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Re: Why haven't we had another scientific revolution in physics yet? Hasn't it been long enough since general relativity and quantum mechanics? - Quora

From	Odd Bodkin <bodkinodd@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	sci.physics.relativity
Subject	Re: Why haven't we had another scientific revolution in physics yet? Hasn't it been long enough since general relativity and quantum mechanics? - Quora
Date	2018-08-10 14:41 +0000
Organization	Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID	<pkk862$eld$1@gioia.aioe.org> (permalink)
References	(4 earlier) <f0ec9f44-73dc-a5e0-0bf1-49c315dc2cf2@PointedEars.de> <1c1e53b9-41a4-4ee0-8332-da243e4b40c3@googlegroups.com> <44e2fa0a-32e9-b4b6-9f62-e52c3283dd99@PointedEars.de> <pkid51$1kjl$1@gioia.aioe.org> <70a4568a-9d27-fc9a-fc45-39664f530204@PointedEars.de>

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Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> wrote:
> Odd Bodkin wrote:
>> Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> wrote:
>>> Prokaryotic Caspase Homolog wrote:
>>>> indicate that Einstein rather enjoyed the work, and it allowed him much
>>>> spare time that he could devote to his real interests.
>>> 
>>> Think about what you are saying there.  Having a full-time job with
>>> “much spare time” is a contradiction in terms.
>> 
>> Uh, no. You’d be very surprised how many full time jobs have idle time. 
> While that is a distinct possibility, consider the nature of Einstein’s
> work.  It would be strange to employ Einstein because he studied also
> Maxwell’s electrodynamics (which was not yet taught at the Polytechnic)
> if there were not a sufficient number of incoming inventions that required
> understanding of that subject.  And in general you do not employ a person
> if there is little work to be done because you have to pay that person
> anyway (in such a position you are not paid by the hour).

Airline pilots. 
Fire fighters. 
Congressional representatives. 
Company board members. 
Building maintenance supervisors. 
Orchestral musicians. 
Night security. 
Ranch hands. 
I could name more. 

All salaried, full-time positions in jobs that have deliberately limited
duty cycle or are by nature episodic or where readiness counts almost as
much as activity. 

I’m not saying that patent office clerking is inherently like these. I am
saying that there are plenty of such positions where diverted attention is
fully supportable. And I believe Einstein pushed on the boundaries of his
duty cycle to carve out time for physics. 

> 
> Therefore, it is more reasonable to assume that Einstein had a normal
> workload but did not do all the work himself.  Because otherwise there would
> not have been enough spare time for him to work on his science as only a
> full-time position would have enabled him to support his family.
> 
> Besso kept working at the Swiss Patent Office even after Einstein left.
> This strongly indicates that Besso liked that kind of work.
> 
> So you can see that my assumption that Besso, out of friendship, gratitude
> and interest, did most if not all of Einstein’s Patent Office work, which
> originates from scenes in “Genius” season 1, is consistent with what
> we know about Einstein.
> 



-- 
Odd Bodkin — Maker of fine toys, tools, tables

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