Word: einsteins
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...enormously complex task. Although Einstein was the better physicist, Hilbert was the better mathematician. So in October 1915 Einstein threw himself into a monthlong frenzy in which he returned to an earlier mathematical strategy and wrestled with tensors, equations, proofs, corrections and updates that he rushed to give as lectures to Berlin's Prussian Academy of Sciences on four successive Thursdays--even as he was struggling to arrange a reconciliation with his sons...
...Einstein also took time off from furiously revising his equations to engage in an awkward fandango with his competitor Hilbert. Worried about being scooped, he sent Hilbert a copy of his Nov. 4 lecture. "I am curious whether you will take kindly to this new solution," Einstein noted with a touch of defensiveness...
...Einstein presented his second paper the following Thursday, Nov. 11. He still had not found the right equations, but he felt he was getting closer. Once again, he sent the paper to Hilbert. "If my present modification (which does not change the equations) is legitimate, then gravitation must play a fundamental role in the composition of matter," Einstein wrote. "My own curiosity is interfering with my work...
...reply that Hilbert sent the next day must have unnerved Einstein. He said he was about ready to oblige with a "solution to your great problem." He had planned to hold off discussing it until he had explored it further. "But since you are so interested, I would like to lay out my theory in very complete detail this coming Tuesday," which was Nov. 16. He invited Einstein to come to Göttingen and have the dubious pleasure of personally hearing him lecture. Then, after signing his name, Hilbert felt compelled to add what must surely have been a tantalizing...
...Einstein wrote four letters on Nov. 15, a Monday, that suggest that the stress he was under was starting to take its toll. To his son Hans Albert, he wrote that he would like to travel to Switzerland around Christmas and New Year's to visit him. "Maybe it would be better if we were alone somewhere," such as at a secluded inn, he suggested to his son. "What do you think...