The way I understand it, out of all the fathers of general relativity, Einstein was one of the only ones who really did physics. That is, applying the formulas

The way I understand it, out of all the fathers of general relativity, Einstein was one of the only ones who really did physics. That is, applying the formulas to real life observations, or thought experiments, something that Einstein was particularly famous for. Einstein got a lot of help with the maths, but I think he deserves full credit for the physical application.