Home >> Legendary Mud Puds >> Pioneering Thinkers >> Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass-energy equivalence: E=mc2. His contributions outside of science include tremendous humanitarian efforts as an advocate for civil rights. Einstein is revered by the physics community, and in 1999, Time magazine named him the “Person of the Century.” In popular culture, the name “Einstein” has become synonymous with genius. He is recognized as one of the most influential people in history.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Being Beneath the Dirt

Although Albert Einstein had early speech difficulties, he was a top student in elementary school. At 10 years old, Albert was introduced to key science, mathematics, and philosophy texts, and he began to understand deductive reasoning at an early age. By the age of 12, he learned geometry from a school booklet, and soon thereafter he began to investigate calculus. In his teens, Einstein clashed with authorities in school and resented the regimen. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought were lost in strict rote learning.

When Einstein was 15 years old, his father’s business failed, and the family relocated to Italy. Albert had been left behind in Munich, Germany, to finish high school, but he withdrew to join his family, convincing the school to let him go by using a doctor’s note. Rather than completing high school, he decided to apply directly to an institute of higher education in Zurich, Switzerland. Without a school certificate, he was required to take an entrance examination, which he did not pass. The Einstein’s sent Albert to Switzerland to finish secondary school, where he graduated, and then he was finally enrolled in the mathematics program he had applied for earlier.

Branching Out Roots for Balance

Following graduation, Einstein could not find a teaching post. After nearly two years of searching, a former acquaintance helped get him a job as an evaluator of patent applications. While he was working in the patent office, in 1905, Einstein had four papers published in the leading German physics journal, one of which described what later became the well-known expression: E = mc2. All four papers are today recognized as tremendous achievements, and hence, that year is Einstein’s life is known as his “Wonderful Year.”

At the time, however, Einstein’s papers were not noticed by most physicists as being important. Some scientists rejected them. Some of Einstein’s work remained controversial for years. At the age of 26, Einstein was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. Einstein continued to work at the patent office, but he did not give up on academia. He continued to write and publish papers, introducing radical new concepts and growing in distinction. Eventually, he became a professor and taught in various European institutions.

Rising like a Surfacing Stem

In 1919, a photograph of a solar eclipse taken by a team of astronomers confirmed one of Einstein’s predictions related to the gravitational deflection of starlight by the Sun. News of this discovery made the headlines, deemed as a “Revolution in Science.” In their excitement, the world media made Albert Einstein world-famous. Two years later, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect,” referring to one of his four 1905 papers.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and one of the first actions of Hitler’s administration was to remove Jews and politically suspect government employees (including university professors) from their jobs, unless they had demonstrated their loyalty to Germany by serving in World War I. Einstein became a target for German censure for several reasons, one of which was his previous renouncement of German citizenship in order to avoid military service. During World War II, there was a campaign to eliminate Einstein’s work from the German lexicon as unacceptable “Jewish physics.” Activists published pamphlets and even textbooks denigrating Einstein, and instructors who taught his theories were blacklisted.

Reaching Fruition

Einstein’s very visible position allowed him to speak and write frankly, even provocatively, at a time when many people of conscience could only flee to the underground. Einstein flouted the ascendant Nazi movement. He wrote affidavits recommending United States visas for a huge number of Jews from Europe trying to flee persecution. He raised money for Zionist organizations and was in part responsible for the formation, in 1933, of the International Rescue Committee. He also tried to be a voice of moderation in the tumultuous formation of the State of Israel, and braved anti-communist politics and resistance to the civil rights movement in the U.S.

He served a great deal of the later part of his life as a participant in several civil rights groups, including the Princeton chapter of the NAACP. With increasing public demands, his involvement in political, humanitarian, and academic projects in various countries, and his new acquaintances with scholars and political figures from around the world, Einstein transitioned from a leader in physics to an influential civil rights advocate. When the aged W.E.B. Du Bois was accused of being a Communist spy, Einstein volunteered as a character witness, and the case was dismissed shortly afterward. Einstein befriended activists, such as Paul Robeson, with whom he served as co-chair of the American Crusade to End Lynching.

