A letter written by Albert Einstein, in which the renowned physicist
described religious beliefs as "childish superstitions", has been sold at
auction to a private collector for a record breaking £170,000.
Hopeful bidders packed the room at Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair, which
installed an additional 11 phone lines to cater for demand from international
buyers.
Bids rapidly soared beyond the guide price of £6,000 to £8,000.
The letter was written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954 a year
before Einstein's death. The Nobel physicist described God as the "product of
human weakness" and the Bible as "childish".
"The word 'God' is for me nothing more than the expression and product of
human weaknesses, [and] the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive
legends which are nevertheless pretty childish," said Einstein in the letter.
Einstein also dismissed the notion that the Jews are God's chosen people. "
As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups,
although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise
I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."
Bloomsbury Auctions spokesman Richard Caton said that the auction house was
"100 per cent certain" of the letter's authenticity.
Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Germany in 1879 and started
questioning conventional religion at the age of 12 after going through a devout
phase in his early years.
London, United Kingdom | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Web Content Manager - c.£40,000 plus bonus - London As one of the country's best-performing councils, we're always looking for new ways to improve on excellence. Providing an innovative, high-quality internet site for our ... more >
Position - EA Integrator Location - Reading Job Description: A skilled System Integrator to integrate application Test Harnesses to support business requirements. The Candidate will possess specific experience of enterprise systems, component validation and integrating ... more >
Position # 395423 Environment Manager Location - Reading, Berkshire Job Description: There is a requirement for an Environmental Manager for the Sandpits environment. This position is to act as the single point of contact for ... more >
Position # 396477 Environment Support Engineer Location - Reading Job Description: There is an initial requirement an Environment Support Engineer to provide support and maintenance for the development environments within ATLAS. This role encompases many ... more >More job opportunities
Print
Discuss
Send to friend
RSS feeds
Daily news podcast
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
