Within the framework of Evolutionary Anthropodynamics, Dr. Pronab K. Chowdhury justifies
his characterization of Albert Einstein as a coward by identifying a lifelong pattern of avoiding
duty, abandoning family, and choosing personal comfort over moral or scientific leadership 1, 2.
The author argues that unlike leaders such as Gandhi, Mandela, or Martin Luther King Jr.,
who faced imprisonment or death for their causes, Einstein consistently fled from “difficult
situations” 3, 4.
The author provides the following specific justifications for this assessment:
- Avoiding National and Moral Duty
● Draft Evasion: At age 17, Einstein renounced his German citizenship. The author
asserts this was not an act of political protest, but a cowardly maneuver to avoid
mandatory military service in the German Empire 4-6.
● Leaving School: The author characterizes Einstein’s departure from the Luitpold
Gymnasium—using a medical certificate for “nervous exhaustion”—as a failure to face
the standard discipline and challenges of his education 7. - Failures in Personal Relationships
● Abandonment of Lieserl: Chowdhury highlights Einstein’s role in the abandonment of
his first child, Lieserl. He claims Einstein pressured Mileva Maric to give up the child to
protect his professional prospects in the Swiss Patent Office, choosing his career
over his daughter’s life 8-12.
● Fear of Confrontation: During his separation from Mileva Maric in 1914, Einstein
reportedly refused to face his wife and sons directly. He sent his friend Michele Besso
to finalize the legal details because he was allegedly afraid to face the consequences
of his “horrible crime” of abandoning his family 13. - The 1933 Flight from Germany
The author labels Einstein’s move to America as “shameless cowardice” and a betrayal of the
Jewish community 14, 15.
● Contrast with Dadhichi Muni: The author compares Einstein to the Indian sage
Dadhichi, who sacrificed his life to create a weapon against evil. Chowdhury argues that
if Einstein had stayed in Germany and faced the Nazis—even at the cost of his life—his
status as a “living saint” would have alerted the world years earlier, potentially saving
60,000 Holocaust victims 16-19.
● Choosing the “Comfort Nest”: Instead of staying to defend his “brethren,” Einstein
chose the “luxury” of Princeton, which the author describes as a “comfort nest” where
Einstein could enjoy a high salary and sailing trips while others suffered 15, 20. - Scientific and Intellectual Cowardice
● Opposition to Quantum Mechanics: The author posits that Einstein’s lifelong rejection
of Quantum Mechanics was not scientifically motivated, but a cowardly attempt to
protect his manufactured status as the world’s sole icon of genius from being
overshadowed by younger scientists 21-25.
● Failure to Defend Spinoza: Despite claiming to believe in “Spinoza’s God,” Einstein
never used his global influence to ask the Jewish community to lift the 17th-century ban
on Baruch Spinoza. The author claims Einstein was too afraid of religious authorities
to stand up for his supposed intellectual hero 26-28. - Hypocrisy Regarding the Atomic Bomb
● Performance vs. Reality: The author points to Einstein’s participation in a 1946
documentary re-enactment of the signing of the letter to President Roosevelt. He
argues that Einstein’s “cheerful face” and smile during the filming—only one year after
the devastation of Hiroshima—prove that his public expressions of “regret” for the bomb
were a cowardly face-saving performance rather than genuine remorse 26, 29-32.
In summary, the author defines Einstein’s life as one of “hedonistic opportunism,” where
every major decision was made to ensure personal safety and fame at the expense of his family,
his peers, and his evolutionary duty 2, 15, 33.
