What did Albert Einstein contribute to MATH (not physics)?

Question

I need help for a 3rd tri term paper for uscMATH

Answer 1

Einstein contributed several equation to physics and used math. However he was a VERY poor mathematician. I understand he had to take algebra three times in college before he passed it! He also flunked 6th grade math! He most definitely was never a math whiz. He did have a gift. The gift was to see complex things in very simple non mathmatical ways. He used that gifted to solve several problem physists had been working on before he began developing any of his theories.

Though seldom given credit, he probably got most of his help with math from his wife. She was a mathematician. Truly math was NOT Einstein's strong point.

The most you can say about Einstein's contributions to math is that he elped give creedence to the idea that math can be used as the promary tool for physics. However others such as Newton were already doing that so he helped he did not pioneer the idea.

Answer 2

Albert Einstein was not a mathematician. In fact he consulted with a lot of mathematicians in his career, most notably Kurt Godel.

Physics uses math. And physicist Albert Einstein learned only the mathematics he needed to know to solve those problems of physics which held his interest.

I am not aware of any kind of mathematics contributed by Albert Einstein.

Answer 3

Actually, Einstein needed help on the math for his general theory of relativity (the special theory's math is not complex). He got this help from Ricci and others. Even after he set up the equations, others did the math to solve them under specific conditions (specifically Schwarzchild for a point-mass, Lemaitre and others for uniformly distributed mass). So I would say that Einstein did not contribute to theoretical math, but found practical applications for the maths developed by Reimann (non-Euclidean geometry), Ricci (tensor calculus), and others.

Answer 4

I would elaborate on his equations that explained relativity. That's a hard question because they are both so closely related.

The fact that Einstein was horrible at math is flat out wrong. He was a master of geometry at the age of 14. And not just basic geometry. I mean the college level geometry, calculus, and algebra. How do you think he could explain relativity without superior math skills?

Answer 5

Albert did not develop any new math in his work. The math he applied was already "common knowledge". His contributions are in physics where he applies math to describe and construct new theoretical results in physics.

Answer 6

Exactly how does one get to physics without math??

Answer 7

e=mc2

Answer 8

E=MC^