Leaving a Legacy

Albert Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels, films, and plays. He is a favorite model for depictions of mad scientists and absent-minded professors; his expressive face and hairstyle have been widely copied and exaggerated. In 1999, Albert Einstein was named “Person of the Century” by Time magazine. He is recognized as one of the most influential people in history, as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and one of the supreme intellects of all time.

Disclaimer: Mud Puds bios are derived from widely-accepted “truths,” as shared in the Public Domain. In the absence of first-hand accounts, information is presented as: “Factual, as far as we know.”

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Home >> Legendary Mud Puds >> Pioneering Thinkers >> Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh

As one of the best known Buddhist teachers in the West, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a practice of mindfulness adapted to Western sensibilities. His teachings and practices appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds. Nhat Hanh is an expatriate Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist.

Being Beneath the Dirt

Nhat Hanh, born in central Vietnam in 1926, joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, studied Buddhism as a novice, and was fully ordained as a monk in his early 20s. Commonly referred to as Thich Nhat Hanh, the title Thích is used by all Vietnamese monks and nuns, meaning that they are part of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan. The Vietnam War confronted the monasteries with the question of whether to adhere to the contemplative life and remain meditating in the monasteries, or to help the villagers suffering under bombings and other devastation of the war. Nhat Hanh was one of those who chose to do both, helping to found the “engaged Buddhism” movement.

Branching Out Roots for Balance

Since the mid 60s, Thich Nhat Hanh has headed a monastic and lay group, called the Order of Inter-Being, teaching the Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and “Engaged Buddhism.” As a Dharmacharya, or Dharma Teacher, from Master Chân Th?t, Thich Nhat Hanh has combined his deep knowledge of a variety of traditional Zen teachings with methods from Theravada Buddhism, insights from Mahayana Buddhism, and ideas from Western psychology to form his approach to modern meditation practice. He has established monastic and practice centers around the world.

Rising like a Surfacing Stem

During the Vietnam War, he aided his fellow monks in their non-violent peace efforts. He led efforts to help rescue Vietnamese boat people in the Gulf of Siam, but was forced to stop because of the hostility of the governments of Thailand and Singapore. Later, Nhat Hanh founded a grassroots relief organization to rebuild bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, and resettled families left homeless during the war.

He traveled to the U.S. with the main goal of urging the American government to withdraw from Vietnam. Thich Nhat Hanh urged Martin Luther King, Jr. to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. Despite his efforts to end the violent conflict in Vietnam, the vietnamese government denied Nhat Hanh permission to return to Vietnam as a result of his involvement in the Paris Peace Accords, signed in 1973. Nhat Hanh went into exile in France.

Reaching Fruition

Nhat Hanh traveled to the U.S. a number of times to study comparative religion at Princeton University, and later lecture at Cornell University and teach at Columbia University. In 1967, the same year Dr. King publicly questioned the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, he nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, stating, “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”

Leaving a Legacy

Thich Nhat Hanh has become an important influence in the development of Western Buddhism. He has published more than 100 books, including more than 40 in English, while also publishing a quarterly Dharma talk in the journal of the Order of Interbeing, the Mindfulness Bell. Nhat Hanh continues to be active in the peace movement, sponsoring retreats for Israelis and Palestinians, encouraging them to listen and learn about each other. He has conducted peace walks attended by thousands of people and he has given speeches urging warring countries to stop fighting and look for non-violent solutions to problems.

Disclaimer: Mud Puds bios are derived from widely-accepted “truths,” as shared in the Public Domain. In the absence of first-hand accounts, information is presented as: “Factual, as far as we know.”

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Home >> Legendary Mud Puds >> Pioneering Thinkers >> Richard St. Barbe Baker

Richard St. Barbe Baker

Richard St. Barbe Baker was an English forester, environmental activist, and author who contributed greatly to worldwide reforestation efforts. As a leader, he founded an organization called the Men of the Trees, active today as the International Tree Foundation, whose many chapters carry out reforestation internationally.

Being Beneath the Dirt

St. Barbe Baker was born into a family that descended from lines of farmers, parsons, and evangelists – with the occasional adventurer amongst his forebears, as well. Since his family’s home was surrounded by a forest, he began to explore the woods at an early age. His interest in the sciences of botany and forestry brought him to inland Canada in 1910, where he lived in rough-hewn conditions, traveling widely on horseback to study the region.

