> many felt that "bending space and time" was obviously too absurd to survive further scrutiny

Agreed. Einstein similarly felt it was obviously too absurd for nature to allow a black hole to exist - despite it being predicted by his own equations! :)

The first exact solution of the Einstein field equations was provided, not by Einstein, but Karl Schwarzschild, a German soldier stuck in a foxhole on the Russian front during WW1. Schwarzchild further calculated the Schwarzschild radius, defining the event horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole. Calculating the first exact solution of the Einstein field equations proved more alluring than the mundane chore of computing artillery trajectories it seems. Tragically, Schwarzschild did not survive the war.

Sadly, Einstein mocked Belgian Catholic priest Georges Lemaitre's "hypothesis of the primeval atom" (aka "Cosmic Egg" aka Big Bang theory) with the cutting quote "Your calculations are correct, but your grasp of physics is abominable" ... missing a golden opportunity to scoop Edwin Hubble by predicting an expanding universe. Lemaitre took this opportunity by publishing his expanding universe theory, despite Einstein's objections, and so was (belatedly) recognized for predicting an expanding universe two years before Hubble, with Hubble's Law now also known as the Hubble-Lemaitre Law (not the Hubble-Einstein Law).

Wait, there's more tragedy! To fit the then accepted model of a steady state universe, Einstein added the Cosmological constant to his field equations. From Dark energy (wikipedia):

The cosmological constant was first proposed by Einstein as a mechanism to obtain a solution of the gravitational field equation that would lead to a static universe, effectively using dark energy to balance gravity. Einstein gave the cosmological constant the symbol capital lambda. Einstein stated that the cosmological constant required that 'empty space takes the role of gravitating negative masses which are distributed all over the interstellar space'.

The mechanism was an example of fine-tuning, and it was later realized that Einstein's static universe would not be stable: local inhomogeneities would ultimately lead to either the runaway expansion or contraction of the universe.

After Einstein admitted his blunder by removing the cosmological constant (and deeply regretting adding it in the first place), others later reinstated it as a perfect way to describe the mysterious new Dark energy!! You can't write this stuff. :)

Update Physics Today: I heard Einstein say to Gamow about the cosmological constant, "That was my biggest blunder of my life" -- John Archibald Wheeler

In reply to Re^6: Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science by eyepopslikeamosquito
in thread Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science by eyepopslikeamosquito

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