22 May 2006

Einstein struggled with the maths

Some correspondance of Albert Einstein has been published and it shows struggle and trial and error played a big part in the man's genius.
...it was fascinating to see breakthroughs not coming easily to Einstein. "I do think it is interesting, the way you see him groping around. He's just trying anything. Here we see the greatest scientist who ever lived struggling and being honest about it."In one sequence of 16 letters Straus criticises a line of inquiry that Einstein is pursuing and eventually persuades him to abandon it.

One of the things that gets my attention is the role of community in the achievements of this icon of individual genius. Worth thinking about.
Guardian Unlimited | Science | How Einstein struggled with his grand theory - and the maths:
Filed in: ,

No comments:

"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"

 I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...