hi all, this has an excellent update on a key question Ive wondered about, out
loud in this blog I believe. did einstein know about the michelson morely
experiments when he wrote his 1905 relativity paper?? I remember the strong
confusion I had in reading his paper on this point. he seems to have a few
sentences that allude to it, in his phrasing, but he didnt credit it directly.

now, below the writer says, this is not an oversight even if he knew of the
experiments. but, the experiment was highly relevant, and how could he not cite
it if he knew about it? I think the dirty secret is that scientists dont really
credit all prior relevant work they have read, they just try to credit the
PRESTIGIOUS stuff that is relevant, to elevate their own writing. michelson
morley was not PRESTIGIOUS at the time, I would say.

its strange, scientific biographies of einstein tend to paint him as very
humble, and ego-less. but I tend to disagree, I think he had a big ego, but he
was just very effective in hiding it.

somehow, I wonder if he didnt cite the experiment so that he might give the
impression that he had more inductive brilliance.. more of a feat of pulling a
rabbit out of a hat, if youve never heard of the experiment. he liked to
emphasize that he worked almost from pure logic, a sort of platonic genius..
much along the lines of g"odel his friend although they met much later.

I think, you do not become as famous as einstein was by coincidence, or by sheer
scientific brilliance alone, although that was the big part of it. I think he
was a master showman, and he enjoyed celebrity to some degree. and of course
luck/timing/circumstance was part of it.

that is my personal take on einstein's psychology.


What Did Einstein Know, And When Did He Know It?
What newly released papers reveal about the physicist.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/204892


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