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21 " Einstein brilliantly realized that it would be possible to patch together a comprehensive theory of gravity from free falling reference frames, treating each as it were at rest "
― Paul Halpern , Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics
22 " Einstein brilliantly realized that it would be possible to patch together a comprehensive theory of gravity from free falling reference frames, treating each as it were at rest. Within each framework, he noted, each object would move in a straight line unless deflected by external forces. However, when viewed from another framework, those straight lines might appear curved. That is why we see bodies taking curved paths because of gravity- because we are viewing their motion from our framework, not theirs. "
23 " Given how the standard model has shaped up it is amusing to think of all the newspaper pronouncements claiming Einstein's and Schrodinger's unified field theory proposals as ultimate descriptions of the universe. The picture of nature that has emerged in recent decades is radically different from what anyone in the World War II era anticipated clearly the universe has many surprises up its sleeve. Could it be that the new discoveries will someday make the standard model seem outdated? "
― Paul Halpern
24 " Aside from the question of the universe's dark substances, other mysteries remain for the standard model. Why do some particles (quarks) feel the strong Force, while others(leptons) don't? Can science why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the observable universe? Why are there only three generations of constituents and why do they have particular masses? Is there a way of interchanging fermions and bosons that offers a link between matter particles and energy Fields? Those are among the many open questions in particle physics today. "
25 " Compared with this problem, the original theory of relativity is childish.(Einstein to Sommerfeld on the gravitational problem) "
26 " Unlike the standard model and general relativity, nary a shred of evidence has turned up in support of supersymmetry, superstring theory, M-theory, or extra dimensions. Why, then, do these ideas have so much backing among theorists? Factors such as mathematical beauty, symmetry, and completeness_ strikingly similar to some of Einstein's criteria_ all come into play. Plus there aren't many other credible alternatives. "
27 " He (Riemann) showed that there are three main ways space can be curved- positive curvature, negative curvature, and zero curvature. Thes correspond respectively to elliptic, hyperbolic, and Euclidean flat geometries. "
28 " That May, Einstein excitedly informed a friend, "In the tranquility of my sickness, I have laid a wonderful egg in the area of general relativity. Whether the bird that will hatch from it will be vital and long-lived only the gods know. So far I am blessing my sickness that has endowed me with it. "
29 " [A]lthough there are many arguments that strongly support the establishment of a national securities regulator in Canada, it is not entirely clear that the regulatory response to the ABCP meltdown is among them. "
― Paul Halpern , Back from the Brink: Lessons from the Canadian Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Crisis
30 " Can you imagine my joy at the feasibility of the general covariance with the result that the equations of the perihelion movement of Mercury prove correct? I was speechless for several days with excitement.(Einstein to Ehrenfest) "
31 " Patience is not a hallmark of the press, especially in the Internet age of rapid fire news reports. The media hungrily gobble content as long as they can make the case that it is new and interesting to the public. Unpublished reports, speculations, preliminary review process sometimes become as newsworthy as meticulously verified conclusions. "
32 " In short, believers in the standpoint that the entire universe runs like a perfect clock dismiss the notion that anything is fundamentally random. "
33 " Einstein was doggedly persistent about his ideas but would abandon them in a flash if he could see a more economical way forward. "
34 " Hence, Einstein's equations beautifully connect the stuff of the universe with the shape of the universe. "
35 " Two of the most important relationships in modern physics are Schrodinger's wave equation and Einstein's equation of general relativity. Strikingly, their domains are very different. While Schrodinger's equation describes the distribution and behavior of matter and energy throughout space and time, Einstein's equation shows how the fabric of space and time is itself molded by the distribution of matter and energy. "
36 " The relationships (Maxwell's equations) are the epitome of mathematical consieness, compact enough to fit on a T-shirt yet powerful enough to describe all manner of electromagnetism. "
37 " One of the motifs of the cat paradox is the clash between what goes on at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. As Schrödinger described in his paper, uncertainty on an atomic scale becomes linked with fuzziness on a human scale. Because such macroscopic murkiness is never observed, microscopic indeterminacy similarly mustn't exist. "
38 " Coincidentally, the solver of the riddle (how the speed of light appears to a moving observer) would be born in the year of Maxwell's death. "
39 " By introducing non-Euclidean geometry to theoretical physics, Einstein would transform the field in extraordinary ways. The twelve-year-old clutching the geometry book would have no ways of knowing that his very hands would someday rewrite physical laws in a way that made the book obsolete. "
40 " Because it is harder to measure smaller things by relating their positions and momenta to those of other known objects, uncertainty is much greater at the atomic level than at the astronomical level. Therefore, quantum uncertainty is not a fundamental feature of nature but the result of human inability to measure everything in the universe with absolute precision. (Eddington) "