Black scientists and Einstein

[Mr. Mangold]

Out of curiuosly, did Einstein have any African American comtemparies? Scientists that were in the same caliber as him?

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mangold

Out of curiuosly, did Einstein have any African American comtemparies? Scientists that were in the same caliber as him?

Well, I'm not too sure about this, but some would say that ol' Albert had *NO* contemporaries in the same caliber as he was.

[Mr. Mangold]

Originally Posted by chrisk

Well, I'm not too sure about this, but some would say that ol' Albert had *NO* contemporaries in the same caliber as he was.

No black scientists past or present that were as scintifically endowed as he was? What about the black astrophysicist that works at Fermilab?

[Telemark]

How do you define "same caliber" when referring to scientists? If you could say a little more about that it would be easier to decided if your question has an answer.

[astro]

Oh puh-leeze. If you're going to be a race troll at least be creative.

[tomndebb]

As noted above, how many contemporaries did Einstein have that were in his league regardless of ethnicity.

In the case of blacks, particularly, even had there been many potential peers, that number would have shrunk to insignificance simply because so few were permitted to study at universities (and those who were self-taught were routinely dismissed).

[bonzer]

I'll echo astro and only add:

It seems to be a universal fact that minorities - especially when the individuals composing them can be recognised by physical characteristics - are treated by the majorities among whom they live as an inferior order of beings. The tragedy of such a fate lies not merely in the unfair treatment to which these minorities are automatically subjected in social and economic matters, but also in the fact that under the suggestive influence of the majority most of the victims succumb to the same prejudice and regard their kind as inferior beings. This second and greater part of the evil can be overcome by closer association and by deliberate education of the minority, whose spirtitual liberation can thus be accomplished.
The resolute efforts of the American Negroes in this direction deserve approval and assistance.

The words of one Albert Einstein in 1934. I instantly found that in the most obvious and immediate source - Ideas and Opinions - and it's trivial to find other staunchly anti-racist statements in the rest of his writings.

[Silocke]

I am also one who does not like this "in the same caliber" terminology. It is vague, and does not convey anything that would help us determine an answer to this question.

You have to define your criteria further than this.

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mangold

No black scientists past or present that were as scintifically endowed as he was? What about the black astrophysicist that works at Fermilab?

This may be obvious, (and I'm sorry it I'm talking back to a troll,) but two qualifications.

1) I was not speaking of race at all. I said that, arguably, no contemporary of Einstein was at his caliber. Period. White, yellow, red, black, brown, male, or female. I was making no value judgements except the commonly accepted one that Albert Eintein was one of the foremost scientific brains of history, and the pre-emininet one of his generation.

2) contemporary, in this context, means people nearly the same age. So I wasn't referring to 'past or present', I was talking about the years in which E was at his creative peak. There are other scientists who I would place as being of Einstein's caliber... Newton and Hawking are two he is commonly compared with, probably because they're also physicists.

[ambushed]

Originally Posted by tomndebb

As noted above, how many contemporaries did Einstein have that were in his league regardless of ethnicity.

At the very least, a dozen!

Scientific American this month has an entire special issue dedicated to Einstein, and they make plain that Einstein had a substantial number of contemporary and near-contemporary scientific peers. Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg, Dirac, Schrödinger, de Broglie, Born, Pauli, Hilbert, von Neumann, and more, are all Einstein's peers. Notice how few were born and educated in the U.S. (if any!)

Most people put Einstein in a superclass of his own not so much as a result of his scientific acumen and achievements, which were of course extraordinary, but more because he became and remains a kind of iconic scientific "buzz-name" -- as well as his considerable familiarity to the public at large, which was strengthened by his social and political courage and forthrightness.

But I agree completely with your closing analysis, which is that because of idiotic hatred and ridiculous fear on the part of the white majority, minority students were diligently and reprehensibly kept from getting equal education, especially higher education. That's what ignorant bigotry does!

[ambushed]

Mr. Mangold deserves close scrutiny indeed. If racism were a banning offense, he'd be long banned. He is clearly a racist of the worst water.

Here are the threads Mr. Racist has begun here:

Black scientists, Einstein, and Steven Hawking Here's his OP:

Originally Posted by Mr. Mangold

Out of curiosity, did Einstein have any African American comtemparies? Scientists that were in the same caliber as him?

Does Hawking have any input or writings about white holes? Any that explain why they are mathematical anomalies and scientific improbabilites?

Black scientists and Einstein

Black scientists, Einstein, and Steven Hawking

Black scientists and Einstein

[Askia]

Y'know -- the SDMB can be a very hostile and unforgiving place when simple posting errors can be construed as race-baiting trolling. Not that it'll stop the newbies from coming but some of you posters with posts past the 7,000 mark can come off awfully quick to rush to judgment.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Askia

Y'know -- the SDMB can be a very hostile and unforgiving place when simple posting errors can be construed as race-baiting trolling. Not that it'll stop the newbies from coming but some of you posters with posts past the 7,000 mark can come off awfully quick to rush to judgment.

Asika. if anything I'm surprised he hasn't been shown the door yet, and while it's heartening to see the patience and good faith that people have shown in addressing his inane, disjoint questions, his questions have nothing to do with scientific curiosity, but are ( to me) obvious, poorly constructed, smirky little attempts to gin up a discussion of why blacks are intellectually inferior.

[bibliophage]

Originally Posted by astro

Oh puh-leeze. If you're going to be a race troll at least be creative.

astro, if you suspect trolling, the thing to do is to alert a moderator. Public accusations of trolling are not permitted here. Do not do that again.

There is no factual answer to this question since there is no truly objective means of measuring the greatness of scientists. Mr. Mangold, I suggest you try the Great Debates forum if you wish to pursue a discussion in this vein.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Trying to get back to the original question, I don't know of any African-American Einsteinian contemporaries, but there sure was an Indian one. That's an Indian from India BTW.