Einstein's blackboard: Why this hidden treasure is tucked away at a UK university
In the heart of Nottingham, in the U.K., a unique blackboard holds a moment frozen in time with traces of a genius' life.
The blackboard stands as the only one of its kind to be known in the world which has both Albert Einstein's scientific notations and signature, a personal touch from one of the greatest minds in history.
This piece of the board has remained untouched since 1930 when Einstein gave a speech at Nottingham University after he was invited by the head of the physics department at the time, Henry Brose.
Brose and Einstein had built a relationship since they were in an internment camp together in Germany in World War I, as Antonio Padilla, professor of physics who teaches general relativity at Nottingham University, told ABC News.
The day of the speech, Einstein was late as he went to see Isaac Newton's birthplace, which is not far from Nottingham University, Padilla said, adding that there was a big crowd waiting outside for Einstein, according to the reports of the historic day. When Einstein arrived, he gave a speech in German.
The writing on the board is believed to be largely an overview of the talk.
"I think he was building towards what's called a unified theory, which is kind of what you might call nowadays the theory of everything," Padilla said.
But, right after the speech, somebody kept a little bit of the board un-wiped to preserve it, while, someone else rushed to the board and took away the piece of chalk that Einstein had used for his writing.
Decades later, the chalk was given back to the university and is now preserved in a small box on a small cotton pillow. A thin piece of string is wrapped around the chalk to hold it without touching the piece of chalk.
The blackboard helps highlight the significance of knowing scientists as real people and the importance of studying the history of science, especially for younger scientists, Padilla said. An object like the blackboard can serve as a reminder of someone almost mythically known as Einstein.
"The people behind the physics, behind the mathematics, these are real people that do these amazing ideas," he said. "We talk about Einstein's ideas. But Einstein was a person who was a real person with real feelings and real relationships. And I think it's important to learn about those when you're sort of understanding almost where the physics came from. It's part of the whole package, and you can't disentangle the two," he added, hoping that young students get to know him as he was.
"He was not a part of the establishment and the dominant areas at the time. He really had to battle to get where he was," he said.
Now, almost 95 years later, the board is being kept under glass protection in a meeting room at the end of a hallway in the physics building of the university. While it is safe and secure, not many people are aware it exists, not even most college students who study in that building.
"I had no idea we have this board in this building! Where is it?" Bora Gune, a 23-year-old Nottingham University student, said when asked if he knew about the blackboard. He said he visits the building regularly to attend different seminars.
Hoping to give the historic piece more visibility, several academics of Nottingham University said they would like to relocate it.
On the eve of Einstein's birthday, March 14, Padilla called for help from art preservation experts to assist relocating the blackboard to a more visible location.
Max Conway-Nield, another student at Nottingham, said he would love to see the board at the entrance of the school so he can "show it off" to his family when they come to his graduation ceremony.
"It deserves celebration and sharing. I didn't know it was here. It could be a great inspiration to me and many other students to see it."
