Carolyn and I have appreciated the work of writer, speaker, poet, and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century and is considered one of America’s most influential thinkers. He was regarded as a champion of individualism and critical thought, and a critic of the societal pressures that push toward conformity. In other words, he was one of the original spokespeople for ‘doing your own thing’ and ‘thinking for yourself’.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1803. His father was a Unitarian minister, who passed away when he was only eight, leaving his mother to raise him and his five siblings in modest circumstances. Despite financial challenges, his childhood was marked by intellectual influence, particularly from his aunt, who encouraged his love for reading and philosophical inquiry.

Emerson attended the Boston Latin School, where he excelled academically, and in 1812, he entered Harvard College at the age of 14. During these years, he developed a deep interest in literature and writing, while also grappling with the pressure to follow in his father’s footsteps as a minister. In 1821, when he was 18, Emerson served as Class Poet, and he presented an original poem on Harvard’s Class Day, a month before his graduation. That year Emerson graduated from Harvard College and then briefly worked as a schoolteacher, although he found this occupation unfulfilling.

In 1823, Emerson entered Harvard Divinity School, following a path toward ministry. However, during this period, he began to question some of the traditional religious doctrines of his time. In 1825, he was licensed to preach, preparing for a career as a Unitarian minister. However, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to do this, due to the questions that he had about conventional theology.

In 1826, Emerson faced some health challenges, which led him to leave his ministry studies temporarily. He was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1829, and in the same year, he married Ellen Louisa Tucker, whose death from tuberculosis in 1831 deeply affected him. This tragedy, combined with growing dissatisfaction with traditional religious practices, led Emerson to resign from the ministry in 1832. In 1833, he traveled to Europe, meeting influential thinkers like Thomas Carlyle and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which deepened his philosophical insights. In 1835, Emerson settled in Concord, Massachusetts, and he began establishing himself as a leading voice in Transcendentalism, which he felt a strong resonance with.

Transcendentalism was a philosophical and literary movement in the early 19th century that emphasized the inherent goodness of people and nature, as well as the importance of individual intuition and spiritual experience. It rejected organized religion and materialism, advocating for self-reliance, personal freedom, and a deep connection to the natural world as pathways to understanding higher truths. Transcendentalists believe that true knowledge transcends empirical observation and can be accessed through inner reflection and communion with nature. The movement sought to challenge the conformity of society and inspire a more profound spiritual and intellectual awakening.

In 1836, Emerson published his essay Nature, which laid the foundation for Transcendentalist philosophy. In this essay, Emerson divides nature into four usages: Commodity, Beauty, Language, and Discipline. These distinctions define the ways by which humans use nature for their basic needs, their desire for delight, their communication with one another, and their understanding of the world. That same year, Emerson helped found the Transcendental Club, which gathered together like-minded thinkers.
In 1837, Emerson met poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. At that time, Thoreau was a young graduate from Harvard. Their initial meeting happened when Thoreau attended one of Emerson’s lectures. Impressed by Thoreau’s intellectual potential, Emerson invited him into his circle of transcendentalist thinkers. The two became good friends as they shared common ideas about nature, individualism, and transcendentalism. Emerson was a mentor to Thoreau, encouraging him to write and think independently. Their relationship deepened when Thoreau lived in a small cabin on Emerson’s land at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847, during which time Thoreau wrote much of Walden. Although their friendship had occasional tensions— mainly because of differences in their philosophies— it remained a significant intellectual bond throughout their lives, and Emerson referred to Thoreau as his “best friend.”

In 1837, Emerson delivered his lecture, The American Scholar at Harvard, calling for intellectual independence, and this was hailed by transcendentalists as America’s “intellectual Declaration of Independence.” In 1841, Emerson also published Essays and a year later Essays: Second Series, which contained some of his most famous essays, like Self-Reliance and The Over-Soul, establishing his reputation as a major American thinker and writer.

Emerson’s spiritual perspective centered on the belief that divinity resides within each individual and that spiritual truth can be accessed through personal intuition rather than organized religion. He viewed nature as a direct manifestation of the divine, advocating for a deep, personal connection with the natural world as a means to understand higher spiritual truths. Emerson rejected traditional religious dogma, emphasizing self-reliance, inner wisdom, and the unity of all creation. His spiritual philosophy, influenced by Transcendentalism, celebrated the individual’s direct experience of the divine and the idea that every person has the capacity for profound spiritual insight.

In the 1840s, Emerson had a brief venture into beekeeping. Inspired by his deep connection to nature, he decided to try beekeeping at his home in Concord. However, the experiment didn’t last long. When one of his hives was destroyed by a bear, Emerson abandoned the endeavor. Despite this, the experience reflected his hands-on approach to understanding nature, which he so often wrote about.

