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The Man Who Made Our World [ Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson reviewed ]
American.com ^ | Friday, April 20, 2007 | review by Jacob Foster

Posted on 04/21/2007 4:00:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The fact that he spent seven years as a patent clerk -- and wrote the paper for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in that period -- is often presented as one of history's great injustices, but Einstein would disagree. He wrote in an autobiographical sketch that the daily examination of patent applications "stimulated me to see the physical ramifications of theoretical concepts." His superior, Friedrich Haller, "graciously ignored" the fact that Einstein completed his work in two or three hours and spent the rest of his time on physics; further, he insisted that the examiners "think that everything the inventor says is wrong", encouraging Einstein's native skepticism and willingness to "question every premise, challenge conventional wisdom." A starting position in the academy would have offered none of these benefits, and Einstein would have likely seen his creativity and independence of thought stifled.

(Excerpt) Read more at american.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: einstein; stringtheory

Einstein: His Life and Universe Einstein:
His Life and Universe

by Walter Isaacson


1 posted on 04/21/2007 4:00:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; FairOpinion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; KevinDavis; ...

2 posted on 04/21/2007 4:00:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Monday, April 18, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

“stimulated me to see the physical ramifications of theoretical concepts.”
_________________________________________________________

Particularly shampoo and conditioner;)

sod!


3 posted on 04/21/2007 4:20:32 PM PDT by sodpoodle ( from a distance - vultures appear as eagles)
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To: sodpoodle

Hair’s to that joke!


4 posted on 04/21/2007 4:28:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Monday, April 18, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: sodpoodle
At least he had hair - more than I can say for myself. Fellow was rather smart too - more than I can say for myself! Wonder if those who have hair are smarter than we who don't!

Damn, it seems, to not be attractive, smart or rich is the lot of most of us! As Abe said, God must love poor folks as he made so many of them!!

5 posted on 04/21/2007 4:34:26 PM PDT by RAY (God Bless the USA!)
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To: RAY

Yup - it’s really challenging - being in the minority; gorgeous, brainy with a charming sense of humor.

Humble is the really tough one.

sod!


6 posted on 04/21/2007 5:22:40 PM PDT by sodpoodle ( from a distance - vultures appear as eagles)
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http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/03/180155.aspx

Author-journalist Walter Isaacson is CEO of the Aspen Institute

One interesting thing about Einstein is why he failed so miserably in the last part of his life... One of his collaborators at Princeton, Banesh Hoffmann, said that they had no ground lines. Einstein had been able to visualize everything up until then, but in the end they were just doing pure mathematical formalism. Which is the problem with string theory now. It’s absolutely the most elegant thing you can imagine, but it’s just mathematical formalism. It doesn’t have a ground line to say here’s where it connects with reality. I’m not a string theorist, but even string theorists will tell you they haven’t yet found a way to say “here, let’s test it,” or “let’s visualize it, what’s the underlying physical reality to string theory.”

And that’s where Einstein fails on the unified field theory. He doesn’t have that imaginative image: “Oh, light’s a particle” ... “Oh, if you’re synchronizing clocks, it’s relative when you’re moving” ... “Oh, acceleration and gravity are equivalent if you’re in an enclosed chamber.” All these are totally cool ideas that my 16-year-old daughter can perfectly understand. “Oh, yeah, you’re in an enclosed chamber, you’re accelerating upward, it feels just like gravity.” From that springs the equivalence principle.


7 posted on 05/06/2007 8:24:12 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 6, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I would be much interested in this biography of Einstein. Have you read it?


8 posted on 05/06/2007 8:31:47 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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To: Fester Chugabrew

Nope. And who’s this Einstein character? ;’)


9 posted on 05/06/2007 8:48:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 6, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

He’s the guy who invented beebers, of course.


10 posted on 05/06/2007 8:51:49 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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To: Fester Chugabrew

In the old country, his ancestors lived between the Nullsteins and the Zweisteins.


11 posted on 05/06/2007 8:56:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 6, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I live near Meistein, and it happens to be drei.


12 posted on 05/06/2007 9:06:51 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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another review:
Yoda of the universe
by Meir Ronnen
Aug. 9, 2007
Einstein had little faith in quantum physics and was out of step with most leading physicists. He would, I think, have hated string theory, which, with its 16 dimensions, cannot be verified. It exists only in its equations.

13 posted on 08/14/2007 10:45:15 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, August 14, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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