Episode
17/18
Watch The Prometheus Constellation: Dramaturgical and Scientific Analysis of the Physicists in Oppenheimer
In this chapter

Albert Einstein takes the top position in the hosts' ranking of scientific contributions. Krishna Choudhary and Lester Nare discuss relativity, the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and stimulated emission as examples of the breadth of his work, then compare his scientific legacy with Newton's.

Transcript

813 words · auto-generated from the episode video

1:30:36>> okay, that's our number two and that actually is the end of the S tier. >> Yes. >> So now do we have our list? No, because that was number two. >> We have 26 people total we're supposed to reference. I see 25 on the board. >> Right. So >> We're missing >> the one and only the obvious number one Albert Einstein. >> Yes. >> Okay, I didn't want to put him on the S tier because that would be a disservice to Einstein to put him in the company of people like Niels Bohr and Gödel and Fermi and Heisenberg. That's how ridiculous Einstein is and I think everyone on that list would agree. Okay,

1:31:17I think the guys in that S tier if you ask them they'd be like no, he doesn't belong with us. Okay? On a log scale he's like plus two, okay? It's it's pretty ridiculous because Einstein is Einstein. I don't have to say much. >> Right. >> Um relativity both special and general >> Mhm. >> Um mass energy equivalence equals mc squared, the laser. Did you know that like the theory behind the laser was also Einstein? yes. That's Einstein. >> Yes. >> Um just the photoelectric effect >> Yep. >> That's Einstein so the the fact that light is quantized is Einstein. The fact

1:31:58that atoms exist, Brownian motion again in 1905 paper, just ridiculous things, right? In the history of physics, there's only one other person that belongs in the same conversation, and that is Isaac Newton. Yeah. Okay? Otherwise, all of these other all of these other scientists, they can be in their chart, but Albert Einstein, if we look at the full ranking, he is going to be separate. >> Okay, so I have a funny question. So, in in football, we talk about the current goat era as being between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. Yeah. The past era is like Maradona and Pelé. Let's ignore those two. Let's just keep the Messi Ronaldo between Newton and Einstein, who do you think is more

1:32:41as the Messi, and who do you think is the Ronaldo? Because like Messi is viewed as just an alien born with it. Just it's it's it's God's gift to this earth. Ronaldo worked for it, maybe better on some stats, and just like is a killer, like wins, scores like >> But >> Both goats, but fundamentally for different reasons. One was born with it, one just worked really hard. Might not perfectly map, but I'm curious if you can if you have a thought between who might be which. >> If you forced me to to do the match, I think Isaac Newton is Messi. >> Okay. >> Okay? >> Okay. >> Everything just came natural to him. And um just it was like easy for him. And other

1:33:23people would would have a problem, and they'd talk to him about it, and he'd be like, "Oh, I solved that 2 years ago." And they'd be like, "Wha wha where He's like, "Oh, I threw it away." And they're like, "Well, find the What do you mean?" Like Edmond Halley came up to Newton and was like, "Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what Halley's Comet's orbit is." And he was like, "Oh, yeah, I solved that. Well, I didn't think it was that interesting." And then Edmond Halley was like, "Dude, I've been trying for like the past 3 years to figure this out." >> You need to find that and like publish it. >> That track. >> And then when Newton found it, he's like, "Why does he think it's interesting?" And then he invented calculus. >> You know what I mean? >> Yeah. >> Like And then and like a month later he was just like, "Oh, okay. I made a better

1:34:03solution, but here's calculus." And everyone's like, "What What What is going on right now?" Um on the other hand, Ronaldo, as you said, like had to put in a lot of work, right? Einstein also had to put in work. For example, his his miracle year in 1905, it seems like he didn't have to put in that much work, but what's true What What he's truly known for as like being the great great great is general relativity, which is the idea that gravitation and space-time it's the curvature of space-time and all this other stuff. He had the insight for general relativity in 1907, 1908. >> Yes. >> But it took him another 7 years of just learning mathematics and like brutal like training >> Yes. >> in mathematics >> Yes.

1:34:43>> to finally come out with the full theory. And that kind of reminds me of where Ronaldo >> where Ronaldo he and he's he's still playing to this day, longevity, da da

From the episode
  1. EP 39

    The Prometheus Constellation: Dramaturgical and Scientific Analysis of the Physicists in Oppenheimer

    A movie cast list turned into a deep dive on quantum mechanics, black holes, nuclear physics, and the greatest minds of the 20th century.

    The Prometheus Constellation: Dramaturgical and Scientific Analysis of the Physicists in Oppenheimer

History of SciencePhysicsNuclear Physics