1. Einstein’s Painful Romance Walter Sullivan
Unit Four
Einstein’s Painful Romance
Walter Sullivan

2. Albert Einstein ( )
Mathematical physicist of German birth, naturalized American.
Is best known for the theory of relativity
Is considered as the greatest scientist and thinker since Galileo and Newton.
Is rewarded Nobel Prize for Physics 1n 1921

3. Intelligent
Knowledgeable
Rational
Serious
Diligent
romantic

5. Test your vocabulary anguish disdain meager offensive vehement
crystal
pain
inadequate
boundlessness
describe
striking
attack
forceful
dislike
approaching
anguish
disdain
meager
offensive
vehement
impending
transparent
depict
infinity
spectacular

6. Structure of the text Part 1 ( Paras1---4) Part 2 ( Paras5---11)

7. Summary of Part 1
The newly disclosed correspondence between Albert Einstein and his first wife Maric reveals their anguished love affair, their excitement over the impending birth of their child and their love for science.

8. Summary of Part 2
The disclosed letters reveal Einstein's efforts to participate in the revolution taking place in many fields of physics and also his mother's disdain for Maric.

9. Part 3 perceive To become aware of … through the senses 察觉， 发觉，看作
See / realize / observe
He was learning to perceive.
He perceived that he could not make his son change his mind.
perceived threats
Nobody hopes to be perceived as a loser.

10. Summary 3
Discussions of scientific questions such as relative motion, absolute rest and infinity with which Einstein and Maric were both concerned dominate their correspondence.

11. Part fall into place
If something falls into place, you suddenly understanding something that you previously have been unable to understand
If things fall into place, they start to happen in the way you want them to.
It all fell into place when I learned he’d been to London that weekend.
After weeks of total chaos, suddenly everything just fell into place.

12. Summary of Part 5
Their excitement over the impending birth of their child is described in these letters and the mention of scarlet fever is the last reference to the child in the correspondence.

13. Text summary
The newly disclosed correspondence between Albert Einstein and his first wife Maric is of great importance to historians of science. These letters reveal their anguished love affair, information about their little girl, and last but not least, their passion for science.

14. New Words version perceive confide dominate intertwine propagate
intersperse
contemplate
diminutive

15. version An interpretation of a matter from a particular viewpoint
看法， 诠释， 版本
Interpretation / representation
Give me your version of what happened.
the film version of Tom Jones
Einstein had already adopted some version of the relativity principle, although not in its final form.

16. confide Reveal in private Give … to the care or protection of another
Show confidence by imparting secrets
透露，委托，信赖地向某人述说
Expose / reveal / disclose / unwrap
Einstein confided in her his efforts to participate in the revolution taking place in many fields of physics.
Don’t confide your secrets to your friends.
The children were confided to the care of a neighbour.

17. dominate To have a commanding place or position in …
Have control over…
支配， 左右， 操纵，占优势
Rule / control / govern / act upon / command
Their interest in physics dominates the correspondence despite their personal difficulties.
Don’t let yourself be dominated by circumstances.
Name brands dominate the market.
The strong dominate over the weak.

18. intertwine To unite by twisting one with another
To become mutually involved
纠缠，缠结
--- Twist / twine / knit / distort
Intertwined with the disclosures of a difficult romance are fragments of Einstein’s thought.
There was a fence intertwined with ivy.

19. Propagate The trees propagate themselves by seeds.
To cause to continue or increase by sexual or asexual reproduction 繁殖
To cause to spread out and affect a greater number or greater area 传播
To travel through space or a material 传送
The trees propagate themselves by seeds.
Since bacteria propagate more quickly in unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.
Light is propagated through space in a straight line.

20. contemplate 1. contemplate the vastness of the universe
To view or consider with continued attention 仔细考虑
To view … as probable 预期，期待
1. contemplate the vastness of the universe
2. She is contemplating a change of work
3. We did not contemplate such as a consequence.

21. intersperse He interspersed the text with explanatory diagrams.
To place something at intervals in or among 配置
To insert at intervals among others 点缀
He interspersed the text with explanatory diagrams.
Bushes are interspersed among the trees.
Interspersed among

22. diminutive She has diminutive hands for an adult.
A name formed with suffixes indicating “small” (kitchenette), by clipping (Jim) or altering (Peggy) to express endearment 昵称
small / little
She has diminutive hands for an adult.
Despite its diminutive size, the car is quite comfortable.
“Lieserl” is a diminutive of “Liese”.

23. Paraphrase
Maric appears to have been more of a sounding board than a contributor to Einstein’s ideas.
---(music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument; here, it refers to a person whose reactions to Einstein’s ideas as an indication of its acceptability 共鸣板；宣传者
The theory ruled out the possibility of absolute rest.
---to make impossible （eg, Heavy rain ruled out the picnic.) 排除
The little fellow had not been so cruelly confined to the earth.
---restrict; close on; hold within a location 限制；禁闭
… how a body’s relative motion with respect to the luminiferous ether affects the velocity of a propagation of light in transparent bodies.
物体与传光以太的相对运动如何影响光在透明物体中的传播速度……
---concerning (eg. With respect to your proposal, we are sorry to say that we cannot agree to it.) 关于
…promises to be a capital paper.
---first-rate, excellent, of primary important 极重要的

24. Grammar 1：定语从句
Particularly remarkable, Mr. Holton said in an interview, is the extent to which their interest in physics dominates the correspondence despite their personal difficulties.

25. Grammar 2：连词的作用
Neither of us has gotten a job and we support ourselves by private lessons—when we can pick up some, which is still very questionable.

26. Writing Exercise The only thing … is … … describe the …; the …; and ….
The only thing that must be solved is how to have our Liesel with us.
… describe the …; the …; and ….
Many of the letters describe the love between the young scientist and his future wife, Mileva Maric; the pain associated with his mother’s vehement disapproval of the relationship; and their excitement over the impending birth of a child.

27. Reading Comprehension
Why is Einsteins’ first romance painful?
What happened to their daughter?
How do people get to know about Einstein’s first wife?
Talk about the relationship between Einstein’s first marriage and his theory of relativity.