Methodology

The rules this site follows for evidence, uncertainty, and honesty — written so you can hold every page to them.

Purpose

This is a neutral reference about a historical scientist. It is not a tribute, a fan site, or a debunking project. Its job is to report what the documents establish, mark where they run out, and make its own workings checkable.

Sourcing hierarchy

1. Einstein’s own writings — the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (CPAE), the Einstein Archives Online, and the original journal publications (Annalen der Physik, Sitzungsberichte, Physical Review).
2. Institutional records — NobelPrize.org, the Institute for Advanced Study, civil and school records.
3. Scholarly biography — Pais (1982) first among secondary sources, checked against CPAE.
4. Everything else — used only as a finding aid, never as the sole support for a fact.

Uncertainty labels

• Documented — a primary source establishes it (paper receipt date, letter, civil record).
• Reported by X — one source’s account, not independently confirmed (e.g., Gamow’s “biggest blunder” report, Pauling’s recollection of the Roosevelt-letter regret). The reporter is always named.
• Disputed — competent sources disagree (e.g., the Marić collaboration question). This site summarizes the disagreement without picking a side.
• Thin evidence — the claim circulates but the trail is weak (e.g., Lieserl’s fate). Stated once, plainly, without elaboration.
• Unverified — no primary source found. Used only in the misattributed-quotations list and the reception page; never presented as fact.

Quotation policy

• A quotation appears in the main list only if a primary source can be named: a letter with a date, a lecture, a published interview.
• Wording is given in the best-documented English form; where the famous English form is a paraphrase (e.g., “God does not play dice”), the documented wording and the German original are given alongside.
• Translations are identified as translations.
• Secondhand recollections (Pauling, Straus) are labeled as secondhand.
• Quotes with no source are excluded from the main list and placed in the misattributed section — where “no primary source found” means exactly that, not “proven fake.”

What this site refuses to do

• Invent quotations, dates, citations, or scholarly consensus.
• Present paraphrase as quotation — the popular short forms are always flagged against the documented wording.
• Fill gaps with narrative — where the record is silent (Lieserl’s fate, the brain-tissue science), the silence is stated.
• Quote-mine for ideology — Einstein’s remarks on religion and politics are given in context, with the “neither campaign” verdict stated in Reception.
• Use fake imagery — historical subjects get real photographs only; the only AI images on the site are the clearly labeled stream-character illustrations.

Dating honesty

Dates on the Timeline come from journals (paper receipt dates), civil records, and dated correspondence. Where a date is approximate (e.g., “c. 1894” for a childhood photograph), it carries the “c.”. No date on this site is inferred from narrative convenience.

Images

See the image captions for credits and context. Illustrated character art is a dramatization.

Corrections

If you find an error, the Source notes at the foot of each page tell you exactly which claim to challenge and which source it rests on. That is the point of them.

Source notes

• This page states the site’s own rules; it makes no historical claims beyond describing its process.
• The hierarchy and labels above are applied on every content page; spot-checks are part of the build QA (tools/qa_check.py).