Another puzzle that Einstein could never understand was hisown fame.He had developed theories that were profound andcapable of eciting relatively few scientists.Yet his name was ahousehold word across the civilized world.“I've had good ideas，and so have the other men，” he once said.“But it's been mygood fortune that my ideas have been accepted.”He was bewildered by his fame：people wanted to meet him；strangersstared at him on the street；scientists，statesmen，students，andhousewives wrote him letters.He never could understand why hereceived this attention，why he was singled out as somethingspecial.
爱因斯坦一直没能解开的另一个谜是他自己的名望。他提出的理论都是些非常深奥、只能使比较少的科学家感到兴趣的理论。然而他的名字在整个文明世界却家喻户晓。有一次他说：“我有一些很好的思想，别人也有一些很好的思想。只是我的运气好，我的思想被接受了。”他的名望使他迷惑不解：人们都想会见他；陌生人在街上盯着他看；科学家、政治家、学生和家庭主妇都给他写信。他一直不能理解，为什么他会受到这样的注意，为什么单单把他挑出来当作特殊人物对待？