Einstein was not competitive in this way, ending up with a job at a patent office while working toward a Ph.D. part time at the less prestigious University of Zurich. As Einstein’s Mistakes notes, many of Einstein’s contemporaries were astounded by his discoveries. His former professor Minkowski was flabbergasted, having reputedly referred to Einstein as that “lazy dog.” In the even more competitive world of physics today, the ideal is to be one hundred percent right fast. Ohanian’s book reflects this prejudice.