The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

Author:Marie Benedict
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2016-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

May 31, 1901

Zürich, Switzerland

“Miss Marić, please attend to these numbers more diligently. I had expected far better attention to detail from you.” Professor Weber’s nostrils flared in annoyance. We were reviewing the research underlying my proposed dissertation on heat conductivity, and I had never sat so near to him before. I could see the precision with which he combed his dark beard and the quick flush of his cheeks when he was irritated or disappointed. He was even more intimidating in close proximity.

“Yes, Professor Weber.” As I uttered what seemed like my thousandth “Yes, Professor Weber” of the afternoon, I couldn’t help but think that my return to Zürich from Como felt like the descent of the angels to earth. Even though Albert would laugh at such superstitious nonsense, a biblical passage from Jude, one Mama often quoted, replayed in my head: “The angels who did not keep to their own dominion but deserted their proper dwelling, God has kept in gloom…” Like them, I had fallen from the heights of pure bliss to the dark grind of my final days as a student in Zürich, with only Weber for company. How could I be satisfied with the drudgery of earthly things—and Weber’s nastiness—once I’d had a taste of heaven?

“And don’t think for a second that by quoting my theoretical work on the motion of heat in metal cylinders you can flatter me into an easy pass,” he said, his voice even more thunderous.

“Of course not, sir.” My relationship with Weber had degenerated once his suspicions of my relationship with Albert were confirmed when Albert and I, strolling hand in hand, unexpectedly encountered Weber in Universitätsspital park two months ago. Since my professional future depended almost entirely on him, I was trying anything at my disposal to please him. Obviously, my use of Weber’s own data was a failure. It didn’t help that I kept drifting off into daydreams about the trip to Como, and Weber had to call me to attention.

“Your dissertation research is otherwise sound, but if you cannot perform the calculations accurately, all will be for naught.”

“Yes, Professor Weber,” I answered meekly, almost welling up with tears. Why was I getting so emotional in his presence? I thought I’d been hardened to Weber after years in his company. For some reason, I was feeling more delicate than usual.

Was it attributable to Albert’s inability to visit last Sunday? Required to tutor some struggling students in the hours he had free from actual classroom teaching, he had to stay in Winterthur unexpectedly. Perhaps without his bolstering company for a week, I felt more fragile when faced with Weber’s tongue-lashing.

Still, my vulnerability surprised me. Could the cause possibly be something else? Perhaps the separation from Albert—and the instability in our shared future—was hitting me harder than I’d anticipated.

Albert had been able to visit the past several Sundays, although I’d been all nerves before he arrived for the first Sunday after our tryst in Como. Even though his letters had

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