In 1847, Emerson traveled to Europe for a second time, delivering lectures that further enhanced his international reputation. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1850, Emerson published his work Representative Men, which profiled historical figures like Plato and Shakespeare, exploring the nature of genius. Throughout the 1850s, Emerson increasingly engaged with social and political issues. In 1855, he read and praised Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, recognizing Whitman as a powerful new voice in American literature. Whitman called Emerson his “master.”

In 1857, Emerson co-founded the literary and cultural magazine The Atlantic Monthly with some of his friends, and the magazine is published to this day. During the Civil War Emerson strongly supported the Union cause and the abolition of slavery, sometimes speaking and writing against it, although he was hesitant about lecturing on the subject due to concerns that he had about being in the public limelight about this. In 1862, Emerson delivered a eulogy for his friend Thoreau, who died at the age of 44 of tuberculosis. In 1860, Emerson’s The Conduct of Life was published, a collection of essays addressing themes of fate, power, and wealth. In 1867, Emerson‘s health began to decline, although he remained a prominent intellectual, celebrated for his contributions to American thought and literature. Friedrich Nietzsche said that he was “the most gifted of the Americans.” In 1870, Emerson published Society and Solitude, a collection of essays that reflected his mature thoughts on personal reflection and societal roles.

In 1871 or 1872, Emerson started experiencing memory problems and he suffered from aphasia, a disorder that affects how one communicates. By the end of the decade, he sometimes forgot his name. However, if asked how he felt, he would respond, “Quite well; I have lost my mental faculties, but am perfectly well.” Despite his declining memory and mental sharpness, he remained active in public life and continued lecturing until the mid-1870s. In 1872, his house in Concord was damaged by fire, but it was quickly rebuilt with the help of friends and admirers. Around 1875, Emerson’s public appearances became less frequent due to his deteriorating health. His last significant public event was in 1878 when he attended the unveiling of a statue of The Minute Man in Concord.

In 1882, Emerson fell ill with pneumonia and he passed away that year at his home in Concord. His death marked the end of an era for American intellectual life, and he was widely mourned. Emerson was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, near the graves of other prominent Transcendentalists.

As a pioneering philosopher, essayist, and poet, Emerson profoundly shaped American intellectual and literary culture. As a leader of the Transcendentalist movement, he championed individualism, self-reliance, and the deep connection between humans and nature, influencing generations of thinkers, writers, and social reformers. Emerson’s ideas contributed to the development of American pragmatism, environmental thought, and the rise of social movements such as abolitionism and women’s rights, and his essays remain foundational texts in American philosophy, promoting personal freedom and spiritual exploration.

Some of the quotes that Ralph Waldo Emerson is known for include:

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.

The earth laughs in flowers.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

by David Jay Brown

Carolyn and I have appreciated the work of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, one of the most influential scientists in human history. He is best known for developing the theory of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. His mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc² is considered the most famous scientific equation in the world, and he was a dedicated champion for peace.

Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire. His parents were secular Ashkenazi Jews. Einstein‘s father was a salesman and engineer, who ran a business that manufactured electrical equipment. His mother was a well-educated woman who played a significant role in her son’s early education, particularly in music. She was a talented pianist, and her influence is thought to have contributed to Einstein’s lifelong love of music.

Shortly after Einstein’s birth, his family moved to Munich, where his father and uncle co-founded an electrical engineering company. During his early years, Einstein’s parents noticed his slow development, particularly his delayed speech, which caused them some concern. Despite this, he exhibited a strong curiosity and interest in the world around him, often spending long periods pondering simple objects. The family environment was intellectually stimulating, with his mother nurturing his interest in music, particularly the violin, and his father exposing him to scientific ideas.

In 1884, at the age of five, Einstein had a pivotal experience with a compass, which deepened his fascination with invisible forces and sparked his lifelong interest in understanding the mysteries of the natural world. In 1885, at the age of six, he began taking violin lessons, and he became a passionate violinist who played the instrument throughout most of his life.

In 1888, Einstein started attending the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich, where he was an excellent student, although his personality often clashed with the rigid, rote-learning educational system. Einstein’s independent spirit and curiosity often put him at odds with the school’s strict approach, but he found solace in self-study, particularly in mathematics, which he pursued with great enthusiasm. In 1891, at the age of 12, Einstein began teaching himself advanced mathematics, including calculus, which fueled his fascination with physics.

