The Other Einstein

by Marie Benedict

Time was relative to space. Time was not absolute. Not when there is motion.

While, on its face, these statements appear to be a very simplified restatement of part of the theory of special relativity and its impact on Newton’s Principles of Motion, in fact, they represent the coalescence of the most critical event of Mileva’s life and the inspiration for her possible contribution to that theory, from my fictional perspective. Around the time Albert was working on four of the most groundbreaking theories in physics—papers that literally formed the foundation for modern physics—Mileva had raced to her parents’ home because her daughter Lieserl was desperately ill with scarlet fever. We don’t know for certain what happened to poor Lieserl, but we do know that Lieserl didn’t come home with Mileva and she was never referred to again; given how important motherhood became to Mileva and the fact she didn’t bring the child back with her, I cannot imagine that little Lieserl survived that bout of scarlet fever. With all the women I write about, I am curious about what happened in these women’s lives that gave rise to the incredible contribution they’ve made, the legacy that lives on after them—in Mileva’s case, the theory of special relativity, I’d argue. When I learned that the loss of Lieserl happened right around the time the theories were being formed, I started to think about the link between those two events, the manner in which the devastating death of a child affected the physics lens through which Mileva saw the world. As a mother myself, I would would desperately want to turn back time, to reclaim my child’s life, and it was this thought that led to this scene.