Did Einstein suck at mathematics?

No.

Einstein was not some uneducated savant who just happened to revolutionise physics.

He had a degree and a PhD from two of the most respected institutes in Switzerland, and his academic grades throughout his life were excellent (it is often cited he nearly failed at university - the only evidence I have found of this is he performed poorly in one math class because he found it dull - he was described as a “lazy dog” for it)


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He was accepted onto a graduate course, and did exceptionally well.

And quite frankly, I dare anyone who says Einstein was bad at maths to go and look at General Relativity. The maths involved is heavy and complex - and Einstein integrated the whole mathematical machinery into the theory - not just some handwaving.

GR is pages and pages of this.

Einstein was a mathematical genius (and a university educated genius at that).

No two ways about it.


This information was taken from Quora. Click here to view the original post.

Have you ever been told that Einstein was bad at math?

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What are your thoughts on this subject?
40 Comments
Jessie Franklin
I wish I could have had the same grasp that he had with mathmatics.
1
Aug 16, 2023 10:52AM
Johan Prins
Einstein did not even understand the concept of linear independence which is nowadays taught at grade 10 level! His use of mathematics to formulate General Relativity was abysmal!
2
Apr 25, 2022 7:08AM
tdelisi
djaiudijr, So true, about having the right instructor. My 9th grade teacher, spent extra time with me and another student who were a little slower than the rest of the class. We all skipped 8th grade and went to 9th grade, directly from 7th grade. Once I grasped the basics, i wound up with an A by the end of the year, and from then onward, Mathematics and Physics were a breeze, through advanced Calculus. But having a teacher devote just a little more time was the trick for me and I am still a decent mathematician.
0
Jul 5, 2020 5:06PM
Caroline Weis
I hated math in elemetray school, but when I got in high school and took bookkeeping, I did well in it. Strange thing about that.
2
Jun 1, 2019 11:50AM
Jun Soriao
I'm in my early 70s and math has been and will always be my obsession. One of the ways to appreciate nature and its beauty is to delve into the complexities of patterns and forms embedded in creation. Mathematics, through its abstract reasoning and precise logic, helps us, in more ways than one, to appreciate the brilliance of the Maker's mind. This enabler has a lot of explaining to do why humanity suffers from its foibles. Yet this mysterious being does not want to interfere. It just allows nature to take its course, believing that humanity would soon realize the error of its ways, correct the misgivings, learn to comprehend the essence of life, and truly understand the finite nature of needs and wants. The great Albert Einstein is probably one of his disciples.
1
May 18, 2019 8:39PM
Cheryl McMeekin
I personally was terrible at math, he's just one of the lucky ones.
1
Apr 4, 2019 5:43PM
Linalinda Eichin
Born Lucky I salute you
1
Mar 1, 2019 10:47PM
Brian Hunt
Contrary to general opinion, Einstein was not a mathematical genius. In Physics yes, but he was “relatively” weak in the highest level of mathematics required to demonstrate his Theory of Relativity. That honor goes S. N. Bose, as shown in the Encyclopedia Britannica quote of Aug 13, 2018. “Bose-Einstein condensates were first predicted theoretically by Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974), an Indian physicist who also discovered the subatomic particle named for him, the boson. Bose was working on statistical problems in quantum mechanics, and sent his ideas to Albert Einstein” in 1922. They never met, but it is clear that in some ways he understood the Theory better than Einstein himself. Bose was a very modest man and his genius is not well recorded, and he soon returned to India to resume his quite life. At least his contribution to physics is there in the naming of the Boson – despite Mr. Higgs thinking otherwise.
3
Jan 28, 2019 11:39PM
Juan Maria Pablo Nanagas
I think iot was in his elementary or grade school days when the teachers thought he was dumb - in truth he was bored
4
Jan 13, 2019 9:37PM
Christine Skinner
He would have school found boring. I don't know what grammar has to with it
2
Dec 29, 2018 9:00PM
Micheline Ratcliffe
lfs, where are the grammatical and syntactical errors, please elaborate.
1
Dec 25, 2018 5:36PM
Spencer Thomas Hancock III
I always figured the stuff I have read about him and math was BS, he was a genius.
3
Dec 22, 2018 3:15AM
lfs
lfs
Where is your editor — failure to correct grammatical and syntactical errors casts doubt as to credibility.
4
Dec 15, 2018 10:05PM
Barry Crews
As far as I am concerned, Einstein was a maestro at math and physics. The proof is in the pudding of what he postulated and proved and is now being used as template by modern scholars
1
Dec 3, 2018 6:22AM
Pamela Spallin
He was an amazingly intelligent man. You don’t have the right to even question him him Unless you have done something better
0
Nov 22, 2018 11:24AM

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