Branching Out Roots for Balance

During his time in Canada and through his forestry studies at Cambridge, he became convinced that the agricultural practices (including the razing of the natural scrub trees) by European settlers were leading to deplorable soil degradation and potential aridity on Canada’s prairies. He realized through observation that deforestation, resulting from the removal of trees without sufficient reforestation, results in soil-loss problems, in declines in habitat and biodiversity, declines in availability of wood for fuel and industrial use, and reduction in quality of life.

Rising like a Surfacing Stem

Working in North Africa, he saw the effects of centuries of land mismanagement. Immediately concerned with the deforestation problems, he set up a tree nursery and founded an organization with Kenya’s Kikuyu people to carry out managed reforestation in the region, utilizing native species. In the regional dialect, the local society was called “Watu wa Miti,” it was a foundation stone for what became an international organization, the Men of the Trees (a translation of the original name). On one occasion, during his reforestation efforts in Africa, an incident occurred in which he defended an African man against abuse by a British official and, thereby running afoul of the Colonial Office, he was discharged from his duties.

Reaching Fruition

On his own again, he attended the First World Forestry Congress in Rome and then went on to work in Palestine and set up a chapter of the Men of the Trees there. St. Barbe Baker won the support of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith who became the first life member of the Men of the Trees in Palestine. He earned the support of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders for a program to reforest Palestine.

The magnitude of his influence reached every continent. He lectured across America, and worked with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish the American Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), said eventually to involve some six-million youths. Even more immense was his challenge of gradually reclaiming the Sahara Desert through the strategic planting of trees. This idea took shape after a 25,000-mile expedition around the Desert (through 24 countries) that he made with a team in 1964.

Leaving a Legacy

St. Barbe Baker’s organization, the Men of the Trees, eventually grew to be known as the International Tree Foundation. Ultimately, there were chapters in over 100 countries. By some estimates, organizations he founded or assisted have been responsible for planting at least 26 trillion trees, internationally. After World War II, a lecture tour into Austria, Germany and other countries launched his concept of an international Green Front to promote the idea of reforestation worldwide.

Disclaimer: Mud Puds bios are derived from widely-accepted “truths,” as shared in the Public Domain. In the absence of first-hand accounts, information is presented as: “Factual, as far as we know.”

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Home >> Legendary Mud Puds >> Pioneering Thinkers >> Wangari Muta Maathair

Wangari Muta Maathai

Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai is an environmental and political activist. In 2004 she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”

Being Beneath the Dirt

Active on both environmental and women’s issues, Maathai has been imprisoned several times and violently attacked. She fought, for example, to end political corruption and tribal politics. In another instance, her husband of 11 years divorced her, claiming that she was too strong-minded for a woman and that he was unable to control her. The judge in the divorce case agreed with the husband, and Wangari was put in jail for speaking out against the judge.

Branching Out Roots for Balance

After finishing school in Kenya, Maathai traveled to the United States where she obtained a Master’s Degree in biology, before returning to Nairobi. There, she earned the first Ph.D. awarded to an Eastern African woman. Since that time, she has contributed immensely to environmental campaigns in Kenya. In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots environmental non-governmental organization, which has now planted over 40 million trees across Kenya to prevent soil erosion. She later spearheaded the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign. She has come to be affectionately called “Tree Woman” or “The Tree Mother of Africa.”

Rising like a Surfacing Stem

In 1997, in Kenya’s second multi-party elections marred by ethnic violence, she ran for the country’s presidency. She was a minor candidate among several contenders. In 2002 Maathai was elected to parliament when the National Rainbow Coalition, which she represented, defeated the ruling party Kenya African National Union. She has been Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife since 2003, and in 2005, she was elected as the first president of the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council.

Reaching Fruition

In 2006, Maathai was one of the founders of The Nobel Women’s Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire. These six women, representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. The goal of the Nobel Women’s Initiative is to help strengthen work being done in support of women’s rights around the world.

Leaving a Legacy

In a statement announcing her as the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, “Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression—nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation.”

Disclaimer: Mud Puds bios are derived from widely-accepted “truths,” as shared in the Public Domain. In the absence of first-hand accounts, information is presented as: “Factual, as far as we know.”

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