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That’s false he wasn’t bad at math. It’s a (false) myth that’s perpetuated. Before he was years 15 old he’d mastered differential and integral calculus: https:

That’s false he wasn’t bad at math. It’s a (false) myth that’s perpetuated. Before he was years 15 old he’d mastered differential and integral calculus: https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1936731_1936743_1936758,00.html https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28...

lstodd 4y ago
Tbh I was taught both in school at about the same age. This doesn't prevent me from kicking the kubernetes can down the road instead of coming up with more general relativity. Maybe it's the lust that's insufficient.
- 8note 4y ago
  The low hanging fruit on physics discoveries using current technology is also all taken. The right person at the right place at the right time -- the time is maybe the biggest one. It's not just Einstein who revolutionized physics, his contemporaries did too
stevezsa8 4y ago
I remember when I was a kid, I'd heard various things about how Einstein failed school or was bad at mathematics or was just a simple patent office clerk etc etc... Seems he was in fact super smart and educated at good schools / universities in the countries he lived in. As you'd expect from someone who revolutionised parts of science.
- JJMcJ 4y ago
  His grades were good. His promise was recognized very early.
voldacar 4y ago
He got a lot of math help from David Hilbert though as an adult
- blululu 4y ago
  On General Relativity after having published ground breaking publications on Special Relativity and Brownian motion. David Hilbert is one of the greatest mathematicians in history - it is a bit unfair to detract from someone's abilities if they receive help from the one of the world's top practitioners.
ecshafer 4y ago
There is a myth, that Einstein was so bad at math that he failed math. There is also a quip by mathematicians and physicists that he just wasn't that good at math. I heard this a few times in undergrad physics, and the proof was typically that while he had good insight, his field equations for GR, Einstein said were neigh impossible to solve, but Schwarzchild and a few others almost instantly had solutions. Einstein was really good at math with regards to normal people, but when you compare with great mathematicians and physicists (Gauss, Euler, Von Neumann, etc), he was probably on the lower end.

lstodd 4y ago

Tbh I was taught both in school at about the same age. This doesn't prevent me from kicking the kubernetes can down the road instead of coming up with more general relativity. Maybe it's the lust that's insufficient.

8note 4y ago
The low hanging fruit on physics discoveries using current technology is also all taken. The right person at the right place at the right time -- the time is maybe the biggest one. It's not just Einstein who revolutionized physics, his contemporaries did too

stevezsa8 4y ago

I remember when I was a kid, I'd heard various things about how Einstein failed school or was bad at mathematics or was just a simple patent office clerk etc etc... Seems he was in fact super smart and educated at good schools / universities in the countries he lived in. As you'd expect from someone who revolutionised parts of science.

JJMcJ 4y ago
His grades were good. His promise was recognized very early.

voldacar 4y ago

He got a lot of math help from David Hilbert though as an adult

blululu 4y ago
On General Relativity after having published ground breaking publications on Special Relativity and Brownian motion. David Hilbert is one of the greatest mathematicians in history - it is a bit unfair to detract from someone's abilities if they receive help from the one of the world's top practitioners.

ecshafer 4y ago

There is a myth, that Einstein was so bad at math that he failed math. There is also a quip by mathematicians and physicists that he just wasn't that good at math. I heard this a few times in undergrad physics, and the proof was typically that while he had good insight, his field equations for GR, Einstein said were neigh impossible to solve, but Schwarzchild and a few others almost instantly had solutions. Einstein was really good at math with regards to normal people, but when you compare with great mathematicians and physicists (Gauss, Euler, Von Neumann, etc), he was probably on the lower end.