Albert Einstein was perhaps the world's greatest scientist. The Nobel Prize winner died in this week in 1955 at the age of 76, after laying the foundation of modern physics and changing mankind's views on space, time, mass and energy.But did you know he was obsessed by fried eggs? That's one of 10 quirky things about the man behind the famous equation E=mc² that we learn from the book Einstein at Home, which is published in English next month for the first time. The book contains five interviews by scientist Friedrich Herneck with Herta Waldow, who was Einstein's live-in housekeeper for six years.The mad hair came on the cheapEinstein's second wife was his cousin, the short-sighted Elsa Loewenthal. She could not persuade Einstein to pay for a barber so she would cut his hair herself. Waldow recalled: "When his hair was too long, when it was beyond the pale, Elsa would cut off his hair with scissors." As well as his dishevelled hair, Elsa also trimmed the great scientist's moustache.He made his shoes lastPenny-pinching seems to have been a thing in the Einstein household - a seven-room apartment. Waldow said that he was always short of cash. He wore shoes with holes in them, even if they were no longer watertight. "He would wear them until it was no longer possible." She said his favourite footwear was sandals.He really was an egghead (especially fried eggs)Waldow had to deliver fried eggs and scrambled eggs almost every day for his breakfast. There were eggs for breakfast, usually fried. "Herr Professor always ate fried eggs, at least two." They bought their fresh eggs from an elderly Jewish man. Einstein also enjoyed mushrooms with his eggs. "He would probably have eaten mushrooms three times a day, that's how fond he was of them."But he didn't want to eat "bloody" steakHe would only eat steak if it was very well done. He would always say: "I am not a tiger."And he hated English cookingEinstein visited England in 1933 but wasn't much impressed with the cuisine, saying of English cooking, "It's ghastly; they cook everything with mutton fat." But Einstein was "passionately fond of strawberries".He hardly drank alcoholEinstein only drank caffeine-free coffee called Kaffee Haag and black tea. The inveterate pipe smoker didn't drink much alcohol but liked celery punch.He had a toy telescope on his deskNext to his desk Einstein kept a telescope for observing the stars. "It was a kind of school telescope mounted on a tripod," Waldow said.He loved playing violin - but was terribleEinstein liked to play the violin at night. He did not play pieces of music but "his own improvisations as he did his thinking to them". He played in the kitchen because he liked the way the tiles made the music resonate. Fellow scientist Walter Frierich said of Einstein's playing that he "bowed like a lumberjack".Einstein was not a party animalHe hated attending social events and "he often railed against it very angrily". He did sometimes have dinner parties and special nights in with stars such as Charlie Chaplin.He liked to wander round starkers"Herr Professor just liked to look at beautiful women; he always had a weakness for lovely ladies," said Waldow. She was 21 when she first started working for the 48-year-old Einstein. Waldow remembered that she blushed when she saw him naked. "It was very embarrassing for me. Either Herr Professor had not bothered putting on his bathrobe, or he was too lost in thought to remember to wear it." ..