home | what's new | other sites | contact | about

Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

Einstein

return to "Einstein" main-page 

David Bodanis' excellent book, E=mc²

With the “equals” sign in the famous equation, we might sigh in relief to say, well, at least I know what that means.

We usually think of the “=” symbol to indicate “both sides have the same value,” a balance scale statement. However, David Bodanis enlightens us.

Some scientists at the time of Einstein and before “started using the = symbol as something of a telescope for new ideas – a device for directing attention to fresh, unsuspected realms.” It signaled a sense of, look, see what you haven’t seen before.

“This is how Einstein used the ‘=’ in his 1905 equation... The Victorians had thought they’d found all possible sources of energy there were: chemical energy, heat energy, magnetic energy, and the rest. But by 1905 Einstein could say, No, there is another place you can look where you’ll find more. His equation was like a telescope to lead there, but the hiding place wasn’t far away in outer space. It was down here – it had been right in front of his professors all along [who believed there were no other sources of energy]… It was hidden in solid matter itself.”