Quickly Giles, We have so much time and so little to do… strike that. Reverse it.

I rush full excitement into the museum; grateful to find Giles has gotten my message and come in early. I can see that he is annoyed, but its no matter today will be the day! Today we must prepare as we have a new piece arriving within the hour.

So much to do! So much to do! The placard, have I ordered the placard… wait has it come in? Retrieve the pamphlets from the printer, No! First decide the information that needs to be in them and have them printed! Find the extra barrier ropes, the lights! Oh lorde someone check the lights, we can’t have anything go wrong today or we will never be ready.
.
Finally Giles stops me just long enough to ask "WHAT is all the fuss about?!?!"

His timing could not have been more perfect as at that very moment our newest prize is delivered.

"Ah! This boy is what the quote un-quote fuss is about."

I walk hurriedly over to the portrait now leaning against the wall. It is still carefully wrapped with saran wrap and a very thin piece of plywood placed carefully over the canvas; taking scissors in hand we remove this last bit of protection to reveal our newest treasure.

“Um, ok… so what is the fuss about exactly?” Giles stares looking confused.

I look at him with slight bewilderment has he no concept of science and its importance to us historically? As we stand a moment in silence his expression remains unchanged and i begin thinking of the best way to rectify the situation before finally remembering the pamphlets.

“Giles I have a project for you and I know that you will be the best person to get this done on time as we need it before the exhibit opening tomorrow. I need you to gather information on Jedidiah Morse, which is the man in the center of the portrait; your findings will be used by the tour guides when explaining the piece. ”

With a yes ma’am Giles sets off on his task and I begin to finalize the other remaining task.

-LATER THAT DAY-

 Shortly after two that afternoon Giles returns to my office carrying several pages of notes, impressed I take them and begin to review his findings.

“Well done, you have found some great information here. Definitely give the year and where he was born, that he was the father of Samuel Morse (the telegraph), and that he was a pastor.” Pausing to rifle through the pages “But his importance to science and history was his contribution to education, so let’s also include that he published his first book on geography (Geography made easy) while teaching at a school for women in 1784 and that he followed it with American Geography in 1789 which is the publication that earned him the title “Father of American Geography. I think that should be plenty.”

Giles nods but I can tell he does not fully agree with my decision.

“Well what about his appointment by the secretary of war to study the native populations, or his views on the Illuminati, contributions to the Dobson’s encyclopedia, and his beliefs on civilizing and converting the native people?”

 Obviously pleased at his new found interest in the subject I smile “You see now why i chose this piece, in it represents much of what you have found in your research here. His wife representing the girls he taught. His sons, all of which went on to be highly successful and contribute to to the advancement of our society listening intently as he shares his vast knowledge. yes all of the things you have said are also very important, but remember we have to keep the tours within a certain time limit."

Giles give a nod again satisfied for the moment

“Great now get this information to the printers also find a good cover photo we can use.”

good day Heir Einstein!

Oh my dear Mr. Einstein with that interesting little smirk you seem to always have,

Where have you gone in times when things seem that chaos is all we have ever really known? No need to explain sir, of course we already know the answer... you’re a little dead at the moment. But that’s ok. despite everything that you have done and given us in the great world of science you are unfortunately remembered for the most destructive creation known to man and therefore the beginning much of the tension facing he world today. Yes it’s sad i know but there are many of us who choose not to remember you in this way, like me i tend to prefer those images of a young Einstein, or those where its obvious that you are finding great amusement in whatever activity you are undertaking at the moment that image was captured.

But i also cannot deny how your crazy seemingly all over the place hair contribute to the "mad scientist" image embraced by those captivated with sci-fi. You know the images, much like watching Frankenstein the scientist dashing around wild eyed in his lab before finding a great discovery and crying out its alive!!!!! Yes my dear dear Mr. Einstein you and all your brilliance are associated with this image.

But let’s get back to you, in those moments captured so long ago... where it seems that you are at your happiest moments. And maybe that’s it, maybe you are because while we know there is always a great form of joy in doing that which you love be it science or mathematics or drawing we all need a break of some form. we need that moment where we can just be. Where being a child or at least childlike is the answer a moment of serenity, an escape from reality. What this tells me is that even though you remained dedicated to your work, your art you recognize the need to have a moment where you can just breathe. Because its not always about being serious, if we all walked around with this stern serious look on our faces then we might as well all dress in gray and change our names to Al followed by a series of numbers making us no different from the people that sit around me at this bar as i write this.

what you tell us in these oh so candid moments is that science though time consuming can and at times is something to be enjoyed. And that though it is a serious field of study that without it i would not be able to sit at this moment and write these words we would still be banging away on the typewriters that you yourself may have used. it reminds us today that science and the continued exploration thereof are necessary. and really let’s just be honest you look like you were probably a pretty fun guy when you weren't busy discovering something for the betterment of humanity.

so for those of us who remember that your greatest and most tragic discovery was not meant to be the complete and utter destruction of all mankind or a method of constant tension among nations, thank you for still having the drive (even after it was taken over by the government and turned into a weapon of war). Thank you for having the drive to discover something for the good of man and not the glory.