Monk

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change this."

-- Albert Einstein

How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

-- Albert Einstein

I dare say Einstein contributed his fair share.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

-- Albert Einstein

It's Einstein's birthday, born March 14, 1879. I am a little surprised to pick up the news at Tumblr, but I guess Einstein is no longer as big as Elvis for the mainstream news to still cover it every year.

Some weeks ago there was a stir in the news about the possible discovery of neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. There was not much acceptance in physics circles, as such a finding would overturn Einstein's conclusions that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light. Indeed, I think the findings have already been corrected, though the experiment will soon be rerun.

I mention it in passing only because I recall during my more intellectually ambitious and delusional youth playing with this idea of a cosmic speed limit. I had wondered if there might have been a fatal conceptual flaw unrealized until I saw it, that is, the reason why the cosmic speed limit might appear to be the speed of light is because that limit actually represents the limit on what we can observe, since we are dependent on light for our observations and measurements. Might we not have confused the limit of what we can observe with the limit of how fast objects and energy may move in the universe. It was an exciting thought, to be able to correct Einstein. Such a ridiculous fool.



Dennis Overbye, "After Report on Speed, a Rush of Scrutiny" at The New York Times

Damon Poeter, "Boo! Hiss! Dutch Scientist Rains on Faster-Than-Light Neutrino Parade" at PCMag.com

Paul Rincon, "Faster-than-light neutrino experiment to be run again" at BBC

The most famous Einstein Pronouncement on God came in the form of a telegram, in which he was asked to answer the question in 50 words or less. He did it in 32: "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of all that exists, but not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."

-- Michael Shermer for "Big Questions Online"

Shermer compiles the little history of Einstein's treatment of the God question. I'd copy & paste the whole thing, but this site apparently really hates that and blocks that facility. Of course, although Einstein is our iconic genius, his word is not necessarily final, but it has to be interesting.

♠
Walter Isaacson has a nice piece in The Washington Post on Einstein's subtle religious beliefs: "Einstein and the Mind of God". Here is a taste:

“It isn’t possible!” the skeptical guest said, turning to Einstein to ask if he was, in fact, religious.

“Yes, you can call it that,” Einstein replied calmly. “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious.”

Mr. Isaacson, of course, has a new biography on Einstein, as we have been getting quite a bit of buzz about it, to the point that it is tempting me give it a run, maybe in the summer. I suppose Einstein is something of an Elvis figure in the world of science, after all.

( Walter Isaacson )

xXx

♠
Yesterday, prahlad posted about the comparison between America and Asian countries when it comes to learning math, and how we are often alarmist about comparing rather unfavorably with, say, the Chinese.

Today, Thomas Friedman has a column directly on point, with a favorable detour through the life of Einstein, and how both sides may be shortchanging the power of the freedom of imagination.

( Friedman column )

xXx