Albert Einstein was cremated and his ashes were spread over a river located in New Jersey. 

Einstein's Intelligence Was A No-Brainer

Albert Einstein's brilliance attracted so much attention during his lifetime, that he wanted none of it when he died. In fact, the mathematician/scientist left strict instructions that there was to be no funeral, no service, and no grave. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered over a river in New Jersey, where he died on April 18, 1955. All except his brain. That, Einstein had left to the world of science that he had single-handedly changed, nearly beyond recognition.

But...where did the brain go, when it parted from his body? On the day of his death, Dr. Thomas Harvey removed Einstein's brain for study. And frankly, he didn't find anything that was noteworthy. The brain weighed only 1230 grams, compared to the average adult male brain, which weighs 1400 grams.

The brain languished in two jars, in Dr. Harvey's home and office, for more than 20 years, until a curious reporter's boss, sent him out to find Einstein, or what was left of him, in 1977. The ensuing spectacle was something only the media can conjure up. The reporter located Dr. Harvey and was overwhelmed to find the famous man's brain right there in front of him. But then, other scientists wanted a piece of the action so to speak.

In all, some 240 or more "slices" were taken from various areas of the brain for study. Not a great deal more was found or theorized, besides Harvey's original observations. One study found that the cerebral cortex was thinner than the norm, but contained more neurons, sparking the hypothesis that Einstein made better "use" of his ability to think. There was also an unusual width to the inferior parietal region, where imagery, mathematical thought and visualspacial recognition takes places. It was thought perhaps Einstein basically had a highly efficient brain that performed better, in less space, but when it had extra "room", its performance was enhanced beyond normal levels.