Mileva Marić
Since the 1960s, a dramatic story arose: that Mileva Marić was Einstein’s secret collaborator, and especially, that she helped him create the theory of relativity.
Such claims gained popularity after 1989, when letters between them were published. In those surprising letters, Einstein himself wrote to Marić about “our work,” and remarkably, “our work on the relative motion.” And so, many writers tried to credit or discredit Mileva Marić, with interpretations and guesswork.
Instead, I explained the mystery by identifying what the sentences meant. For example, I found that when Einstein wrote “our work on the relative motion,” it didn't refer to his theory of relativity. Because, back then he believed in the existence of the ether and was trying to detect its motion relative to the Earth, like other physicists.
Thus I proved that Einstein shared that early aspiration with Mileva Marić, in 1901, but that years later, after he formulated relativity, Marić herself gave him the credit for his physics papers.
Was she Einstein's secret coworker?
“The Cult of the Quiet Wife”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 193-205.
http://www.martinezwritings.com/m/ScienceSecrets.html
“Handling Evidence in History: The Case of Einstein’s Wife”
School Science Review, Vol. 86, No. 316 (March 2005), 49-
“Arguing about Einstein’s Wife”
Physics World 17, No. 4 (April 2004), 14.
“Einstein’s Girlfriend on National Geographic”
Sloan Science & Film, April 25, 2017: http://scienceandfilm.org/articles/2893/einsteins-girlfriend-on-national-geographic
“Getting to Know Mileva Maric”
Review of Einstein’s Wife: The Real Story of Mileva Einstein-Maric (M.I.T. Press, 2019), in Physics Today, Vol. 72, No. 7 (July 2019), 53-54. Also at: https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4251
“Review: The Other Einstein: A Novel, by Marie Benedict”
Physics in Perspective, Vol. 20 (June 2018), 208-211.
“Mileva Marić, dans l’ombre d’Albert Einstein”
Les Cahiers de Science et Vie, no. 186, June 5, 2019, interviewed by Anne Debroise https://www.epresse.fr/magazine/les-cahiers-de-science-et-vie/2019-06-05/sommaire
“Einstein Historians Give Genius a Chance”
Physics Today, with Prof. Daniel Kennefick, edited by Melinda Baldwin, May 23, 2017 http://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.3.20170523a/full/
Newspaper Interview: “Einsteins Ideenwelt unter der Lupe,” Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), October 13, 2005. https://www.nzz.ch/articlecyzi2-1.156933
“In Elsa’s Apartment, Einstein Was Hiding an Escaped Soldier and Womanizer,” APS April Meeting, American Physical Society, Pais Prize Session, April 16, 2023.
“Einstein in World War I: How He Loved the Wrong Woman, Suffered a Fugitive Soldier, and Helped an Assassin,” with Thomas Levenson (MIT), and Thomas Palaima (UT), Institute of Historical Studies, UT Austin, February 13, 2023.
“The Real Drama in Einstein’s Life,” Historia Project, December 7, 2022 https://www.historiaproject.org/
“Einstein Escaping Marie,” CNS Polymathic Scholars, UT Austin, September 9, 2022.
“Did Miza Make Relativity?” Einstein-Jahr in Bern; Entdeckung, Kreativität und Innovations-kultur. Universität Bern, Kultur-Casino Bern, Switzerland, July 7, 2005.
REVIEWS
"Martínez shows that it’s possible to construct a fully consistent system of arithmetic in which minus times minus makes minus. It’s a wonderful vindication...”
JAKE RANDELL
AMERICAN SCIENTIST
"Martínez can certainly take credit for having produced by far the best and most detailed account of this important strand in Einstein's early work.”
JÜRGEN RENN
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE
“An essential text for any future reserarch on Bruno, Galileo and The Inquisition. ...possibly the most important book of the year for the history of astronomy.”
CLIFFORD CUNNINGHAM
ASTRONOMICAL HISTORY
BOOKS
BIO
Alberto Martinez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a professor at UT Austin, he investigates the history of science, especially Einstein and relativity theory, history of math, historical myths, and Giordano Bruno and Galileo. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also researches myths in political news media, The Eyes of Texas, and episodes in the history of money and corruption.
Now, he's finishing writing a novel about Albert Einstein.