5 ms·

Didn't Einstien use Minkowski's geometry for his key theories? Seems like it's helpful to have a few mathematicians involved in the project.

javajosh 6y ago
Not really my field, but I think Riemann had more of an impact on Einstein in that he was looking for a mathematical structure that fit his intuition about spacetime, and he dug up a 50-year old theory and applied it to GR. My understanding is that Einstein was searching for a long time for the right tool, and went down a lot of dead-end paths, before he discovered Riemann geometry.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  As I recall my history, it was actually believed that Einstein's first wife, Mileva Marić Einstein, who provided at least some of the mathematical muscle needed for GR [0]. --- [0]: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-forgotten-life-of-einsteins-first-wife/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-forgotte...
  - qchris 6y ago
    I definitely agree he had a mathematician working with him to help, but am not sure it was his wife. I think that there's varying interpretations of her contributions to A. Einstein's work. If I'm remembering correctly, Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography tended towards says that she didn't truly contribute much to any of the work he did around that time, but that he did have a colleague or two formally trained in non-Euclidean geometries that he spent a lot of time working on GR with.
    - agonz253 6y ago
      It was Marcel Grossman who introduced him to Riemman's work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Grossmann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Grossmann There is no evidence that his wife provided any of the "mathematical muscle needed for GR", nor is there reason to suspect that she would have been in a position to do so, since she was not a mathematician and had failed the undergraduate physics degree at the institute where she met Einstein (Einstein himself barely passed though). [0] https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402039997 https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402039997
    - pmiller2 6y ago
      > If I'm remembering correctly, Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography tended towards says that she didn't truly contribute much to any of the work he did around that time.... I'm not sure how much credence I'd put in such an assertion given that Einstein himself wrote in a letter to Mileva: > “When I read Helmholtz for the first time, it seemed so odd that you were not at my side and today, this is not getting better. I find the work we do together very good, healing and also easier.” Emphasis added by me. Having not read the book, Isaacson might have some additional evidence and insights I'm not aware of, but who knows?
      - agonz253 6y ago
        > “When I read Helmholtz for the first time, it seemed so odd that you were not at my side and today, this is not getting better. I find the work we do together very good, healing and also easier.” Note that this was written when they were both undergraduate students and would study together.
        pmiller2 6y ago
        There are other examples in the SA article I posted, including a letter from 1905 where Einstein talks about their "work on relative motion."
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- webdva 6y ago
  Inspiring persistence.

javajosh 6y ago

Not really my field, but I think Riemann had more of an impact on Einstein in that he was looking for a mathematical structure that fit his intuition about spacetime, and he dug up a 50-year old theory and applied it to GR. My understanding is that Einstein was searching for a long time for the right tool, and went down a lot of dead-end paths, before he discovered Riemann geometry.

pmiller2 6y ago
As I recall my history, it was actually believed that Einstein's first wife, Mileva Marić Einstein, who provided at least some of the mathematical muscle needed for GR [0]. --- [0]: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-forgotten-life-of-einsteins-first-wife/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-forgotte...
- qchris 6y ago
  I definitely agree he had a mathematician working with him to help, but am not sure it was his wife. I think that there's varying interpretations of her contributions to A. Einstein's work. If I'm remembering correctly, Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography tended towards says that she didn't truly contribute much to any of the work he did around that time, but that he did have a colleague or two formally trained in non-Euclidean geometries that he spent a lot of time working on GR with.
  - agonz253 6y ago
    It was Marcel Grossman who introduced him to Riemman's work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Grossmann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Grossmann There is no evidence that his wife provided any of the "mathematical muscle needed for GR", nor is there reason to suspect that she would have been in a position to do so, since she was not a mathematician and had failed the undergraduate physics degree at the institute where she met Einstein (Einstein himself barely passed though). [0] https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402039997 https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402039997
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    > If I'm remembering correctly, Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography tended towards says that she didn't truly contribute much to any of the work he did around that time.... I'm not sure how much credence I'd put in such an assertion given that Einstein himself wrote in a letter to Mileva: > “When I read Helmholtz for the first time, it seemed so odd that you were not at my side and today, this is not getting better. I find the work we do together very good, healing and also easier.” Emphasis added by me. Having not read the book, Isaacson might have some additional evidence and insights I'm not aware of, but who knows?
    - agonz253 6y ago
      > “When I read Helmholtz for the first time, it seemed so odd that you were not at my side and today, this is not getting better. I find the work we do together very good, healing and also easier.” Note that this was written when they were both undergraduate students and would study together.
      - pmiller2 6y ago
        There are other examples in the SA article I posted, including a letter from 1905 where Einstein talks about their "work on relative motion."
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
webdva 6y ago
Inspiring persistence.