Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]


Groups > sci.physics > #519046

Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings?

From HVAC <Mr.HVAC@gmail.com>
Newsgroups sci.physics, alt.astronomy
Subject Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings?
Date 2015-09-05 05:45 -0400
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <msedeo$r6v$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References <l-2dnfi4sKWNRnTInZ2dnUU7-a8AAAAA@giganews.com>

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

Show all headers | View raw


On 9/4/2015 1:55 PM, Sam Wormley wrote:
> Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings?
>> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lost-in-thought-how-important-to-physics-were-einstein-s-imaginings/
>>
>
>
>> Gedankenexperiment, German for “thought experiment,” was Albert
>> Einstein's famous name for the imaginings that led to his greatest
>> breakthroughs in physics. He traced his realization of light's finite
>> speed—the core idea of special relativity—to his teenage daydreams
>> about riding beams of light. General relativity, his monumental
>> theory of gravitation, has its origins in his musings about riding up
>> and down in an elevator. In both cases, Einstein crafted new theories
>> about the natural world by using his mind's eye to push beyond the
>> limitations of laboratory measurements.
>>
>> Einstein was neither the first nor the last theorist to do this, but
>> his remarkable achievements were pivotal in establishing the
>> gedankenexperiment as a cornerstone of modern theoretical physics.
>> Today physicists regularly use thought experiments to craft new
>> theories and to seek out inconsistencies or novel effects within
>> existing ones.


Excellent article. I often find myself doing these thought experiments 
and failing. It's all about how many moves ahead can you think as it is 
in chess. Einstein could do maybe 6-8. I am limited to 4-6..And dropping 
with age.

Many times I feel that I am on the verge of new science thought and it 
all falls apart. I think that this must be ubiquitous because almost all 
great, original scientific theories have come from young people.


"Rejoice, young man, in thy youth". -Ecclesiastes 11:9



-- 
"Are we going to fight or are we going to stand around all day?"
https://goo.gl/TU0Xr6

Back to sci.physics | Previous | NextPrevious in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread


Thread

Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-09-04 12:55 -0500
  Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? gilber34 <invalid@invalid.com> - 2015-09-04 13:31 -0500
    Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? Fabian Russell <root@localhost.localdomain> - 2015-09-04 21:22 +0000
  Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? dobri karagorgov <dobrikarate.gov@gmail.com> - 2015-09-04 13:04 -0700
  Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? HVAC <Mr.HVAC@gmail.com> - 2015-09-05 05:45 -0400
    Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? Mahipal <mahipal7638@gmail.com> - 2015-09-05 07:57 -0700
      Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? HVAC <Mr.HVAC@gmail.com> - 2015-09-05 12:50 -0400
        Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? gilber34 <invalid@invalid.com> - 2015-09-05 12:04 -0500
      Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? "Gob Knobbler" <invalid@porat.net> - 2015-09-05 11:25 -0700
  Re: Lost in Thought--How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings? "hanson" <hanson@quick.net> - 2015-09-05 07:38 -0700

csiph-web