How did Einstein..?

Question

How did he imagined those theorems, that to day we are having trouble disproving with real equipment??
Thank you for your imput..

Answer 1

Aside from being very curious, very smart, and very persistent, he was willing to set aside some of the established ideas in physics that didn't seem to work anymore.

In 1905 he published 5 papers that really got him started. One of which was on an explanation for the photoelectric effect (hit a metal with light above a certain frequency and electrons fly off). At the time, physicists thought light was purely a wave phenomena (hence the need for an ether to propogate in). Using this idea (wave-like), aspects of the photoelectric effect could not be explained. So Einstein showed that if light was quantized - made up of discrete particles with a certain energy corresponding to their wavelength/frequency, then the photoelectric effect makes sense. He won the Nobel Prize for this explanation. It was one of the things that led to quantum mechanics.

Two of the 5 papers were on Special Relativity. Here, Einstein concluded that the only way to explain the Michelson-Morley Experiment - which showed a negative result for the existence of the ether by showing the constancy of the speed of light - was that either Maxwell's Equations were wrong or Newton's Equations were wrong. Einstein concluded for philisophical reasons that Newton must be wrong (at the time that was bigger than us saying now that Einstein was wrong). He threw out the absolute nature of space and time and showed that they HAD to be relative to explain the Michelson-Morley results based on his two postulates: 1. The Laws of Physics are the same in all reference frames, and 2. The speed of light is constant in all reference frames.

Einstein's other works were also important. But it should be noted that he did collaborate with others, especially when forming his General Theory of Relativity. So he was a genius, but so were a lot of people at the time. He just was able to move past the established way of thinking.

Answer 2

Not only did he get help with new mathmetical forms, he was also a "visual" thinker. Instead of just working on equations, he did the Feynmann approach. He would visually think about what he was trying to figure out. A well known thought problem was his questin of what would happen if he was riding along on the crest of a wave of light. Eventually he came to the conclusion that no matter what state of motion the observer is in, that observer will always measure the speed of light as a constant. In other words, like SOOOOOO many people on here ask: If you were traveling along at the speed of light and turned on a flashlight, would it work? The answer is yes, and the light coming from the flashlight would travel away from you, relative to your measurements at c, or the speed of light. He extrapolated that netierh space nor time is absolutely constant, only spacetime is an absolute.

Answer 3

Einstein was a very curious person who always wanted answers, and couldn't rest peacefully until he knew the "why" and the "how" of whatever he was looking at. For example, as a child, his father showed him a compass and when he saw how the needle moved in response to his own movement, he began researching magnetism and the earth, which eventually led to bigger questions, which led to bigger answers, which led to bigger questions....you get the idea.

He, in his studies, eventually began working with Newtonian physics, only to find that there were too many "unexplained" pieces to the puzzle, which (in short) is what caused him to develop his theories that began to unify all the others out there.

In high school, I remember watching a laser disc (yes, you read that correctly!) in AP Physics about his Theory of Relativity, and they explained how he began thinking about the speed of light as seen from someone on a train...it had something to do with a person seeing the same lightning bolt in two mirrors while moving on a train; I wish I could be more specific, but I just can't remember.

So anyway, a lot of his ideas came from his desire...no, need...to know the "what, how, when, where, why" of the things going on around him. But so many of his thought experiments (such as the train/mirror/lightning bolt one) were indeed genius.

Why do some crime investigators/detectives have "it" that makes them nail the criminal in a seemingly hopeless case while nobody else could do so? I can only believe that it's part of that 90% or so of our brain that we're not using. Intuition, instinct, some other form of 6th sense...who knows. That's all part of being a genius.

Answer 4

Although it is controversial, many believe that Albert Einstein was dyslexic. Although dyslexics are slow to read and exhibit other learning disabilities, they are far from stupid. Brain activity (use of specific areas of the brain) may be organized differently in dyslexice who often can see the Big Picture rather than the details. The details can always be filled in. Schools are not geared to teach dyslexics although there special needs are now being addressed in better schools. General Patton was also dyslexic but he certainly could certainly "see" a battle plan even if his mother had to read him his lessons as a student. Somehow Einstein could "see" that Newton's laws of motion would break down if you approached the speed of light. That helped unlock many mysteries within the universe and even within tiny atoms. We can not personally experience such speeds on earth and many never even stopped to question the situation.

Answer 5

Einstein was a true Genius. A lot of his theorems were developed when he was working for the Patent Office and, I would guess, had a lot of time to think about things.

If Einstein has re-incarnated, he MUST be Steve Hawking.!

Answer 6

First off, he asked "what would I see, if I rode a beam of light" that lead to his other thoughts.

Answer 7

He was a real genious and open minded for his age.

Answer 8

him and his wife were both very good at math but some of his theorys are for genuis like people for sure.

Answer 9

he was superman