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[Phys-L] Einstein on Testing



Stephen Krashen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Krashen> on his Facebook page <http://on.fb.me/WAjPsx> wrote:

"Still more from Albert Einstein on the common core standards and tests: "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."

In response Emiko Kiyochi <http://on.fb.me/Y0hJJ7> wrote: "Can you give me the source? I'm always intrigued by quotes from Einstein but I never know where they are from."

To which Krashen replied [my inserts at ". . . .[[insert]]. . . ."]: "Lots of quotes in 'The Expanded Quotable Einstein' . . . . . . . . [[Calaprice (2000); more recently Calaprice (2005, 2011)]]. . . . . . . . Great biography: 'Einstein's Mistakes' [Hans Ohanian (2009) (Susan Ohanian's husband)] (really about the messy path to creativity)."

Standardista-basher Susan Ohanian is at <http://www.susanohanian.org/>.
According to Wikiquote's <http://bit.ly/X2f1N8> listing of Einstein quotes at <http://bit.ly/UebQDr>, the above Einstein quote is from Autobiographical Notes" [Einstein (1979, 1999, pp. 15-16):

"One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect [upon me] that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year"
- Albert Einstein (1999) in "Autobiographical Notes," pp. 15-16.

Another similar Einstein quote is:

"It is a very grave mistake to think that the joy of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and sense of duty. . . .I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness. . . with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry."
- Albert Einstein (1999) in "Autobiographical Notes," pp. 17-19.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Academia: <http://bit.ly/a8ixxm>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
GooglePlus: <http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE

REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 12 Jan 2013.] Calaprice, A. 2000. "The Expanded Quotable Einstein," Princeton University Press, foreword by Freeman Dyson, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/11q5AOw>. Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/W07jmF>

Calaprice, A. 2005. "The New Quotable Einstein," Princeton University Press, foreword by Freeman Dyson, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/V36uft> Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/VSgmJC> , note the searchable "Look Inside" feature.

Calaprice, A. 2010. "The Ultimate Quotable Einstein," Princeton University Press, foreword by Freeman Dyson, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/TRmUHy>. Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/13q9cOT>, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature. An expurgated Google book preview is online at <http://bit.ly/WAAn3x>.

Einstein, A. 1979, 1999. "Autobiographical Notes," Open Court, translated and edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/Y0a4dU>. Amazon.coweim information at <http://amzn.to/WAfCoA>, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature. First published in 1979.

Ohanian. H.C. 2009. "Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius." W.W. Norton, publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/13quVq3.>. Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/11qwxlb>, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature. See also Weinberg (2005).

Weinberg, S. 2005. "Einstein's Mistakes: Science sets itself apart from other paths to truth by recognizing that even its greatest practitioners sometimes err," Physics Today, November, pp. 31-35; online as a 336 kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/VSyoLL>>