Lilly Sanders

As Simply as You Can? One of the world's greatest scientists to have ever lived, Albert Einstein, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. Already famous and a household name, he wrote a letter replying to a sixth-grade student named Phyllis Wright in January of 1936. This context made Albert Einstein the speaker, Phyllis Wright the audience, and the question and the answer to it, the subject. She had originially asked him if scientists pray and if they do, what for. Einstein responded saying, that it is tough to pray for something science related when science is based on laws of nature. However he continues saying, not all of those laws are set in cement and that believing in their existence takes some what of a faith. Next he describes that many dedicated scientists believe that there is something bigger than human kind that is responsible for the laws of the universe; but that that religious thought is much different than that of a younger person's, like Phyllis herself. Albert Einstein's answer to Phyllis Wright's question is rhetorically effective. His letter is not easily read at some points, but he tells Phyllis, "I have tried to respond to your question as simply as I could," making him sincere and trustworthy to have made an effort to make his answer easier for her to understand. Except this is not exactly well executed because the answer is not as simply said as the question is simply asked. The subject is made clear by Phyllis when she asks do scientists pray and if so, what for; but the purpose of the letter, the answer, can get a little confusing. Albert Einstein explains that no scientists do not pray, but at the same time, yes they do. In the second paragraph he writes, "Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the actions of people." Meaning that what scientists study can be classified into a law of nature. Whether it's a component of chemistry,