All the dead branches may be due to 17 year cicada damage. When cicadas lay their eggs in the trees, the branches used generally die. A typical tree seems to lose a reasonably small fraction of its branches. The cicadas that used this tree were put in the ground 17 years ago when there was a huge tree here, so there were probably so many that they overwhelmed this small tree!

Between the two tall trees to the left, you can see the the weathervane atop Fuld Hall, the main building of the Institute for Advanced Study. This is where Einstein worked after immigrating to the US. It's also the locale of the movie "IQ." (The academic indoor scenes were shot in Palmer Lab, the old physics building.) Although there are close collaborations between members of the University and the Institute, they are separate entities. Einstein was not a member of the University, but members of the IAS had their offices at the University until Fuld Hall was completed. A lot of people think Einstein was a Princeton University Professor; we don't mind the confusion!