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From: Athel Cornish-Bowden <me@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: sci.physics.relativity
Subject: Re: Langevin's paradox again
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:51:19 +0200
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On 2024-07-14 08:22:56 +0000, Thomas Heger said:

>>> 
>>> [ … ]

>>> 
> Not only his age was a problem.
> 
> Einstein had a number of other problem, he had to overcome, to become a genius:
> 
> he worked in the 'Patentamt' (patent office) of Bern for six days a 
> week with ten hours each.
> 
> This is a lot of time, but those were the conditions of work in the 
> early 20th century.
> 
> He had also a young family with a beautiful wife and a small kid, who 
> would certainly occupy a few of the few hours left.
> 
> In these few remaining hours he wrote in 1905 alone four 
> ground-breaking papers, of which one won him a Nobel prize.
> 
> Besides of that he also nwrote twenty reviews for 'Annalen der Physik' 
> in the same year.
> (I wonder how he had managed to get at least some sleep).
> 
> But there a few more problems to overcome:
> 
> computers were not invented then, nor xerox copiers.
> 
> Therefore, he had to have all books in physical form in his own posession.
> 
> This was expensive and also a lot to read.

Have you ever written and published a scientific paper? OK, if you're 
the Thomas Heger that wrote

Thomas Heger and Madhukar C. Pandit "Optical wear assessment system for 
grinding tools," Journal of Electronic Imaging 13(3), (2004)

and

T. Heger and M. Pandit, “Automatisierte Verschleißbeurteilung von 
Schleifscheiben mit Mitteln der digitalen Bildverarbeitung,” in 
Automat. Praxis 4, 50–56 (2002).

then maybe you have, though that's not exactly physics, or even science 
at all (technology, rather).

Anyway, in 50 years of research I have frequently cited work in books 
and jounals of which  I don't own personal copies. Research would be 
impossible otherwise. The thing is, though, that unlike you I know 
about libraries and how to use them. That was surely true of Einstein 
as well. If you belong to an appropriate institution that's not 
expensive, it's free.

I have never worked in a patent office, but I feel sure that the work 
would include studying what had already been described. For that, 
access to a library would be essential.
> 
> It was also a lot to write, but without any kind of aid. Usual tools 
> were pens (or ocasionally feathers and ink).
> 
> Since only nights were left over for free thinking, he had to write his 
> masterpieces at the kitchen table, lit by candle light

Are you serious? Electric lighting was widespread by the beginning of 
the 20th century, and had probably reached Switzerland by then.

>  (while his wife snores and the kind crys).
> 
> ...
> 
> TH


-- 
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly 
in England until 1987.