The Overlooked Genius of Mileva Marić, Einstein's First Wife, the genesis of special relativity was a collaborative process between Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Marić.
Key details regarding the development of the theory include:
Shared Research: Letters between the couple suggest they began working on the concepts as early as their university days at the Zurich Polytechnic. In 1901, Albert wrote to Mileva, "How happy and proud I will be when the two of us together will have brought our work on relative motion to a victorious conclusion."
Seven-Year Process: Albert later noted that relativity had been his life for seven years before its publication in 1905.
Mathematical and Experimental Support: While Albert was the visionary, Mileva was described as methodical and organized. Testimony from her brother and friends suggests she solved many of the mathematical problems for him and excelled in the experimental physics that grounded their work.
Finalizing the Work: Biographer Peter Michelmore noted that after Albert spent five weeks completing the foundational article on special relativity, he was exhausted and went to bed for two weeks, while Mileva repeatedly checked the article before mailing it.
The article suggests that while the work was published under Albert's name alone—potentially due to the era's bias against women or a joint decision to establish Albert's career—it was the result of their "common work."
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