Stacks of papers, envelopes and a half to write formulas. These images of Albert Einstein’s desk in his office at Princeton were published by Life magazine in 1955, just months before his death. They can contemplate a blackboard full of equations, a pile of old magazines and even his own pipe momentarily abandoned on one of the notebooks.
We can see, what looks like a dress, some books, a copy of a journal of philosophy and even a glass ashtray. Under the piles of papers were lost atisban pens and unopened letters, documents that might contain the key to the unified theory, which invested unsuccessfully in recent years of his life. At the center of the picture there is a photo of what looks like a square, not people. What Einstein was thinking minutes before it reached the photographer?
On the advantages and disadvantages of having a messy desk authentic treaties have been written, some of whom argue that chaos can be more productive than an order too strict. However, nothing like the quote attributed to Einstein himself supposed to put things in place: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?”
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If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk? nice article
So this is what a genius’ desk looks like. It’s kinda similar to mine… Hmm.. maybe I’ll be a future Einstein!
Hahaha.
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?” – hear hear!
From now on every time I feel the house is a mess I’ll just think what would Einstein do and follow his example. Its true great minds do think alike!
WOULD LIKE TO SEE A BIGGER PHOTO OF THE PHOTOGRAPH
It’s pretty messy, seen messier though. Cool pics nevertheless.
messy smart ass
This makes me feel a lot better about my horribly messy desk…
Aha, I now have a good reasoning whenever my mom shouts about my messy room!
It looks like a junkyard
is Einstein the limit?
May be the ordered documents could have lead him to find the clue to go beyond time. May be…just a thought.
I too feel much better about the state of my desk at the moment after seeing these. Half the time, I really do have better luck finding thing in my “organized” piles than when I actually move things to put them away.
I don’t feel so bad about my own desk now. Unfortunately that’s the only thing albert and I shared in common
they say that a cluttered desk is a result of a cluttered mind…but for me…a messy desk means that you are actually working (but make sure that you clean up every clutter, every evidence of what you were actually doing)
All of you should read Einstein quotes. They are amazing, and will help guide you though acedemic decisions.
I miss smoking my pipes…
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?”nice article – hear hear!
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Ann
SEo
this is not a messy desk at all, this is a working desk, in progress
The sign of a tidy desk is a messy drawer.
Even disordered, it looks artful somehow. Maybe it’s the black and white? Or the charming objects…like an inkwell and twined paper and a pipe and chalk boards.
Somehow I don’t think messy modern academics and the modern analogs would look so whimsical and quaint. A rollerball, a glossy trade journal, omega-3 fish oil pills and a dry erase board? meh.
“A minute sitting on a hot stove goes by as quickly as that of 1 hour kissing a pretty girl” Mr. Einstein explained, the theory of relativity. A messy desk is relative….. Einstein’s wife used to put his carfare (bus) in one pocket, and his lunch money in the other pocket. Sometimes he’d put his carfare in the trolly fare box and not have enough for lunch. I had a professor at SF State (Dr. Posin) that had known Einstein and loved to tell us stories…
Exellent job
I think the b&w makes it look more glamorous than it would appear in reality.
Actually– I’m just jealous that I don’t have a blackboard behind my desk..
i think Einstein was knowing the answer of universe , he was knowing that mind is the door to the universe so whatever you believe in your thoughts are what you see , not vice-versa , that why he told the quote , that “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk” , so its all inside the mind.
To see a messy desk (and office) check out Al Gore’s
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/images/Al-Gore-Office.jpg
Now, that’s messy !
lol i like it
grolf!
the historical equivalent of the (modern) messy desktop on your laptop…?
My desk order is a process, not a state. When I can’t find something, I clean. When I find it, I stop cleaning. Probably not quantifiable, but this method seems to minimize the overall work.
filthy smoking cocksucker should have smoked outside! no more hiroshimas!
Just what I needed to see after being called disorganized by my teacher
The article did not mention that the solution to a complex equation that others had spent years trying to solve was buried in all that mess on his desk. It was found by a person that was given the mission of sorting out the mess.
I think there is a mistake in one of the formulas on the chalkboard.