Einstein’s Wife: The Life of Mileva Maric is an Australian documentary film which was shown on US television (PBS) in 2003.
The purpose of this film is to prove that Albert Einstein’s first wife Mileva Maric (1875-1948) made significant contributions to her husband’s scientific work.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Director: Nicola Wolmington
** Writer & producer: Geraldine Hilton
** Narrator: Eric Thomson
** Released on DVD in 2003
** Run time: 53 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
** Professor Freeman Dyson - physicist
** Andrea Gabor - writer
** Dr Gerald Holton - science historian
** Professor Dord Krstic - historian of physics
** Dennis Overbye - writer
** Dr Robert Schulmann - Einstein Papers Project, CalTech
** Dr John Stachel - director, Center for Einstein Studies
** Dr Senta Troemel-Ploetz - linguist
** Dr Evan Harris Walker - physicist
Mileva Maric was born in 1875. In 1903 she married Albert Einstein who was four years younger than her. He was born in 1879. They separated in 1914 and divorced in 1919.
Mileva was Einstein’s wife in 1905 when his most important papers were published. This film aims to prove two things:
(1) Mileva made significant contributions to her husband’s scientific work
(2) Because she was a woman, this fact was never made known to the world
Having watched the film, I can say that these claims are not proven in this film.
Some of the people who are interviewed for the film say it is possible or likely, but no solid proof is offered.
Some of the people who are interviewed for the film have later explained that they did not know the real purpose of the film when the interview was made.
They add that if they had known the truth at the time, they would not have wanted to be a part of the film.
According to several scholars, whose names and publications are listed below, Mileva made no significant contributions to her husband’s scientific work:
Abraham Pais,
Einstein Lived Here
(1994)
Gerald Holton,
Einstein, History and Other Passions
(1996)
John Stachel,
Einstein, from B to Z
(2002)
Alberto A. Martinez,
Handling Evidence in History:
The Case of Einstein’s Wife
(2005)
Alice Calaprice & Trevor Lipscombe,
Einstein: A Biography
(2005)
Both Holton and Stachel appear in the film. But they do not support the claim made in the film. They only offer some general information about Einstein and Mileva.
I assume the filmmakers wanted to include them, because they are recognized as experts on Einstein.
Having them in the film may give the film more authority and may give the viewer the impression that they support the claim made in it, which is not true.
Mileva herself never made such a claim in public. Nor did she make any such claim in her letters to her close friend Helene Savic.
The British mathematician Allen Esterson has criticized this film frequently since he became aware of it in 2005.
On his website, there are several documents which explain what is wrong with it, including a point-by-point rebuttal of false and misleading statements made in the film.
Esterson urged PBS to stop showing the film on television, because it is fundamentally flawed.
He also urged PBS to delete the special page about the film from the PBS website.
This was done in 2017. Perhaps because of his efforts. When I tried to visit this page via an old link to the film, I got a message saying:
“Oops! This page has been retired.”
But there was no explanation as to why the page had been deleted.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 70 percent.
On Amazon there are at the moment 6 ratings of this product; 5 with reviews.
The average rating is 3.5 stars which corresponds to a rating of 70 percent.
Given that this film fails to prove its general point, it is obvious that both ratings are far too high.
I have to go all the way to the bottom with this product. I think it deserves a rating of one star (20 percent).
PS # 1. Albert and Mileva wrote numerous letters to each other. Many of them have been preserved. In the film there are numerous excerpts from these letters. The excerpts are translated into English.
Whenever a letter written by Albert is quoted, the text is read by a person who speaks English with a heavy German accent. This is silly.
The original letters are in German, but when they are translated into English, there is no need to add a German accent!
PS # 2. Some feminists may love this film, because it tells us that a man made sure that a woman was denied the credit she deserved. But now at last she is vindicated.
Focusing on women who suffered such a fate is fine, but in this case, there is no evidence to prove the claim. Other cases would be more relevant.
Here are some examples:
** Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) –
an English mathematician
** Lise Meitner (1878-1968) –
an Austrian-Swedish physicist
** Emmy Noether (1882-1935) –
a German mathematician
** Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) –
an English chemist
PS # 3. Genius is a US television series which premiered in 2017.
It is an anthology period drama. This means each season will focus on the life and career of a person who is considered a genius:
** Season 1 (2017) focuses on Einstein
** Season 2 (2018) focuses on Picasso
** Season 3 (2021) focuses on Aretha Franklin
** Season 4, which is still in production, will focus on two persons: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric:
The Love Letters
Edited by Jurgen Renn and Robert Schulmann
(1992 Hardcover)
(2000 Paperback)
In Einstein’s Shadow:
The Life and Letters of Einstein’s First Wife
Edited by Milan Popovic
(2003)
Behind Every Great Man: The Forgotten Women Behind the World’s Famous and Infamous
By Marlene Wagman-Geller
(2015)
Einstein’s Wife:
The Real Story of Mileva Einstein-Maric
By Allen Esterson and David C. Cassidy
With a contribution by Ruth Lewin Sime
(2019 Hardcover)
(2020 Paperback)
*****
The famous German-born scientist
Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)
*****
Milena Maric
(1875-1948)
Einstein first wife
(married 1903)
(separated 1914)
(divorced 1919)
*****
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