THERE was once a young boy whose father gave him a compass for his fifth birthday. He was left awestruck when he discovered that the needle would always point in a specific direction no matter the orientation of the compass.
He wondered what force of nature it was that would be so powerful. And he never stopped wondering. His curiosity steadily grew as time passed. He wondered what it would be like to be able to catch up with the sun's rays as they illuminated the crooked path.
He toyed with the sunlight that sometimes filtered into his classroom, earning the wrath of his teachers who were intent on imposing a sense of rigidity in science. The youngster argued incessantly, albeit with logic, but found himself despised by many of the teaching staff for his rebellious nature.
REALITY BITES
He befriended few, but found kindred spirits in Michele Besso and Marcel Grossmann. He was a romantic at heart; passionate and reckless when love was involved, thinking nothing of skipping classes and barely passing his final exam.
He swept Mileva Maric off her feet, caressing her heart and galloping into the wilderness like a carefree sparrow bursting towards the sun. Passionate in physics, he found the conquest of Maric's heart the greatest joy in those bewildering moments.
Reality bit when it was time to look for a job to pay for his rent and meals. Furthermore, he'd just tied the knot with Maric. No one was willing to give him a recommendation and he soon found himself drifting into perpetual oblivion.
But true friends never let their comrades suffer. Grossman's father found him a job as a patent clerk at the Swiss Patent Office. It wasn't a glamorous vocation and neither was it the kind of teaching job he'd hoped for.
But the allowance was enough to enable him to focus on what he loved best — tinkering with the secrets of the universe. Away from the glaring limelight, he worked primarily alone except for the company of his wife, who was an accomplished mathematician and Besso, who would join him in the patent office later.
BIG BREAK
His dedication to his passion remained unwavering. His breakthrough came when he proposed a revolutionary idea: that light consisted of particles, which he termed photons. This concept was inspired by Max Planck''s theory of quantised light and was integral to his work on explaining black body radiation and developing the theoretical framework for the photoelectric effect.
His rejection of conventional thinking, demonstrated through his willingness to challenge esteemed professors, underscored his commitment to truth above all else. Despite the brilliance of his paper, it was met with resounding silence. How could a humble Swiss patent clerk dare to assert such a groundbreaking theory while working in solitude? Why should the world place trust in someone deemed unworthy of recognition?
In his own way, he resisted the blatant discrimination he faced. A few months later, he once again challenged the status quo by delving into the mysteries of molecular motion with another remarkable paper.
Although he acknowledged his closest friend's contribution, he omitted his wife's name, a decision that left her unnoticed in the vast expanse of academia. Despite shedding light on the physics community's understanding of molecular movement, he found himself overlooked once more.
The humiliation he endured might have driven others to abandon their pursuits, seeking recognition elsewhere. Yet, he remained undeterred. With renewed vigour, he delved into his research, allowing his imagination to traverse the cosmos and explore the frontiers of the universe.
With remarkable ingenuity, he challenged the longstanding concept of time, a notion that had been upheld by the revered Newton for centuries. His groundbreaking idea, which elucidated the intricate relationship between space and time, elevated him to a revered status, catching the attention of luminaries like Max Planck, who reached out to this young scholar hidden in obscurity.
The pinnacle of his achievements came with the formulation of the energy-mass equivalence theorem, laying the groundwork for the eventual development of the atomic bomb. His astonishing output of four groundbreaking papers in a single year, 1905, earned him the moniker Annus Mirabilis (The Miraculous Year), a testament to the magnitude of his contributions.
TRUE GENIUS
All of his groundbreaking work was accomplished without the aid of computer technology or the latest trend of Artificial Intelligence, which dominate discussions today. Not long ago, the focus was on computer science, but that topic has faded from prominence with the sudden arrival of the big data era.
Constantly seeking novelty to fulfil our desires, we often find ourselves eagerly following trends rather than exploring our own potential.
Despite the absence of modern tools, he performed all his calculations manually, including grappling with tensor algebra while developing his General Theory of Relativity, a subject in which he willingly became a student of Michael Grossmann.
Countless papers filled with manual calculations were painstakingly completed to arrive at his conclusions, yet his predictions have endured the test of time. It wasn't until over a century later that experimental evidence for gravitational waves emerged, requiring the most sophisticated technology available.
However, nothing surpassed the sophistication of his intellect. During the Quantum Revolution of the early 1920s, he firmly resisted the prevailing notion of probability, steadfast in his belief in the deterministic nature of physics.
Standing alone against his peers for years, he demonstrated remarkable resolve and unwavering conviction. Born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein's legacy as a trailblazer in physics is undeniable. He exemplified how true passion, coupled with an unwavering commitment to challenging the status quo, can lead to the most gratifying journey.
Tan Bok Hooi holds a postgraduate degree in particle physics. An entrepreneur in the healthcare industry, he's also an author with six books (Malay and English) under his belt. Reach him at bokhooi@yahoo.com.