[AZ-Observing] Re: Steward Observatory Public Evening Series: The Astrophysical Einstein [10-24-05]

Sorry boys...  but when read out of context, quite nearly anything can be 
made to seem somehow incorrect. There is no direct implication that either
general or special relativity theory alone led to the award of the prize.

The reference to the papers points to the statement he made about himself
regarding his >>>>"thinking" in 1905.

again::

>>>"The publication of these papers demonstrated the creative thought that
>>>resulted in Einstein's 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Einstein would later
>>>characterize 1905 as the year "...a storm broke loose in my mind."


The papers he wrote indeed demonstrated the CREATIVE THOUGHT that eventually
led to his 1921 Nobel Prize.

The first paper dealt with his special theory of relativity

The second paper dealt with his discussion about the nature of light as
particles so named the "photoelectric effect" that provided the stepping
stone to quantum mechanics.  This specifically was the subject of the prize,
but not the point of the original e-mail.

The third paper discussed Brownian motion, also related to minute particle
motion providing direct evidence to the material existence of atoms.


All three papers are lumped together in his own words characterizing 1905 as
the year  "...a storm broke loose in my mind."

Einstein had been thinking about all three concepts for years prior to the
publication of these papers. Paraphrasing his own words, 1905 yeilded the
ah-ha moments where he could "see" the concepts he was thinking about as
they related to seemingly ordinary daily events.

One of these events was described and demonstrated quite nicely by Dr.
Psaltis during his excellent presentation tonight.  Einstein had an ah-ha
moment while walking past some houses and observed something falling from a
rooftop.  Although seeing things fall from height isn't unusual by itself,
Einstein suddenly saw this in a completely new way.  This led to his ability
to place on paper his thoughts regarding the nature of "what is a straight
line" and what is "perceived as a straight line" relative to the observer
and the observer's inability to completely perceive, for example, spatial
curvature.  Specifically, in this case, the curvature of the earth with
respect to the path of falling objects.

Quite a few other ah-ha observations similar to the one above, have found
their way into Einstein's own writings.  ...and I have several that I picked
up at the Skirball presentation of "Einstein" this year in LA.

From my own personal perspective, it is this unique ability to "see" with
different eyes, and the way in which he did it, that makes Einstein uniquely
genius.

So... since this was never intended to be some kind of detailed expose on
the nature of the Prize, but simply a statement celebrating Einstein's own
words regarding his own thinking, I will close my letter again with this...


"...break forth, oh beauteous light;  and think outside, inside, around,
above, below, near, and most especially, without the box." -L Sparks-D

...and now the storms breaking loose on the Martian surface, are calling for
attention.  Oh, and by the way, I take no offense to the challenge.

Regards,
Laurel Sparks-Dunlap




----------
>From: Brian Skiff <bas@xxxxxxxxxx>
>To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Steward Observatory Public Evening Series:  The
Astrophysical Einstein  [10-24-05]
>Date: Mon, Oct 24, 2005, 11:38
>

>>>  ...that resulted in Einstein's 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.
>
>      I'm pretty sure, though perhaps Professor Psaltis could confirm,
> that Einstein's Nobel was for the photoelectric effect, and not
> for the relativity papers.
>      Whereas relativity hardly impinges on my daily life, I make use
> of the photoelectric effect almost constantly (vision, computer monitors,
> CCDs...).
>
> \Brian
> --
> See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
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