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When the people think of how experts in science came to learn the crucial material relevant to their subject, most would assume that these scientific geniuses learned the majority of the material through some sort of formalized schooling. However, one of the most, if not the most, renowned scientist,  Albert Einstein, had an extremely variable and not completely successful experience with school. The lack of attention given to other “unnecessary” subjects such as English, history and the arts were replaced with an intense rapture for how the world works. His inherent desire to understand everything around him in combination with a few serendipitous opportunities allowed Einstein to develop the educational background that enabled the formulation of his theories.

Coming from a family of non-observant Jews, Albert Einstein was surprisingly enrolled in a devout Catholic elementary school for the beginning half of elementary school.  Once it became clear to the teachers of the Catholic elementary school and his parents of his unusual aptitude towards mathematics, Albert Einstein transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium primary school. He enjoyed his time at Luitpold, but Einstein’s intense interest in the strange phenomenons of the earth stemmed from an entirely different source,  Max Talmud. Talmud, a poor Jewish medical student from Poland, living with the Einstein family with when Albert was 10,  introduced the 10 year old Albert Einstein to some of the more innovative scientific and mathematical books of his time. Fascinated by the topics covered in these books, Einstein streamlined his academic focus towards only the math and sciences.

During the early 1900s, Germany and the rest of Europe was in political chaos, which in turn had a continual disrupting and entropic force upon Einstein’s education. Moving away from Germany, throughout Italy and then finally settling down in Switzerland, Einstein did not spend the majority of his pre-teen years studying for exam finals. When he finally attended secondary school, Einstein struggled academically, so much so that the school threatened to expel him due to his numerous failures.  Achieving fabulous marks (grades) in mathematics and science, Einstein paid no attention to the humanities, subjects he believed to be frivolous. Somehow, he managed to graduate secondary school and attend a university. Following a finishing his degree at the university and a brief teaching stint, Einstein worked at Swiss patent office, reviewing all the patent applications pertaining to electromagnetic devices. This allowed him access to the cutting edge innovations and discoveries of the time, inspiring many of his thought experiments. The combination of these occurrences in his education enabled Einstein to become the forefront scientist of his time.