Einstein

Routh Address 
26th February 2024
 
"I promise you four papers," the young patent examiner wrote to his friend. The letter would turn out to bear some of the most significant tidings in the history of science, but its momentous nature was masked by an impish tone that was typical of its author. He had, after all, just addressed his friend as "you frozen whale"

• "The first deals with radiation and the energy properties of light and is very revolutionary," he explained. It argued that light could be regarded not just as a wave but also as a stream of tiny particles called quanta.
• "The second paper is a determination of the true sizes of atoms." Even though the very existence of atoms was still in dispute, this was the most straightforward of the papers, which is why he chose it as the safest bet for his latest attempt at a doctoral thesis.
• The third paper explained the jittery motion of microscopic particles in liquid by using a statistical analysis of random collisions. In the process, it established that atoms and molecules actually exist.
• "The fourth paper is only a rough draft at this point, and a modification of the theory of space and time." It would become known as the Special Theory of Relativity.

What he did not tell his friend, because it had not yet occurred to him, was that he would produce a fifth paper that year, a short addendum to the fourth, which posited a relationship between energy and mass. Out of it would arise the best-known equation in all of physics: E=mc2.

1. In calendar terms, what is special about this week?
2. How long does it take the Earth to orbit the Sun?
3. Isn’t a year a whole number of days?
4. What is the rule for deciding if a year is a leap year or not?
5. What would happen if we didn’t have leap years?

The passage above is based on an extract from a fascinating book, Einstein: his Life and Universe. If you read it, you will discover that Albert Einstein was not always considered to be a genius. In fact, he was slow to learn to speak, so much so that his parents consulted a doctor. Having begun talking, he then developed a cheeky rebelliousness towards authority, which led one headmaster to expel him and another to famously comment that he would never amount to much, (which perhaps goes to show how much headmasters know).

 Einstein didn’t perform especially well at school and his unconventional thinking and disregard for formalities led to clashes with teachers, indeed he often questioned the rigid structure of the school environment. In terms of his academic performance as a teenager, you might say that he was no Einstein.

However, his tendency to question conventional wisdom was arguably one of the secrets of Einstein’s success. He was curious about ordinary things. When he was five, his father gave him a compass and he was mystified by the invisible forces that caused the needle to always point north. At the age of 12 he stumbled upon a book of geometry. He devoured its contents, referring to it as his "sacred little geometry book." and it drove his interest in mathematics. In an age, before TV, mobile phones and social media,
Einstein was supposedly happy in his own company when he would lose himself in thought experiments.

• What would happen if I chased a beam of light while riding on a train moving at high speed?, he famously asked himself.
• What would happen to a person who was falling in a lift if the lift was accelerating downwards? What would that person feel?
• and he imagined riding through space on a beam of light

When we were young, occasionally we will have irritated our parents with our non-stop questioning:
1. Why is the sky blue?
2. Where does the sun go at night?
3. Why do I have to eat vegetables?
4. Where do babies come from?
5. Why is the moon sometimes a different shape?
6. How do plants grow?

Children want to develop an understanding of the world around them and so they ask, and through their questioning they learn. Sadly, as we get older, some of us question less, perhaps because we think we have the answers, or fear that others might judge us, or because we are just too busy getting on with things. But there is always more to find out and whether we ask questions of others, or we read books or find answers in other ways, questioning helps us to learn, understand, and improve. Indeed, Einstein himself said, The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when we contemplate the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.

And coming back to the questions about Thursday:
1. Thursday is the 29th February – known as leap day
2. It take 365.25 days for the Earth to orbit the Sun once
3. Having 366 rather than 365 days every fourth year accounts for the extra ¼ day
4. If a year is evenly divisible by 4, it is a leap year. However, if that year is also divisible by 100, it is not a leap year, unless the year is divisible by 400, in which case it is a leap year. The orbital period of the Earth is actually 365 days, 6 hours and 9 minutes. The extra 9 minutes means that we can’t quite have a leap year every 4 years
5. Leap years ensure that our calendar aligns with Earth’s journey around the Sun, preventing seasonal drift. Without leap years, our warm summertime would eventually shift to the cold winter months.

So, in an appropriate and thoughtful way, keep questioning, keep asking why, how and what if?. By thinking things through for ourselves, we develop a deeper understanding of the world, alternative explanations and perhaps find ways to make things better.