How did Einstein Know?
A little over 100 years ago, he published his Theory of General Relativity.
A couple of years later it was proven.

I would love to know what was trigger that led him to his theory.
He wasn't a great experimenter...

 

I would tend to think in people like Einstein these things just come to them.The brain is a very interesting and complex organ and it works diffrently for a lot of people.

 

The +1 is a big fan of Einstein and has quite a few books. He says Einstein did a lot of what's called simple thought experiments. He came up with the theory in 1905 but was not able to prove it mathematically until 1916.

 

Damn if simple thoughts make you an Einstein I qualify.

 

It is of course important to keep in mind that scientific theory does not somehow start over from scratch with each increment of progress. Researchers build on the work of predecessors and contemporaries; both their successes and failures. Einstein was an incredibly gifted independent genius. But in the end his work emanated from his critical revisions of current theory. He was a major new link in the chain of developing scientific theory.

 

that's the part that is so amazing. His 'thought experiments"... i'm with dave. wow.

 

Or as Isaac Newton (among others) once wrote* "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."

*From a letter to Newton's rival, Robert Hooke, dated February 5, 1676

 

Same with music. There are no revolutions, music evolves and builds upon what came before.

 

We need another Einstein to come up with the Physics and Math to solve Singularity, Big Bang, and all those darn black holes.

 

I agree. With that stated: One could make the case that no one has had an "original thought" since mankind first discovered fire or invented the wheel.

If anyone that reads this thinks that they have had an ORIGINAL THOUGHT I am fairly certain that we (collectively) would be interested in seeing it here for the first time.