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.
