THE SUNDAY READ
10
EINSTEIN
JAYANTI
March 14
MARCH 14 IS THE 131ST BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAN WHO GAVE US THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY.
WE CELEBRATE EINSTEIN JAYANTI WITH A DIFFERENT TAKE ON HIS LIFE AND WORK
EINSTEIN CAN
BE ENTERTAINING
You don’t need to
get a doctorate in
math to appreciate
the genius of a man
who stood classical
Newtonian physics
on its head, says
Balaji
Narasimhan
O
nce upon a
time, under-
standing what
Einstein had
achieved was
felt to be too complicated
even for physicists, to make
no mention of the lay per-
son. But now, thanks to soft-
ware packages like Warp
(http://
www.adamauton.com/
warp/) and Alice Law
(http://www.aliceinphysics.c
om/download.html) one can
see Einstein's theories in ac-
tion without looking at the
dull, boring math that in-
variably accompanies any-
thing to do with physics.
Warp is a great package be-
cause it shows you what real-
ly happens when you travel
at close to the speed of light.
This is actually impossible in
reality but if this were feasi-
ble, how would things look?
Warp shows you.
Alice Law shows you vari-
ous things and can entertain
you for hours on end. We
cannot look at all the things
this software offers, so let's
just look at one thing —
what happens to a falling ap-
ple? Newton said that gravi-
ty causes the apple to fall to
the earth, but Einstein says
that no gravitational force
affects a falling object. What
this means is that, in Ein-
steinian physics, the apple
doesn't fall to the Earth; in-
stead, the Earth moves to-
wards the apple.
Try to become not
a man of success,
A man must learn to under-
stand the motives of human
but try rather to
become a man of
value.
beings, their illusions, and
their sufferings.
— From an interview in the New York Times,
— Life magazine.
May 2, 1955.
September 1952.
BIRTH OF A GENIUS
is greatness lay in the
H
fact that he could de-
molish existing theories
with exemplary acumen.
“Astrology is a science in itself
and contains an illuminating body
of knowledge.” Some believe that
Einstein said this, but he never did.
But Jyotish, like Einstein, deals with
light and can explain why he was
such a towering intellectual.
To comprehend this, you have to
understand that Einstein was not
merely a genius. He was somebody
who went beyond the boundaries
of Newtonian physics — in effect,
somebody who challenged the bor-
ders of knowledge.This is reflected
in his chart.
Einstein has Mithuna (Gemini)
as the Lagna (Ascendant) and its
lord Budha (Mercury) rules intelli-
gence. The 5th house is ruled by
Shukra (Venus), and Shukra also
rules the 12th. The 12th deals with
boundaries and therefore rules
places like monasteries, hospitals
and jails. In a non-physical sense,
the 12th also rules boundaries of
knowledge.
In Einstein's chart, Shukra is uc-
cha (exalted ) in the 10th house of
career in the star of Revati, which is
ruled by Budha. This was what en-
abled him to use his superior intel-
lect not just to create new theories
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Saturn 10TH
HOUSE
Jupiter
Mars
Rahu
Moon
Albert Einstein, 14 March 1879, 11:30 AM [10:50 AM GMT] Ulm
(48 m 24, 10 e 00, 0:40 East, no DST; Lagna: 19 - Mithuna - 29)]
but also to demolish old ones. In
fact, it was during Shukra Dasa
(1895 to 1915) he came up with his
famed theories of general and spe-
cific relativity. Shukra's conjunction
with Sani, lord of the 9th (solutions
to problems) and the 8th (intuition)
would have also helped.
The nodes, Rahu and Ketu also
helped him mightily. In fact, it was
during Shukra - Rahu (1903-1906)
that he presented his theory of
special relativity. During Shukra-
Ketu (1914-1915) he presented the
theory of general relativity.
B A N G A L O R E M I R R O R | S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 0
Why is it that nobody
understands me, yet
everybody likes me.
— Quote from New York
Times, March 12, 1944.
de
"I live in that solitu
wh ich is pa
youth, but deliciou
inf ul in
s in
ity"
the years of matur
— quote from Out of
My Later Years, p. 13.
Lagna
12TH FIRST
HOUSE HOUSE
Ketu
5 TH
HOUSE
A look at his chart and at his ef-
forts show one interesting thing
— his Lagna lord is Mercury and
the Lagna represents the self and
the achievements of the self.
Among his numerous achieve-
ments is the fact that he success-
fully explained the perihelion pre-
cession of Mercury. Before him, it
was assumed that there was a
planet called Vulcan between the
Sun and Mercury which was caus-
ing this precession. Einstein laid
the ghost of this false planet to
rest with his theories.
Taken on the whole, I would
believe that Gandhi's views
Falling in love is not at
all the most stupid thing
were the most enlightened of
all the political men in our time
— United Nations radio interview recorded in
that people do-but grav-
itation cannot be held
responsible for it
Einstein's study, Princeton, New Jersey, 1950. — Quote to Fred Wall, 1933 Years
Source: http://www.asl-associates.com/einsteinquotes.htm
Why can’t Brahma
reverse time?
C
onsider two twins, Jack But Brahma offered a way out
and Joe. Jack stays on — Revati could marry Balarama,
Earth, while Joe decides
to go in his spaceship at a very
the elder brother of Krishna, by
returning to Earth. Wikipedia
high speed. After a while, Joe
comes back and is surprised that
says that this story from the Ma-
while his twin is an ancient
bearded has-been, he, Joe, is still
a spry, active fellow.
How does this happen?
Should not both have aged at
the same rate? The difference
comes because of the twin para-
dox, which deals with special
relativity. To understand this,
you must understand a bit of
special relativity, which says
that in a moving object, time
slows down. This is only possi-
ble at very high speeds — other-
wise, the clock on your car
would slow down every time
you hit the accelerator!
A nice story that deals with
this concept of two people
marching to a different time is
found in the scriptures. King
Kakudmi had a tough time find-
Most photos of Einstein
ing a suitable groom for his
show him as an old man, but
daughter Revati and so he de-
Einstein achieved greatness
cided to approach Brahma.
at a very young age. This
Since Brahma was listening to a
photo of him, taken in 1905,
musical performance, they wait-
show the 26-year-old during
ed a short while. After the con-
what is called Einstein's Mir-
cert, when Kakudmi asked him
acle Year. He published four
to select a groom for Revati,
papers in the German physics
Brahma laughed and said that
journal Annalen der Physik in
27 chatur yugas had passed in
this year and these papers
the short time that had been
are even today called the An-
spent by the king in Satya loka.
nus Mirabilis Papers.
Since one chatur yuga adds up
to 4,320,000 years, a total of
habharata — which it dates
around 700s BCE to 300s CE —
s to set
Whoever undertake is the oldest ever story on time
as a jud ge in the travel.
himself up
ld of Tru th an d Knowledge One question springs to mind
fie
the laugh- — could not have Brahma, the
is shipwrecked by
Go ds ." creator of the world, have
ter of the
snapped his fingers and taken
tion commem-
— contribution to a publica the king and his daughter back
birthda y of German
orating the eightieth to their own time? No — be-
theo logian Leo Bae ck, 1953. cause even a God has to obey
rabbi and
the rules of physics and the
116,640,000 years laws of physics do not permit
had elapsed, which meant that you to travel backward in time.
all the prospective grooms If Brahma had sent them back in
whom Kakudmi knew were time, it would have been called
dead for crores of years. science fiction, not religion!