Albert Einstein's Answers
Tell us about your education.Ah yes, my education. I have few fond memories of the years spent at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich, or the other schools I attended in Munich, for that matter. I had a disdain for authority and rigid discipline, which these schools had no shortage of.
I graduated from the Federal Polytechnic Academy in 1900, where I studied mathematics and physics for four years. I must admit, I did not excel in my studies -- perhaps I should not have cut so many classes.
In 1905 I was awarded a PhD from the University of Zurich, and from there went on to teach at various universities.
How do you define gravity?
Gravity is nothing more than the curvature of the space-time continuum. Perhaps you are intimidated by the term space-time continuum. You needn't be. All it describes is our familiar three-dimensional world, plus a fourth dimension: time.
In our four-dimensional universe, space "curves" around objects, such as the Sun. The more massive, or heavy, the object, the more space curves around it. Our Earth, as well as the other planets, is merely following a path that is determined by this curvature. You could even say that the Earth is following the path of least resistance in its travels around the Sun.
What do you think about time?
Several of my theories deal with time. In fact, an interpretation of one of my theories shows that space and time are not separate entities. Rather, they are a single entity. The same theory shows that there is no such thing as absolute time.
What's the deal with matter?
There's no special deal with matter. Like teenagers, it's going to do what it's going to do, and what it does just doesn't make sense.
Actually, what I just said isn't that far from the truth. What happens within the atom doesn't make sense. I am referring to quantum theory as it now stands.
The current quantum theory deals with probabilities and uncertainty. This cannot be right. I believe that a complete description of a single system is possible. In other words, I think that we have not yet devised a theory that describes the subatomic world.