Haunting simulation shows how doctor managed to steal part of Einstein's brain and carry it around for 50 years
When certified mega-genius Albert Einstein died, the doctor performing his autopsy decided to keep his brain for scientific testing, and decades later still owned parts of it.
A little more than 70 years ago, Einstein spoke a few words in German, we can't be sure exactly what he said because the people treating him didn't speak German, but they are purported to be: "I am at the mercy of fate and have no control over it."
Then he breathed his last and died at the age of 76, cementing his legacy as one of history's all-time brainiacs to the point that his surname became synonymous with intelligence.
His body was cremated on 18 April, 1955, just a few hours after he had died.
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But the following day, his son Hans Albert had learned that his dad's body was missing an important bit for the ceremony - the brain.
That's because Thomas Stoltz Harvey, the man who performed Einstein's autopsy, removed the famous scientist's brain 'for scientific study'.
Sawing open Einstein's skull to remove the brain, Harvey was able to steal it away without acquiring a prior thumbs up from Einstein's family and had to convince Hans Albert not to be too angry with him for hacking open his dad's skull and nabbing his thinking noodle.
According to the BBC, Harvey did plan to have Einstein's brain studied and have scientific papers published on what made it so special, but these studies never appeared.
Eventually, people largely forgot that this one guy pinched Einstein's brain until 1978, when a reporter was sent to track it down.
The brain wasn't at the Princeton Hospital where Einstein had died, meaning it had been taken from the premises at some point, and Harvey was eventually tracked down to Wichita, Kansas.
It turned out he'd taken the brain with him, as when the reporter asked to see pictures of Einstein's brain, Harvey instead opened up a beer cooler full of mason jars, which contained the brain.
It turned out that Harvey had measured and photographed the brain, then sliced it into 240 chunks and encased them in a material to preserve the pieces.
He had sent pieces of the brain off to neurologists for study, Harvey himself not being an expert in the brain, though they told him they couldn't find a major difference between it at less brilliant minds.
While he'd given away some parts of it, he held onto the majority of Einstein's brain and its rediscovery in his possession reignited interest in it.
Further studies of the brain did find unusual features which may help explain why he was so clever.
Harvey lived until the ripe old age of 94, dying in 2007, with his family sending his remaining pieces of Einstein's brain to the National Museum of Health and Medicine, while the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia acquired 46 slices of the brain.
Joe Harker