The Anarchy of Perseverance-Never Surrender to Adversity.

To borrow a quote from Florence Scovel Shinn posted here on LinkedIn from a prominent connection, “Every great work, every great accomplishment, was brought into manifestation through holding to the vision and, and often just before the big achievement comes apparent failure and discouragement”, inspired me to ration. It was this powerful statement that motivated me to reflect on a book presented to me some years back by my lovely wife Soula, entitled “Einstein”, written by Walter Isaacson.

It’s a fascinating account of the extraordinary life of one of humanities most gifted scientist. There are 675 pages in this great read, but it was the section on General Relativity that connected me to the eloquent quotation. Albert Einstein, never quite satisfied with the status-quo, felt inexplicably drawn to unify gravity into his special theory of relativity. Specifically, he endeavored to devise a formulaic equation that described the effects of mass on space-time, and how the curvature of space time effects the motion of objects. I can’t possibly do this justice in two or three paragraphs but will give it my best shot and see how it goes. It is by any measurement, an extraordinary accomplishment and widely viewed as the greatest scientific discovery of our civilization. What we may not know however, was the hard work, careful diligence, determination and dizzying array of setbacks that confronted and wore at the soul of our dear Albert.

Albert Einstein already understood the bending of light by mass in the space-time fabric of the cosmos. He knew a solar eclipse of the sun could prove this, but predicting how much a massive object such as the sun could bend that light, and explain the anomalous orbit of Mercury, was a more daunting quest. He was, in a sense, perfecting Isaac Newton, his inspiration. Moreover, incorporating a “Generalized” theory that would be covariant in describing ALL forms of motion: Accelerated, Inertial, Rotational and Arbitrary, and would require a mathematics he was unfamiliar. Quite frankly, he was accustomed to doing little math, typically leaving it to others to perform. Until that point, Einstein’s success had been based on his special talent for sniffing out the underlying physical principles of nature. This was about to change.

The math would have to serve as a critical building block to which the theory would be based, requiring a non-Euclidean form of Geometry. He researched the subject and discovered a form by Bernhard Riemann, which involved complex metric tensors and Ricci scalars. This geometry had to account for the curvature of the earth and space-time itself, as a result of mass. Euclidean Geometry would simply not suffice.  The operative word for this equation was “covariance” and would need to apply for all forms of motion, whatever they may be.  Einstein, often frustrated, discouraged and distraught, would abandon this new found math, and develop his own math, (Entwurf) as he desperately attempted to put forward a workable solution for the covariance quandary. He failed many times in solving this puzzle and reverted on several occasions going from one math to the other. It was, as you can imagine, quite strenuous. Adding to the enormity of this challenge was WW1, separation from his children, a disintegrating marriage, health issues associated with the extreme mental exertion, and a growing level of antisemitism. Moreover, an unexpected last-minute race for the theory ensued with famous mathematician David Hilbert, who was well noted for his contemptuous outlook on physicist. Hilbert often joked that physics was far too complicated for physicist! It soon became a frenzied day-to-day race to prove this coveted theory. Ultimately, and in a shriek of brilliance, Einstein, corrected the math and redid the calculus that finally satisfied the required covariance. An elated and ebullient Einstein would proceed with presenting to the Prussian Academy on November 25, 1915. It was exhilarating, but exhausting. In Einstein’s own words, he felt “kaput”.

R?? - ?Rg ?? + Λg = , is the final field equation Einstein had derived that was covariant. He defined the perihelion orbit of Mercury at 43 seconds of arc/century, and the bending of light from the mass of the sun at 1.7 seconds of arc (the moon is approximately 30 seconds of arc). The theory was experimentally proven on May 29th, 1919 in a dramatic conclusion performed by famed British Astronomer, Arthur Eddington. It was on the tiny island of Principe, a Portuguese colony one degree north of the equator, where Eddington had effectively demonstrated that the starlight from near the sun, was exactly where Einstein had predicted. Einstein brought certainty into our world and through his perseverance and determination, affirmed the quotation above. It is holding onto that vision and modifying your strategy when it counts, that wakes the dream from its slumber to reality. Anything is possible! Thank you, dear new LinkedIn friend, for sharing this valuable saying and please continue to post. Your kind wisdom a world awaits.

Neal Rothchild; Global Trade Facilitator, International Logistics Executive, Physics hobbyist and advocate for the advancement of humanity. The field equation formula is posted as my photo on twitter. I invite to you follow me and message me here on LinkedIn. Life is a journey of people, places and experiences.

Authors note: As perfect as Einstein (and Newton) preferred our world to be, there is an inherent “uncertainty” that exist as well. Naturally, there is also an equation for that, but I can’t make it that easy for you.