Einstein circa 1905

In 1905, Albert Einstein published his “Theory of Special Relativity,” stating that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers.

Further, the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers. According to Wikipedia, “Special relativity says that every person has their own time. One person’s clock says something different from another person’s clock. The reason a person’s time can be different from another’s is because of time dilation.”

In 1915, he published his “General Theory of Relativity.” In this paper, he postulated that a massive object like a star warps space and time through gravity. Imagine how a heavy bowling ball warps a trampoline. The warping of the trampoline is akin to the warping of time and space due to a star’s gravity. Since then, scientists have confirmed the warping of both space and time through numerous experiments.

What inspired Einstein’s two famous theories?

The inspiration came from a little-known trip to the Philippines in 1904 with his first wife, Mileva Maric, a well-accomplished Serbian physicist.

At that time, he was a patent clerk in Switzerland and needed a reprieve from his job. Einstein also needed a break from his work on theoretical physics. He and his wife chose to visit Manila. Despite his best efforts during his time in the Philippines, Einstein’s mind could not stray far from his beloved thought experiments in physics.

While staying in a hotel, guests were invited to pay respects to Jose Rizal at nearby Luneta Park. Although they had never met, Einstein felt an affinity for Rizal due to the similar history of oppression of the Philippines and the Jewish population in Europe. After paying respects to Rizal on the site of his 1896 execution, Einstein toured the park.

On this hot, sweltering day, he walked through Luneta Park with a halo-halo in his hand.

Absentmindedly musing about space, time, and gravity with his wife, he observed Manila residents training with swords and sticks.

Halo Halo

While observing them, Einstein and Maric noticed that, while young players had more speed and power, the older players seemed to negate the superior speed and power by creating space and time for themselves in various ways.

Einstein muttered to himself, “It seems like they are warping both space and time” to gain an advantage over others.

It occurred to Einstein that the older player resembled a massive object in space, able to warp space and time.

“Hmmm, what if I substitute a star in place of that old master?” Also, it seemed to Einstein that the master manipulated time in a way that the younger player could not. This provided the “aha!” moment for Einstein.  While it took years of work, this inspired his two famous papers and changed science forever.

What did Einstein see in Luneta Park that day that inspired his two famous papers?

According to long-lost notes recently discovered in Hill Valley, California, Einstein observed the following:

(1) The experienced player used the economy of motion to manipulate space and time in his favour and protect his centerline.

In doing so, they negate the speed of the lighter, younger, and more agile players.

(2) Superior footwork helped to shrink space-time in favour of the master.

For example, the master could employ defensive footwork to evade an attack and buy time and space for his counterattack.

(3) Maric pointed out to Einstein another way space-time was seemingly warped. She noticed, for example, that feinting and baiting produced desirable effects for the driver.

In one instance, a master attacked his younger partner with an angle one strike. When the young student turned to block the angle one attack, his head’s right side became vulnerable to a hook punch.

The master had warped space in his favour to create an opening and manipulated time so the younger student could not counter in time.

(4) The choice of weapons often favoured the senior master. Einstein observed that the senior sometimes favoured a lighter stick to increase his speed.

By increasing his stick’s speed, the master manipulated the space-time continuum, and stacked the odds in his favour.

(5) An excitable gentleman from California, resembling Einstein, shouted at him: “Great Scott! They’re pushing and pulling with their empty hand while using the stick in the other hand!” The senior player used the check hand to push and pull to create more time and space. Likewise, this also shrinks space-time for his opponent.

While finishing the last of his halo halo, Einstein noted that time appeared relative to the players. Where the master perceived himself as going at a measured pace, the younger player perceived the master as playing at tremendous speed. 

Two different players saw different speeds, time, and space. Time seemed to be relative. 

The remaining notes from that day are indecipherable, and it is unknown what other insights Einstein and Maric gleaned on their visit to Luneta Park. How those notes ended up in Hill Valley, California, has never been determined.

As he and Maric boarded the ship for their return trip to Europe, he surely must have wondered if space-time could be warped in Luneta Park and whether this could hold for the universe. He knew he needed to make sense of the disparate elements of space, time, and relativity percolating in his mind as his ship sailed.

However, it is clear that those in Luneta Park’s ability to manipulate space and time profoundly impacted Einstein and possibly changed the course of scientific history.* 

*Substantial artistic license was taken with the entire story. In other words, it was entirely made up.

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