How Smart Was Einstein?
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Was Einstein really all that smart?
He published his for essential paper all in his one miracle year of 1905.
He was 'meh' at poetry or violin playing.
He refused the job of being the Israel's president (he didn't quite fit the job profile now, did he, with all that wild hair). :))
Einstein was a bit of a weirdo.
Words cam with difficulty to him, but images came easier.
He wasn’t mathematically brilliant, but could pull his weight.
He was different. He had a clear way of thinking that wouldn’t register on an intelligence test.
His first paper on special theory of relativity can be understood by ordinary mortals: no jargon, just simple ideas, inescapable logic. Just brilliant in its simplicity.
Einstein's way of thinking
He ran little experiments.
At age 16 he wondered about riding alongside a ray of light. What does light look light for a moving observer? Light would always look like it was moving at the same speed. Other's were thinking about this also, but his thoughts were more visual.
When thinking about theory of gravity, he imagined riding a falling elevator.
He was also extremely stubborn. He didn't trust experiments not confirming his ideas. Trusting his instincts was mostly correct.
