Albert Einstein died in 1955... the story Ed talks about when he first meets Al almost HAS to be "Time for the Stars" by Robert A. Heinlein. Which actually wasn't published in a magazine but was a short juvenile novel... but published in 1956.
The End is near. (about time too)
Hey, sounds like you're a long time science fiction fan. I do remember that Heinlein had just started writing juveniles in the 50's....
Life, every now and then, behaves as though it had seen too many bad movies
Good catch! The story that Ed outlines to Einstein does indeed sound like Robert Heinlein's "Time for the Stars" (1956). I had to do some quick digging to see if the story might have been serialized earlier in a magazine, but I find no indication of that.
If you wish to contribute the item to the "Anachronism" list, all you need do is go to the "Goofs" page and click the Edit Page link near the bottom.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110099/trivia?tab=gf
Now: When did you start reading Heinlein?
I discovered his books in the early 1960s, in Junior High.
(Do you like Asimov and Clarke as well?)
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"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things,"
Of atoms, stars and nebulæ,
Of entropy and genes;
And whether one can bend space;
And why the spaceship shrinks.
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