Albert Einstein, marginal genius

Einstein struck my imagination first as a man and only then as a scientist. Interested in amazing biography before scientific achievements. The facts of his life, little by little revealed to me, shocked me with their inconsistency. Marginal who made a revolution in physics. An unbelieving Jew who led the Zionist movement. The father of the theory of relativity, who did not recognize quantum mechanics. Etc.

Strangely enough, all this seemed to come as no surprise to Einstein’s biographers. But the story of his life stunned me with its implausibility. The myth of Einstein was born on its own, not created by anyone. And this turned Einstein into a true hero of his era.

Einstein strives for rationalism and prudence in both philosophical and political matters. Since the Universe exists according to the laws of common sense, then people should be guided by it. But, ironically, fear of Nazi atomic weapons makes him – a convinced pacifist – support the creation of an atomic bomb. And yet, not strength, but common sense will give people the key to resolving their differences, and unity is always better than competition.

But most importantly, his free from prejudice mind seems to me a real model of how to live. He did not recognize any authorities, dogmas, conventions. He lived, thought, acted only at his own discretion. He owed all the mistakes he made not to the church, not to the party, not to doctrine, not to fashion, but exclusively to himself. How many of our modern intellectuals can boast of the same?

Keys to Understanding

The universe is knowable

The universe lends itself to rational knowledge – this idea fascinates Einstein from a young age. The human mind is able to reveal the laws of “celestial mechanics” – and find their correspondence in earthly nature. Of course, this is not a miraculous coincidence, but a manifestation of the transcendence of the world – a commonality of the world order, independent of our consciousness and experience. The universe is not a divine creation, but God himself. With such a vision, scientific research turns out to be a spiritual search, and physics – metaphysics. Einstein invariably notes the spiritual orientation of his scientific work.

Think first

A person cannot only explore the world – he must comprehend it. Therefore, science should abandon the inductive methodology – first the facts, then the ideas. The correct way is the reverse: first the theory and only then comparison with the facts. Einstein thus proclaims the primacy of theory.

Truly beautiful

The universe, recognized as divine, must obey perfect laws. The idea of ​​perfection is difficult to comprehend without being a scientist. After all, what is required of a scientific theory? Accuracy, plausibility, compliance of scientific forecasts with observed facts. But Einstein wants more. He strives to build an impeccably beautiful scientific model based on simple and few principles, clear cause-and-effect relationships. Find a true explanation for phenomena. Error is ugly, truth is beautiful. Errors have no place in theory; its goal is truth. For example, the theory of gravity – the law of universal gravitation, formulated by Newton, has firmly entered the everyday life of physical science. But Einstein questions the classical formulation because, in his opinion, it is flawed in the general theoretical sense. So, it does not reflect the true state of affairs. Einstein abandons the Newtonian theory of gravity and creates his own – the general theory of relativity.

Mankind is one

Mankind is part of the universal cosmic order and, therefore, one whole. People are similar, and everything that separates them – nationalities, races, religions – is nothing more than a relic of the past. The desire for a single world order forced Einstein to abandon his Jewish roots and become a citizen of the world. But in the face of first fierce anti-Semitism, and soon Nazism, he joins the ranks of members of the Zionist movement – “champions of Jewry.”