Dr. Thomas Harvey (1912 - 2007) was the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Einstein at Princeton Hospital in 1955. The stranger-than-fiction tale of Einstein's brain, which Harvey controversially removed during the autopsy, carefully sliced into sections, and then kept for years for research purposes, and the intrigues long-associated with the famous organ, are far too convoluted to go into here.
Dr. Thomas Harvey was just a little too naughty because he removed Einstein's brain, which is not completely necessary as Einstein died because of heart failure. Dr. Thomas then sliced it up and kept the pieces for many years after, in order to perform research on to what had made the world famous scientist so genius.
On the day that Einstein died, Ralph Morse (Life Magazine photographer) was able to take a few quick photographs of Dr. Harvey at the hospital. Morse says he's certain that that is not Einstein's brain under Dr. Harvey's knife in this never-before-seen picture. Then, after a pause, Morse qualifies that certainty: "You know, it was fifty-five years ago. Honestly, I don't remember every single detail of the day. So whatever he's cutting there ..." Morse's words hang in the air. Then, mischievously, he laughs.
So, either or not the brain under the knife as shown in the photo above is still a mystery.
Source from LIFE
