When Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955, he had one simple request: cremate his body and scatter the ashes in secret to avoid creating a creepy tourist attraction. But one man, pathologist Thomas Harvey, had other ideas. In an act of either scientific ambition or straight-up grave-robbing, Harvey sawed open Einstein's skull during the autopsy and stole his brain.
This wasn't a heist for money or fame, at least not directly. Harvey was obsessed with discovering the biological secret to Einstein's genius. He convinced Einstein's furious son, Hans Albert, to grant him permission to study the brain, promising a groundbreaking scientific report. Then, for the next 40 years, the world's most famous brain went on a bizarre, cross-country road trip, mostly in a glass jar stored in a box labeled "Costa Cider."
For decades, Harvey kept his prized possession hidden. He lost his job, his marriage, and his medical license, but he never lost the brain. In 1978, a reporter named Steven Levy finally tracked him down in Wichita, Kansas. After some convincing, Harvey revealed his treasure, pulling two large mason jars from a beer cooler. Inside, floating in formaldehyde, were the preserved, sectioned pieces of Albert Einstein's brain.
Harvey had sliced the brain into 240 blocks and created over 1,000 microscope slides, occasionally mailing a piece to a curious researcher in a Kraft Miracle Whip mayonnaise jar. But for the most part, the brain just went where he went—from a closet in his house to the trunk of his Buick.
In 1997, the story reached peak absurdity when Harvey, then in his 80s, decided to drive the brain from New Jersey to California to meet Einstein's granddaughter. He was accompanied by writer Michael Paterniti, who documented the surreal journey. For days, the two men drove across America with the remains of a genius sloshing around in a Tupperware container in the trunk.
After decades of very little science, a few studies did emerge. Researchers found some unusual features: Einstein's brain had an extra ridge on his mid-frontal lobe (used for planning), his parietal lobes (linked to mathematical thought) were wider and more integrated, and he had a thicker corpus callosum, suggesting better communication between his brain's hemispheres. But critics argue these findings are speculative at best. You can't prove genius by looking at one unique brain.
In 1998, Harvey finally returned what was left of the brain to Princeton Hospital, where it remains to this day. The story of its 40-year journey is a weird, slightly creepy, and utterly fascinating footnote in the life of a man who changed the world, proving that even in death, Einstein couldn't escape being a phenomenon.
1.BBC News - "The strange afterlife of Einstein's brain" A comprehensive overview of the entire saga, from the moment the brain was taken to the modern-day studies. A must-read for the full story. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32354300
2.NPR - "The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain" This piece includes interviews and audio clips that bring the bizarre road trip to life. It's a great companion to understanding the human side of the story. https://www.npr.org/2005/04/18/4602913/the-long-strange-journey-of-einsteins-brain
3.Live Science - "Where is Einstein's brain?" A more recent article that explains where the different pieces of the brain are now and what scientists have learned (or haven't learned) from them. https://www.livescience.com/where-is-albert-einstein-brain
