Bernhard Caesar Einstein (10 July 1930 – 30 September 2008) was a Swiss-American engineer, the son of

Hans Albert Einstein Hans Albert Einstein (May 14, 1904 – July 26, 1973) was a Swiss-American engineer, the second child and first son of physicists Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić. He was a long-time professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of Cal ...

. Of the three known biological grandchildren of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, all sons of Hans, he was the only one to survive childhood. After attending

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

and

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

, Bernard worked as an engineer at several companies and organizations, including

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

and

Litton Industries Litton Industries, Inc., was an American defense contractor that specialized in shipbuilding, aerospace, electronic components, and information technology. The company was founded in 1953 and was named after inventor Charles Litton Sr., who was ...

, receiving numerous patents in electronics.

Early life and family

Bernhard Einstein was the son of Hans Albert Einstein and Frieda Einstein (née Knecht), who had married in 1927 in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He was born on 10 July 1930 in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, Germany, where Hans Albert was involved in a bridge building project. Hans Albert was the only one of Albert Einstein's three children to marry and have children. Bernhard spent his early years in Switzerland until the age of eight, when his parents moved to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Albert Einstein was very worried about the rise of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and encouraged his son Hans Albert to emigrate to the United States as he himself had done in 1933. Hans Albert heeded this advice, and moved his family to

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

, where he was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Bernhard spent his teenage years in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, where his father was a professor at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, and in Berkeley. Bernhard first met his grandfather Albert when he was two years old. As a boy, he travelled alone to spend time with Albert in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and at Saranac Lake in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. Albert Einstein died in April 1955. Having shared his love of music with his grandson, he bestowed upon Bernhard his violin in addition to a modest sum of money. In 1954, Bernhard married Doris Aude Ascher (born 1930), with whom he had five children: *Thomas Martin Einstein (born 1955 in Switzerland)Biography – Thomas Einstein, M.D., Anesthesiologist. www.ezinearticles.com website, retrieved 2009-07 *Paul Michael Einstein (born 1959 in Switzerland) *Eduard Albert "Ted" Einstein (born 1961 in Dallas, Texas) *Mira Einstein-Yehieli (born 1965 in the US) *Charles Quincy Ascher "Charly" Einstein (born 1971 in the US)

Education and career

Einstein excelled only in German at the University of California at Berkeley. He enlisted in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in 1954, and finished basic training at

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, near

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

. He was stationed in southern Germany where he met his first wife, Doris Aude Ascher, whom he married in 1954. After discharge, he applied and was admitted to Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. He followed in his grandfather's and father's footsteps to study physics at the ETH. When he obtained his diploma at ETH, Einstein returned to the United States and worked as an engineer for

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Einstein then moved to California and worked at

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. His area of expertise was electron tube technology, and specifically light amplification devices for

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night v ...

. He filed and obtained four U.S. patents related to light amplification technology while he worked for Litton Industries. In 1974, Bernard moved back to Switzerland and worked in laser technology at the Swiss Army Research Lab in

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

, obtaining a further US patent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Einstein, Bernard C. 1930 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American physicists 20th-century American engineers

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

American people of German-Jewish descent Swiss people of German-Jewish descent Swiss people of Serbian descent American people of Swiss-Jewish descent American people of Serbian descent Swiss emigrants to the United States United States Army soldiers ETH Zurich alumni