Books like Possessing Genius by Carolyn Abraham


In April 1955, Thomas Stolz Harvey, chief pathologist at Princeton Hospital, performed the dissection of Albert Einstein’s cadaver, securing the brain for scientific study. Harvey negotiated a controversial agreement with Einstein’s family to keep the organ locked away from souvenir hunters and the press, pledging access only for serious research. For decades the brain remained in Harvey’s possession, being sliced, diced, probed, prodded, and weighed by scientists seeking to locate the source of Einstein’s genius. The tale traces the brain’s journey from its postwar extraction to the modern era, revealing the intertwined ambitions and vanities that shape our understanding of human intellect. Carolyn Abraham compiles unpublished correspondence between Harvey and Otto Nathan, the executor of Einstein’s estate, weaving a narrative that is both engrossing and illuminating while chronicling this iconic relic’s saga.
First publish date: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography/Biography
Authors: Carolyn Abraham
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Possessing Genius by Carolyn Abraham

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