Einstein's pen

Although the giving of a personal fountain pen as a mark of respect between academic colleagues and friends -- as depicted in the Russell Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind was apparently apocryphal, the idea may have stemmed from a real-life exemplar.

In 1921 Albert Einstein presented his friend, and fellow theoretical physicist, Paul Ehrenfest with the fountain pen that he had used to write down his research on General Relativity. Now that's a gift!



The pen itself is on display at the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden.