For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einsteins day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare.

Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einsteins training that is overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenagerKant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others. It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space and time, and it wasnt long before he became a philosopher himself.

The independence created by philosophical insight isin my opinionthe mark of distinction between a mere artisan (工匠) or specialist and a real seeker after truth, Einstein wrote in 1944.

And he was an accomplished musician. The interplay between music and math is well known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem.

Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There arent many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills to more practicaland rewardingefforts.

Maybe there is an Einstein out there today, said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard.

Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.

The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God, what an idea! Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. It takes a certain type of person who will bang his head against the wall because you believe youll find the solution.

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