During this period, his family’s business began to struggle, leading to financial difficulties. In 1894, when Einstein was 15, his family moved to Italy for better business opportunities, but he stayed behind to finish school. However, unhappy with the schooling system, Einstein eventually left the Luitpold Gymnasium and joined his family in Italy.

That same year Einstein applied to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich. Although he initially failed the entrance exam in 1895, he was accepted after completing additional schooling in Aarau, Switzerland. In 1896, Einstein renounced his German citizenship to avoid military service and became stateless. He then enrolled at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, where he studied under renowned physicists and developed his foundational ideas in theoretical physics. By 1901, Einstein graduated with a teaching diploma, became a Swiss citizen, and he published his first scientific paper.

In 1902, Einstein began working at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, a job that provided him with financial stability and ample time to pursue his scientific interests. In 1905, Einstein published four groundbreaking papers that fundamentally changed the understanding of physics. These papers introduced the theory of special relativity, the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and the equivalence of mass and energy (E=mc²), establishing him as a leading physicist.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity states that the laws of physics are the same for all observers, regardless of their constant speed, and that the speed of light is constant in a vacuum. This understanding leads to unusual phenomena like time dilation and length contraction when objects move close to the speed of light.

In 1909, Einstein left the patent office to accept a full-time academic position at the University of Zurich, marking the beginning of his academic career. In 1912, Einstein moved to Prague to take up a professorship and then returned to Zurich, where he continued to develop his theories, including the early stages of his work on general relativity.

In 1913, Einstein accepted a position at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, where he also became the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. During World War I, despite the turbulent times, Einstein continued his work on the theory of general relativity, which he completed in 1915.

General relativity expanded his concept of special relativity by describing gravity not as a force, but as a curvature of spacetime caused by mass and energy. Massive objects cause spacetime to curve, and this curvature affects the motion of objects and the flow of time. This theory revolutionized the understanding of gravity and was experimentally confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse, which brought Einstein global fame.

The 1920s saw Einstein become a prominent public figure, traveling extensively and promoting his scientific ideas. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, which was crucial in the development of quantum theory. Throughout this period, Einstein also engaged in various humanitarian and political causes, advocating for peace and Zionism. During the end of this decade, Einstein focused on unifying the fundamental forces of physics, although he grew increasingly skeptical of the emerging field of quantum mechanics. In the early 1930s, as the political situation in Germany deteriorated with the rise of the Nazi regime, he decided to leave Germany.

In 1933, when Einstein was fleeing Germany to the United States, he stopped in England, where he stayed with the famous author H.G. Wells. During this visit, Einstein met Charlie Chaplin at the premiere of the film City Lights. Chaplin reportedly said, “They cheer me because they all understand me, and they cheer you because no one understands you,” to which Einstein smiled in agreement.

That same year Einstein settled in the United States, accepting a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where he would remain for the rest of his life. During this time, Einstein became an outspoken advocate against fascism and war, supporting efforts to help Jewish refugees. He also played a role in alerting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the potential of nuclear weapons, contributing to the initiation of the Manhattan Project, although he was a lifelong pacifist.

In 1940, Einstein became an American citizen, fully committed to both his scientific pursuits and his advocacy for global peace and human rights. After the war, Einstein became a vocal advocate for nuclear disarmament, warning about the dangers of atomic weapons and promoting peaceful uses of atomic energy. He was an outspoken supporter of civil rights and was affiliated with various humanitarian causes. Einstein became a symbol of intellectual freedom and moral integrity, and in 1952 he rejected an offer to become the president of Israel, choosing instead to focus on science and advocacy.

Einstein’s views on spirituality were complex and nuanced. He did not believe in a personal God or traditional religious doctrines, but he often spoke of a “cosmic religion” or “cosmic sense” that reflected a deep reverence for the order and mystery of the universe. He saw spirituality in the awe and wonder inspired by nature and the intricate laws governing the cosmos, famously saying, “God does not play dice with the universe.” Einstein’s spirituality was rooted in his belief in a rational, comprehensible universe, which he felt revealed a higher order or intelligence, though not one tied to human-like deities or religious dogma.

Despite declining health in his final years, Einstein remained active in his research and public life. He also continued to work on his Unified Field Theory, although it remained incomplete at the time of his death. Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76, leaving behind a legacy that profoundly shaped both the scientific world and broader society.

Einstein’s theories revolutionized our understanding of space and time, and he was a passionate advocate for peace, civil rights, and humanitarian causes, using his fame to influence global affairs. His contributions continue to shape modern physics, and his image remains synonymous with creativity, curiosity, and the pursuit of knowledge.

Some of the quotes that Albert Einstein is known for include:

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.

If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

by David Jay Brown