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To: tanknetter
I think the right way to look at Einstein is not as a genius but as a prodigy.

Correct. I believe IQ is meaningless with regard to Einstein. People with Einsteins genius are extremely rare.

When he first presented his General Theory of Relativity only a dozen or so people couldn't even understand it. He was a true rarity.

19 posted on 02/13/2013 12:50:01 PM PST by sand88
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To: sand88
When he first presented his General Theory of Relativity only a dozen or so people couldn't even understand it.

That is a misconception that even Einstein fought his entire life. It was largely based on a misreported story by the New York Times. Arthur Eddington, the British physicist who attempted to use the eclipse of 1919 to verify General Relativity, took advantage of this misconception. According to Eddington, after he presented his results to the Royal Society a member of audience approached him, saying, "I understand that there are only three people in the entire world who understand this relativity business." Eddington stood speechless for a moment, and his inquistor insisted, "Now, don't be so modest, man!" Eddington snapped out of reverie and replied, "No, I'm just trying to think of who the third one might be!"

Eddington retold that tale at high tea in Oxford for decades.

Einstein's son, who became a professor of civil engineering at Caltech, insisted that his father's distinguishing trait (a lot like Richard Feymann) was his absolute refusal to take anyone's word for anything. He would not accept something until he had thought it through for himself.

40 posted on 02/13/2013 1:21:30 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (What word begins with "O" and ends in economic collapse?)
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To: sand88
When he first presented his General Theory of Relativity only a dozen or so people couldn't even understand it.

Yet, there have been reports that, the true genius behind "Einstein's" research and theories, was his wife, and she was never credited with anything, while Einstein got all the credit and press.

However, I don't know about the veracity of those reports, and we'll probably never know the whole truth.
69 posted on 02/13/2013 4:08:38 PM PST by adorno (Y)
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To: sand88

I watched a program on cable TV recently about Einstein. They said he took a job where he would have time to just sit and think things out. If I just sat and thought I would fall asleep. I need to move around and do things but not things like math and science LOL!


77 posted on 02/13/2013 4:30:22 PM PST by Ditter
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