1899年，愛因斯坦在瑞士蘇黎世聯邦理工大學就讀時，他的導師是數學家明可夫斯基。
Once Einstein asked Minkevsky, "How can a person, like me, leave his distinct footprints on the road of life and make an outstanding contribution in the scientific field?" It was a "sophisticated" problem. Minkevsky said that he had to think about it better and then gave him an answer.
有壹次，愛因斯坦問明可夫斯基：“壹個人，比如我吧，究竟怎樣才能在科學領域、在人生道路上，留下自己的問光足跡、做出自己的傑出貢獻呢?”這是個“尖銳”的問題，明可夫斯基說他要好好想壹下再給他答案。
Three days later, Minkevsky told Einstein that the answer was coming! He pulled Einstein to walk toward a building site and straight set foot on the cement ground that the construction workers had just paved.
三天後，明可夫斯基告訴愛因斯坦說有答案了!他拉著愛因斯坦朝壹處建築工地走去，而且徑直踏上了建築工人剛剛鋪好的水泥地。
In the workers' scolding, Einstein was confused to ask Minkevsky，"Sir, don't you lead me astray?"
在建築工人的呵斥聲中，愛因斯坦被弄的壹頭霧水，不解的問明可夫斯基：“老師，您這不是在誤導我?”
"Right, exactly!" Minkevsky said. "Have you seen it? Only the old road surface that have long solidified and on those place that have been passed by countless steps, you cannot tread out your footprint.
“對，就是這樣!”明可夫斯基說。 “看到了吧?只有尚未凝固的水泥面，才能留下深深的足跡。那些凝固很久的老路面，那些被無數腳步走過的地方，妳別想再踩出腳印。”
Hearing that, Einstein thought long and nodded significantly, Since then, a very strong sense of innovation and pioneering consciousness began dominating Einstein's thinking and action. He said, "I never memorize and reflect what dictionaries and manuals carry, for my brain only memorize those things that are not included in books." It was such a reason that Einstein left his deep sparkling footprints in the history of science.
聽到這裏，愛因斯坦沈思了良久，意味深長地點了點頭。從此，壹種強力的創新和開拓意識，開始主導著愛因斯坦的思維和行動，他說：“我從不記憶和思考詞典、手冊裏的東西，我的腦袋只用來記憶和思考那些還沒載入書本的東西。”正因如此，愛因斯坦才在科學留下了深深的、閃光的足跡。