Einstein — A Take Five Primer
A Different Perspective
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Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist, creator of the theory of relativity, and author of E=mc2. He was Nobel prize winner and the world’s most famous scientist.
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The remainder of this article is developed to provide you with perspective and resources to build your understanding of Einstein.
A Brief History
Most people know the story of Albert Einstein, at least on the surface. Born in Germany, of Jewish heritage, clashes with teachers, rejected from university, works in Swiss patent office, starts getting noticed, clashes with Nazis, revolutionizes science, moves to the United States, becomes legend in his own time, and invented the troll doll…
Ok, that last part wasn’t exactly true… but it should be.
Contributions to Science
Einstein is best known for his theories of relativity. Yes, he had two. The general theory of relativity and the special theory. The special one actually came first and basically states that light always travels at the same speed no matter what… it is special. The general theory, on the other hand, states that in general, gravity is the same as acceleration and implies that gravity is not a force but a warping of space and time… which for many people is generally confusing. For a longer and hopefully better definition consider:
But relativity actually came later in Einstein’s career. Before general relativity, he contributed widely to quantum theory and the development of photons. Believe it or not, this subject was actually messier than special relativity and despite his efforts toward a unified field theory — scientists today are still trying to bring things together.
Analogy and Simplicity
Most people associate Einstein with disciplines like physics and mathematics. In reality, it was his affinity for analogy and simplicity that made him more exceptional. Whether this also contributed to his dislike of the school and university system is open to speculation, but Einstein had a different perspective on things than most of his more academic-oriented colleagues.
Einstein’s break throughs were credited, by him, to this novel perspective. He was able to see relationships across disciplines and subject matters. He was early to see the comparisons between light and heat. And he famously considered the impact of the laws of physics from the perspective of riding in an elevator. His Equivalence Principal, key to Special Relativity, was built on just such insight.
Of equal importance was his love of simple solutions. His quotes on simplicity could fill a wall:
These two innate talents were what set Einstein apart. It is interesting how difficult it has become to connect with these aspects of his personality. So much of what is written about him concentrates more on the theory and mathematics. While Einstein certainly had a penchant for the former, he more often partnered with more talented mathematicians to build and test his equations. Einstein made science approachable while at the same time propelling our understanding light-years ahead of where it had been.
Einstein earned his celebrity. His name now adorns everything from university halls to videos for your baby. His name is synonymous with brilliance, but his talents were far more elegant in their nature than the math and science he is often most associated with in popular culture.
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In fairness, it will probably take you more than five hours to read, but the book Einstein: Creator and Rebel by Banesh Hoffman is one of the best books on the subject. Banesh was a personal friend of Einstein’s and was able to distill his true genius. His book reads like a well written story and is both approachable and compelling.
To further your understanding elegance — consider this elegant option:
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Take a trip. Einstein was born on March 14th. For math geeks around the globe, this is pi day. If you really want to immerse yourself in all that was Einstein, plan a trip next March 14th to Princeton, New Jersey. This was Einstein’s home after 1940 and the local go out of their way to build memorable and educational experiences. Especially on Pi Day!
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If you are looking to really dig in, consider taking a course in physics. Not surprisingly, Princeton remains one of the top ten universities in the world for degrees in physics, but that will take longer than 5 weeks and cost you a small fortune.
For something a little more approachable consider this offering from MIT (currently ranked first among universities). Disclaimer — I do not know how good their MITOpenCourseWare is, but it is free.
Take Five Primers are an article format created by Corsair’s Institute to increase the reader’s comprehension of key concepts by providing learning opportunities that are tailored to the amount of time the reader wishes to engage with a particular subject.
