Albert Einstein: How did he come up with ideas? | Understanding Einstein's Mind

Albert Einstein was unquestionably a genius. He came up with both the theories of Special Relativity and General Relativity. His imagination and ability to comprehend the universe in new ways was unmatched. But how did he come up with ideas in the first place?

In this video, we will discuss a fundamental part of Special Relativity - the idea that the speed of light is constant for ALL observers (except for accelerating ones, but let's ignore that for now). Now the concept itself is pretty mindbending, but we're not going to be talking about it or its implications. Instead, we'll discuss Einstein's thought process behind coming up with such a ridiculous idea (and we'll in fact see that he didn't come up with it at all - he just used this idea more thoroughly than anyone else).

In order to see where Einstein took inspiration from, we need to look at an entirely different area of physics, known as Electromagnetism. This theory explains the behaviour of both Electric and Magnetic fields in their entirety, and it was pioneered by James Clerk Maxwell. Now a small part of Electromagnetism looks in detail at Electromagnetic Waves. Now interestingly, this theory suggests that Electromagnetic Waves travel at a constant speed, without referring to any particular frame of reference.

So Einstein saw this prediction and took it to its logical conclusion - thereby coming up with Special Relativity. His genius was not in coming up with such a ridiculous idea - his genius was taking an idea from a different area of Physics that was potentially dodgy, and carrying it to its logical conclusion. And it turns out that he was right - light really does behave this way.

I hope that this video can work towards demystifying the genius that was Einstein. I have always wondered how people came up with ideas, so I thought I'd explain how Einstein came up with this one.

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[vedantchimmalgi]

Can you please cover Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?

[araara]

2:29 "Now old Jamie boy here was a genius himself." Lol 🤣🤣

[DerLolmann]

I'd really like to hear something about electromagnetism

[lancebaldi]

Can you make a video explaining dark matter/dark energy?

[arik]

I constantly find myself thinking I can never amount to even a fraction of what any of the 20th-century physicists. The way they're portrayed is like they were gods among men sharing their vast knowledge that they just kinda had in their heads naturally... and then there's me who keeps forgetting how to complete the square yet still thinks I can manage a Physics degree. Which brings me onto my point, I really liked how you described Einstein's thought process. I really enjoyed it and would love it if you delved more into that kinda thing, like what was actually going in all these great minds, how did the theories develop? Who inspired them? what ideas were they scaffolding off?? Ya know it makes them seem more relatable haha. Sorry for rambling, never really commented before but have been watching your videos for ages now, awesome work! Love what you're doing now!! Thank you :))

[tatjanagobold]

I thought this was going to be a boring video but actually I thought it was great! I really enjoyed this different approach that also includes mathematics. Please continue showing us equations :)

[NothingMaster]

Creative imagination, propelled by passionate curiosity and an innate desire for understanding. He was also a highly gifted Gedanken experimenter.

[curvebal]

Well done! It’s refreshing to hear a physicist admit his limitations when it comes to a really complicated mathematical concept like Einstein’s field equations. I diverge, but according to biographies on Einstein even he elicited help with the math. It would be interesting if you posted a video covering rotating black holes even if it only scratched the surface. Would a rotating black hole’s math be analogous to “negative mass” and the subsequent distortion of space-time ? Fascinating science !

[snakez]

Thanks for inspiring me to take physics at uni

[vaivashwatpandey]

Parth I want a bit more detail about development of his gravity theory. It's mind bending(hehe) to think that someone can think that mass and energy can bend spacetime!

[tasneemrangwala]

i like yur videos
good job
they r informative and also clears almost all doubts

[heritage]

Love love it. But too short please make longer videos explaining general relativity

[ankitjoshia]

The best YouTuber ever of making such a good science video u should have more the million subscribers

[profsgk]

I must be the infinith (is there such a word?) suggesting that u r the younger version of Veritasium. Obviously both of u r inspiring and amazing. Keep up the great work :)

[hardikdineshchandra]

Idk why but his eyebrow movement is fascinating

[parvaizahmed]

Love the way you explain things. But a small request.. Could you be a bit slow while running through your content..!!

[TreespeakerOfTheLand]

Parth, can the Weekly Question of the Week return? I miss the introspection it brings :(

[jnbdkfdbbvf]

I'm just curious if someone only did Maths, Further Maths and Physics for a level, would they be suitable subject choices for natural sciences at Cambridge. Also would a material science specialistion be open to them. My main concern is if "Maths, FM and Physics" is a suitable a level combo for NatSci at Cambridge?

[alphalunamare]

What most folk don't mention is that his wife was a bit bigger than him, hence he rolled into the gravitationaly distorted mattress. As he slept on the cusp of disaster the idea occurred to him that mass changes geometry.

[ramanunnikrishnan]

Simply loved it, Parth could you please make a video on Laplacian operator at a high school level.