry, Father,
but I-I have no intention
of becoming an engineer.
Well...
Such an aptitude for it.
Maybe, but I can't bear the thought
of having to spend my creative energy
making practical, everyday life
more refined for-for the sole purpose of capital gain.
It's... Dear God. What in God's name
have they been teaching you
in Switzerland?
You sound like a communist.
I'm not a communist, I'm an Internationalist.
Inter... What the hell is that supposed to mean? I wouldn't expect you
to understand. Really? Oh, why?
Because I'm not as brilliant as you, I suppose?
Hermann, please don't.
May I be excused? No
Tell me, my son, the genius.
Yeah, how do you propose to make a living
without a job? I've told you before.
I'm going to be a professor.
I will think
for thinking's sake.
That is the most indulgent thing
I've ever heard.
I'm sure from your bourgeois perspective
it would seem indulgent.
What? My bourgeois per...
But I'm going to Zurich Polytechnic.
Y-You failed
your entrance exam. I won't fail again.
Stop it, both of you. Who do you think's
gonna pay for this Zurich Polytechnic, huh?
The same people who pay for you
to keep plundering your businesses into the ground.
Mother's family.
That's who. Oh.
Like hell they will.
They've already agreed.
Did you arrange this?
No, no.
It was entirely my doing.
When you left me behind
in Germany,
you told me to be independent,
to take responsibility for myself.
At first, I thought you were being cruel,
but now I see you did me a great service.
You were right.
My future is mine and mine alone,
so I must take charge of it.
Thank you
for the lovely holiday, Mother.
Maja.
MAJA: Oh, don't leave
like this, Albert.
(door opens, closes)
(indistinct conversations and laughter)
*
Physics, pass.
Mathematics, pass.
Zoology, botany, literature...
pass.
Oh, which brings us to French.
Specifically, your essay.
And, uh, oh, I translate:
"I will enroll in Zurich Polytechnic.
"I will stay there four years and study physics
"and mathematics.
"I suppose I will become a teacher in these fields,
focusing on the theoretical parts."
Your vocabulary is elementary, the syntax simplistic,
you did not use the future simple.
But I think it is an excellent plan.
Welcome to Zurich Polytechnic.
Thank you, sir, thank you.
Good-bye, Albert.
I'm so proud of you.
Safe travels. Albert, come here, son.
Don't let those academic fools in Zurich change you, Albert.
Their knowledge is their weakness, while your imagination
is your strength.
Thank you.
Thank you for everything. Oh
MARIE: Well...
...have a safe journey.
(Marie sobbing)
Marie, wait! MARIE: Just go, Albert.
Please!
Marie, I'm going to write to you.
And Zurich's not that far.
I'll visit. It's all right.
I am happy for you.
You're going to do great things.
I'll... I'll find a formula to freeze time,
you won't even know I'm gone.
What a lovely thought.
*
(indistinct chatter)
BROWNSHIRT (over P.A.): ...true example
of this nation's youth--
selfless, strong, courageous--
then sign up!
We must rise against the Weimar Republic!
Rise against the conniving,
corrupt, and conquering Jew! Excuse me!
You're disrupting our business.
Could you... We have an agitator!
This is our livelihood!
Get your swine hands off of me!
I said stand back!
Leave Germany! You have no right!
(shouting)
Lousy Jew!
Stay down!
You better get down,
you dirty Jew! (grunting)
We should stop this.
BOYS: Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Stop!
Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf!
Albert Einstein?
Herr Einstein! (woman sobbing)
Herr Einstein!
Stop!
May I have...
your autograph, sir?
I'm sorry, young man, I...
seem to have lost my pen.
Bruno! Back here now!
When I grow up, I want to be a scientist, just like you.
Germany Heil!
(spits)
EINSTEIN: Elsa.
You're right.
It's time.
Oh. Um...
um...
I'll, um...
I'll call Princeton.
*
Oh, I'm sorry.
