1905: The path of mathematical genius

    In 1905 Albert Einstein published three papers in the Annalen der Physic that would revolutionize the Newtonian world-view, and which is still having an impact today.  Perhaps one of the most intriguing questions of the unusual achievement that could be asked is, can such a phenomenon happen again?  Two observations might be made.  The first is that Einstein was only 26 years old in 1905.  It turns out that this is actually a typical pattern of brilliant discoveries in physics and mathematics; theoretical revolutionaries tend to be relatively young.  In this sense, Einstein was very similar to Newton, who also did much of his most important work in his mid twenties.  Another point of commonality is that both figures had a great deal of free time during this period.  While Einstein relied on his friends as Michael Besso to get class notes, Newton was freed from Cambridge due to the plague of 1665.  This suggests that one of the ways in which a modern educational structure might allow new Einsteins and Newtons to emerge is to simply give them bursts of free time alongside routine educational chores.  Being drowned with information, as is done today in most graduate schools, may actually be a sure way to stifle genius.