Today’s word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster, is emulate. Emulate means “to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass” or “to rival with some degree of success.” It can also mean “to imitate (a particular computer system) by using a software system, often including a microprogram or another computer that enables it to do the same work, run the same programs, etc., as the first” or “o replace (software) with hardware to perform the same task,” but both of those definitions are specific to computer technology (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/emulate). Merriam-Webster says, “If you emulate someone or something, you try to be like that person or thing. The word is used especially when one is trying to equal or surpass someone in accomplishment or achievement” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day).

Merriam-Webster says further, “They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we’ll posit that emulation is even more so. What’s the difference between imitating and emulating? Sometimes not a thing: emulate can be used as a synonym of imitate, as in ‘a painter who emulates her teacher’s style.’ But more often, emulate is about trying to equal or surpass someone you admire by striving to master what they’ve accomplished. The word was adopted in the late 16th century from a form of the Latin word aemulārī, meaning ‘to vie with; to rival; to imitate.’ Imitate was adopted about fifty years earlier from a form of the Latin word imitārī, meaning ‘to follow as a pattern; to copy.’ Emulate emulated its success” (ibid.). And that is clever, except that emulate is something a person does for a reason, trying to accomplish something. Words have no will of their own.

The word entered the language in the “1580s, a back-formation from emulation, or else from Latin aemulatus, past participle of aemulari ‘to rival’” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=emulate). So perhaps it came into English from Latin, but it’s more likely that it is a backformation. A backformation, in linguistics, occurs when a word like emulation caused somebody to think, “Oh, that must be from the verb emulate, right?” when in reality the noun came into the language without its supposed predecessor verb. And in this case, emulation entered the language in the “1550s, from French émulation (13c.) and directly from Latin aemulationem (nominative aemulatio) ‘rivalry, emulation, competition,’ noun of action from past-participle stem of aemulari ‘to rival, strive to excel,’ from aemulus ‘striving, rivaling’ (also as a noun, ‘a rival,’ fem. aemula), from Proto-Italic *aimo-, from PIE *aim-olo, suffixed form of root *aim– ‘copy’ (from PIE root *aim- ‘to copy’) (ibid.).

You might be wondering, why have so many words come into the language through French. The answer is a number: 1066. That is the year that the Normans conquered England. The Normans spoke French, or what we call Norman French. The real French, those living in Paris, looked down on the Norman French speakers, kind of the way Brits who speak RP (Received Pronunciation—the highbrow speech of England) look down on those who speak Cockney. Norman French is a dialect of Old French that was spoken by Norsemen from Scandinavia who settled in what is called Normandy, and these Normans incorporated a handful of linguistic characteristics from their Norse language. Anyway, after 1066, when William the Conqueror, a Norman, conquered the Anglo-Saxons, French became the language of the aristocracy, at least until it blended with Old English to form Middle English. And Middle English became Early Modern English, which became Contemporary English (or Englishes, as some people say).

In addition to March 14^th (3/14) being “pi day” in America, it is also the birthday of Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Einstein was, of course, the prototypical scientific genius of the 20^th century. We all know, I hope, about his discovery of relativity, and his famous equation, E=mc². You may also know that he was born in Germany, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, in the city of Ulm. In 1895, he moved to Switzerland to continue his education, and while there, he renounced his German citizenship so that he would not be drafted into the military. The Swiss did not conscript him for health reasons. He became a Swiss citizen in 1901.

He “graduated from the federal polytechnic school in 1900, duly certified as competent to teach mathematics and physics” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein). But he couldn’t get a job. Within five years, Einstein would be publishing some of the most important work in physics, in science! But he couldn’t get a job teaching in a Swiss school. He applied for teaching jobs for two years, and he couldn’t land a teaching job.

He did get a job with the Swiss Patent Office, where he worked for roughly seven years. It was during this time, in 1905, that he completed his doctorate and began to publish papers. In 1905, Einstein had his own annus mirabilis (“wonderful year” or “year of wonders”; there have been a number of these throughout history, most notably 1666, the year that Isaac Newton “made revolutionary inventions and discoveries in calculus, motion, optics and gravitation” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_mirabilis]), during which he published papers on “the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, his special theory of relativity and the equivalence of mass and energy” as well as completing his dissertation on molecular dimensions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein). He became famous after that year, though he continued working at the Patent Office. Eventually he became a professor.

While visiting the United States, and undertaking a visiting professorship at the California Institute of Technology in 1933, Einstein realized that he couldn’t go back to Germany. The Nazis had seized power, and Einstein was Jewish. In Germany, his books were burned. And he was instrumental in helping the United States get the world’s first atomic bomb.

He also was married twice: the first ended in divorce in 1919, and the second ended with the death of his wife in 1936. Along the way he had other relationships, which I have to say, really surprised me. When I think of Einstein, I picture him when he was old, with the wild, white hair. But he started with women when he was pretty young, and he didn’t stop. He may have even had a brief affair with a Russian spy.

I suppose that, were I science oriented, I would have wanted to emulate Einstein, except for the affairs with married women and spies. Still, even with his flaws, he was a remarkable man.\

Today’s image is a photo of Einstein from the early 1900s, posted on Flickr by huanjo, who said, “Einstein thought out his theory of relativity around this age.” But is he a ladies’ man?