For what?
I must have the wrong room.
What class are you looking for?
Physics. Good day.
Tell me, do you know Empedocles?
Excuse me?
Empedocles.
The pre-Socratic philosopher who studied cosmogony.
As I said, I am in... Physics.
Yes, you made that quite clear.
Cosmogony is the study of the origins of the cosmos.
And Empedocles, he was the first known person
to ask the simple question, what is light?
I'm sorry, who are you?
He believed that Aphrodite, a woman--
in case you didn't know--
formed the human eye and lit a fire in it,
allowing us to see.
Well, that's ridiculous. If that were the case,
well, then we could see equally well at night.
Empedocles thought the same,
so he postulated that the sun's rays may be linked
to the rays shooting from our eyes.
A fanciful idea, I know, but if not for him,
we might not have had the counter-theories of Aristotle,
then Euclid, then Alhazen,
Kepler, Newton, Faraday,
and, finally, James Clark Maxwell.
Light is electromagnetic radiation.
I apologize. I didn't think...
That a woman could possibly
understand that the curl of the electric field is equal
to the negative time derivative of the magnetic field?
Faraday's Law.
The Maxwell-Faraday equation,
if we are being specific.
You see, Empedocles was wrong about how we see,
but he stumbled upon a universal truth:
human perception is frightfully narrow.
We believe we see the whole, when, in fact,
we've only seen a fraction.
PROFESSOR: Good morning.
Professor Weber.
Herr Einstein.
I see you have met
the only student to have scored higher than you
in the mathematics section of our entrance exam.
Say hello to Mileva Maric.
(phone ringing)
Albert?
It's probably Mileva.
I can't take any more bad news.
You have to talk to her.
(phone continues ringing)
Hello, Mileva.
Oh. Uh, uh, apologies. I thought...
No, would you repeat that, please?
It's the United States Embassy.
(clears throat) This way, please.
Dr. and Mrs. Einstein.
Thank you for coming in on such short notice.
I'm Deputy Consul General Raymond Geist.
It's a real honor to meet you both.
Please have a seat.
I must say, we were quite surprised by your call.
We've been to the United States three times now,
and we've never had a problem obtaining visas.
Yes, ma'am.
You are aware, young man, that our boat leaves tomorrow.
It's all right, Elsa.
How can we help you, Mr. Geist?
What is the purpose for your travel to America, Professor?
I'm giving a series of lectures
at the California Institute of Technology
and opening the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
But you knew that already.
Is that all you plan on doing?
How do you mean?
What is your political creed, Professor?
Is this a joke, Mr. Geist?
I'm afraid it isn't.
Are you now or have you ever been
a member of any political organization?
That is none of your business.
Then perhaps we can talk about Mileva Maric,
your ex-wife, yes? Are you in frequent contact?
What has she to do with this?
Well, to our understanding, her political background is
quite radical.
This is nonsense.
May I remind you, Mr. Geist,
your country has invited me, not the other way around.
Yes, Professor, but you have a history of--
how shall I put this-- controversy,
which calls into question your loyalties... My loyalties?
And it is my job to ensure
that any individual coming to our shores
does not pose a threat.
If you wish to talk about threats,
Mr. Geist, perhaps you should
take a look outside your window.
Have you noticed the charming fellows in brown shirts
who call me Jewish swine
and want people like me dead?
If you are referring to the National Socialist Party,
they are not in power.
Oh, no? You want to take a walk with me?
Professor, I have not called you here today
for a-a lesson in German politics.
I'm not giving you one. Because I doubt
you'd be smart enough to be in my class.
Albert.
Dr. Einstein, I am conducting this inquiry
at the request of the director
of the United States Bureau of Investigation.
Hoover?
Yes.
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover.
What does he want with me?
He's been quite interested in your political activities
and affiliations since your first visit to New York.
So, unless you answer my questions
to his satisfaction,
you will not be granted entry to the United States of America.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH