Claim

Albert Einstein failed mathematics as a schoolchild.

Type HISTORICAL · truth-evaluable: yes · status at snapshot: ACTIVE · created seq 452

Referenced 235 times: checked 1, looked up by assistants 0, viewed 130, shared 104. A count of attention, not evidence.

Topics

Education · d473d57f Modern · d473d57f

Assessment

Contradicted

Score: 0.0001 under ledger-default@0.3.0 at snapshot 27745

2 of 4 review checks done · 2 counted

6 independent evidence lineages · review checks 2 of 4 · stability HIGH

Main unresolved issue: 5 counted evidence items have no independence review; repeats of one origin may be counted as several coverage:4cb1e8c9-66ef-85aa-9c76-2e946f4d1e99

Not yet independently audited.Every quoted passage was confirmed on the page when Galedra fetched it.

Why?

Strongest counted contradiction: Einstein's 1896 Matura certificate gave him the top grade of 6 in algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry. weight 1.800000 evidence

Suppressed as dependent: Einstein excelled at physics and mathematics from an early age, ahead of children several years older.

Review gaps: independence reviewed, primary source reviewed

What would most change this: One independent, direct measurement that supports this claim would move it from Contradicted to Contradicted.

Hide calculation

0.0001 under ledger-default@0.3.0 at snapshot 27745 · state Contradicted · Review checks: 2 of 4 · stability HIGH · 8 sources, 6 independent lineages

Model ledger-default@0.3.0 (the default model, not the answer) · snapshot 27745 · trace sha256:95c7679dd87ca31f52639ce8d96bd1ebab26c04b786130d7765f41de578dcd8e

Last changed at entry seq 11098; nothing logged since has borne on this claim.

How the number was reached

Each counted link is weighed by multiplying the factors the model declares; a factor it does not declare is not shown. Every factor name below links to what that number means.

Link	Working	Weight	Counted as
86180bd8 contradict	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.080000	1.080000
163c2bcb contradict	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.080000	1.080000
beaaefd2 qualify	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 1 step, 1 − 0.15 × 1 0.850000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	0.918000	0.000000 (non directional)
0ea18319 contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	1.800000
7b34cbcf contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	1.800000
22cff53b contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	1.800000
3af0476e contradict	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.080000	0.000000 (dependent strongest only, kept 0ea18319)
e00754c9 contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	1.800000

prior 0.50 → log-odds 0.000000 + -9.360000 (the counted weights) = -9.360000 → probability 0.0001

Under neighbouring settings of the same model: 0.0014 to 0.0000, a spread of 0.0014.

Half-even rounding, six places for weights and four for the probability. The same inputs under the same model reproduce this exactly; that is what the trace hash above is for. How a score is worked out explains every factor, why it is there, and what the model sets it to.

Your view

Registered views

Nobody has registered a view yet.

Registered views are personal belief, not evidence: they never change Galedra's assessment. Affiliations are self-declared and shown only for groups of 5 or more.

Checked as part of

Statements this claim was broken out of. The claim is scored on its own; a statement's reading only counts its claims.

“Albert Einstein failed mathematics as a schoolchild.” · 1 claim · 28 September 2026
“FACT CHECK YOUR TEACHERS 🧠 Humans only use 10% of their brains. Einstein failed math as a kid and still changed physics. The Great Wall of China is the only...” · 8 claims · 19 September 2026
“FACT CHECK YOUR TEACHERS 🧠 Humans only use 10% of their brains. Einstein failed math as a kid and still changed physics. The Great Wall of China is the only...” · 2 claims · 19 September 2026

Evidence for

None.

Evidence against

Einstein excelled at physics and mathematics from an early age, ahead of children several years older.

From Albert Einstein (Wikipedia) Read 2026-09-19 Relevance STRONG Steps 0 Counted
Einstein's 1896 Matura certificate gave him the top grade of 6 in algebra, geometry and descriptive geometry.

From Albert Einstein (Wikipedia) Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted

Top marks in the maths subjects on his school-leaving certificate.
Ripley's, which helped spread the story, says the rumour that Einstein failed a fourth-grade maths test is untrue.

From Did Einstein Really Fail Math? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance STRONG Steps 0 Counted
The excerpt says Einstein excelled at physics and mathematics from an early age and had advanced mathematical expertise, contradicting the claim that he failed mathematics as a schoolchild.

From Albert Einstein (Wikipedia) Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted
The Einstein biographical site explicitly says the claim that he failed mathematics is a persistent myth.

From Early Life & Education · Albert Einstein Read 2026-09-28 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted
It attributes his failed entrance examination to non-science subjects, not mathematics.

From Early Life & Education · Albert Einstein Read 2026-09-28 Relevance STRONG Steps 0 Counted
The biographical source describes Einstein as an excellent mathematics student who mastered advanced material as a teenager.

From Early Life & Education · Albert Einstein Read 2026-09-28 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted

Directly bears against the claim that Einstein failed mathematics as a schoolchild.

Qualifications

At the 1895 Zurich polytechnic entrance exam he fell short in the general section but excelled in maths and physics.

From Albert Einstein (Wikipedia) Read 2026-09-19 Relevance STRONG Steps 1 Counted

The kernel of truth: he did fail part of an entrance exam at sixteen, but not the maths part.

Suppressed as dependent

Evidence	Group	Kept instead
048daeb0	23dccb4d	0ea18319

Inferences

Concluded from

None.

Used as a premise in

None.

An inference is interpretation, not evidence: it never changes the assessment of its conclusion. Each premise is a claim with its own evidence.

Threads

None. Threads are for disagreements about how a determination was made — a statement whose figures are not in the passage it rests on, two sources that may share an origin. Something about the world belongs in the evidence above.

Claim edges

None. Edges are stored and displayed; v0.1 does not propagate probability across them.

Review checklist

Review checks: 2 of 4

Check	Done	By
qualifiers reviewed	yes	61c05266
opposing search done	yes	06fdeb7d
independence reviewed	no
primary source reviewed	no

Summary

Contradicted. The main contradiction is: Ripley's, which helped spread the story, says the rumour that Einstein failed a fourth-grade maths test is untrue. 32618986

1 further item repeats the same origin and is not independent evidence. 23dccb4d

Qualifier: At the 1895 Zurich polytechnic entrance exam he fell short in the general section but excelled in maths and physics. 8a00dfc1

A search for evidence in the opposing direction found something; see the counted evidence. 06fdeb7d

Review checks: 2 of 4. coverage:4cb1e8c9-66ef-85aa-9c76-2e946f4d1e99

Generated by stub-v0.1; every sentence cites graph ids.

Contribution history

seq	event	detail
452	APPENDED
453	ACCEPT	AUTOMATIC_AFTER_VALIDATION
474	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
476	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
478	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
480	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
8948	TASK_RESULT	by 1efd24fe (accepted)
11087	TASK_RESULT	by 1efd24fe (accepted)
11097	LINK_EVIDENCE	by 1efd24fe (accepted)

Score trace

{
  "claim": "4cb1e8c9-66ef-85aa-9c76-2e946f4d1e99",
  "links": [
    {
      "link": "036c9ba3-9df4-8367-9482-a30c86180bd8",
      "group": null,
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "a70c1255-3efb-8b0a-894d-b9f232618986",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.080000",
      "relevance": "STRONG",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "SECONDARY_TEXT",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.080000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "link": "21ed09db-87b4-8382-a841-cddd163c2bcb",
      "group": null,
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "335b9843-c0b4-8cef-8d0b-a2eee9eed56c",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.080000",
      "relevance": "STRONG",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "WEBSITE",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.080000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "link": "278bf76a-b2f2-8edd-8d95-f127beaaefd2",
      "group": "a68ce907-5b60-834a-8a51-ceb923dccb4d",
      "reason": "non_directional",
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "42059244-6afc-8bbf-9569-1ea38a00dfc1",
      "direction": "QUALIFY",
      "magnitude": "0.918000",
      "relevance": "STRONG",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "SECONDARY_TEXT",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "0.000000",
      "interpretive_steps": 1
    },
    {
      "link": "4485d5f6-ca70-84b0-a5bb-41340ea18319",
      "group": "a68ce907-5b60-834a-8a51-ceb923dccb4d",
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "c1759142-57c7-8b7d-ad64-0409f01b3f8f",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.800000",
      "relevance": "DIRECT",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "SECONDARY_TEXT",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.800000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "link": "971e9165-41b6-884d-a7f4-7a177b34cbcf",
      "group": null,
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "dd0cf7e9-6ae6-8597-ae59-10785a09b60d",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.800000",
      "relevance": "DIRECT",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "SECONDARY_TEXT",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.800000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "link": "b0397cce-9142-8714-89a8-2bef22cff53b",
      "group": null,
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "9689ca11-dfcc-8804-983a-0110f3119bd0",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.800000",
      "relevance": "DIRECT",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "WEBSITE",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.800000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "kept": "4485d5f6-ca70-84b0-a5bb-41340ea18319",
      "link": "e0ad4fe1-c337-82c7-a0a1-664d3af0476e",
      "group": "a68ce907-5b60-834a-8a51-ceb923dccb4d",
      "reason": "dependent_strongest_only",
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "1734c25e-e331-8e92-bb32-67b6048daeb0",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.080000",
      "relevance": "STRONG",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "SECONDARY_TEXT",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "0.000000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    },
    {
      "link": "f553b794-7b08-84b2-ba85-d423e00754c9",
      "group": null,
      "edition": "NAMED_OR_UNRELATED",
      "evidence": "57e86cea-f388-8689-8eee-7c4eda2222d1",
      "direction": "CONTRADICT",
      "magnitude": "1.800000",
      "relevance": "DIRECT",
      "extraction": "UNVERIFIED",
      "provenance": "INDEPENDENT",
      "observation": "DIRECT_TEXT",
      "source_type": "WEBSITE",
      "authenticity": "UNVERIFIED",
      "audit_confirmed": false,
      "effective_weight": "1.800000",
      "interpretive_steps": 0
    }
  ],
  "model": "ledger-default@0.3.0",
  "prior": "0.50",
  "variants": {
    "spread": "0.0014",
    "permissive": "0.0000",
    "conservative": "0.0014"
  },
  "code_hash": "sha256:c61a6fdf35a754a0d7e958df149036a083c0eaeb7d2d2e52704ec32b0c36def7",
  "contested": false,
  "stability": "HIGH",
  "claim_type": "HISTORICAL",
  "config_hash": "sha256:86768038080b8ab5233f1e4b7aba10af05b5bb44caa432095150b90e81209809",
  "probability": "0.0001",
  "provisional": true,
  "evidence_sum": "-9.360000",
  "snapshot_seq": 11098,
  "prior_log_odds": "0.000000",
  "support_groups": 0,
  "model_dependent": false,
  "review_coverage": "0.50",
  "truth_evaluable": true,
  "assessment_state": "CONTRADICTED",
  "review_checklist": {
    "qualifiers_reviewed": {
      "by": [
        "01a0b722-dfc8-738e-bc72-6f5d61c05266"
      ],
      "ok": true
    },
    "opposing_search_done": {
      "by": [
        "01a0b722-dfa9-76c0-a0eb-5b9906fdeb7d"
      ],
      "ok": true
    },
    "independence_reviewed": {
      "by": [],
      "ok": false
    },
    "primary_source_reviewed": {
      "by": [],
      "ok": false
    }
  },
  "contradict_groups": 6,
  "rounding_boundary": false,
  "posterior_log_odds": "-9.360000",
  "not_applicable_reason": null,
  "independence_unreviewed": 5
}