What’s weird about revisiting the Albert Einstein Memorial at the National Academy of Sciences is, shamefully, that we had never visited there in the first place.

Maybe some of you are in the same boat. Maybe you’ve been to the Mall monuments so many times that you’ve developed a kind of over familiar path that you walk every trip you take there. We certainly do. And, well, we learned that it’s time for that path to change.

If it isn’t already, the Einstein Memorial must be added to your Mall monuments tour. Granted, it’s not technically on the Mall—it’s directly across Constitution Avenue from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—and Einstein may not be as prominent in American history textbooks as, say, President Lincoln or World War II. But if the man who changed the very way humanity views the world can’t get your attention, who can?

Besides, the memorial itself is gorgeous. Separated from the hubbub and traffic of the Mall and Constitution Ave., the sitting figure of Einstein is surrounded by elm and holly trees. The shady spot has ample benches and you can even go and sit right on Einstein’s lap. It’s the kind of place that makes you wish you could just sit around and come up with theorems all day.

Photo by Egghead