4. Albert Einstein, Speed of Light
“Einstein said
his entire career
was an extended meditation
⚘on a dream ⚘
he had as a teenager,”
explained the Rev. John W. Price
in an interview with John H. Lienhard,
professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and history at the University of Houston,
on the radio show “Engines of Our Ingenuity.”
⚘
“He dreamt that he was riding a sled
down a steep, snowy slope
and,
as he approached the speed of light
in his dream,
the colors all blended into one.
He spent much of his career,
inspired by that dream,
thinking about what happens at the speed of light.”
⚘
5. Friedrich August Kekulé, Molecular Structure of Benzene
Friedrich August Kekulé (1829–1896)
developed a structural theory in chemistry
(related to the bonding order of atoms in a molecule)
that was integral
to the development of organic chemistry. *
Dozing on a bus,
⚘a vision ⚘
that provided a starting point for this theory*
appeared to him,
as recorded in
“Serendipidty, Accidental Discoveries in Science,”
by Royston M. Roberts:
⚘
“I was returning by the last bus,
riding outside as usual, t
hrough the deserted streets of the city. …
I fell into a reverie,
and lo,
the atoms were gamboling before my eyes.
Whenever, hitherto,
these diminutive beings had appeared to me,
they had always been in motion.
Now, however,
I saw how, frequently,
two smaller atoms united to form a pair;
how a larger one embraced the two smaller ones;
how still larger ones kept hold of
three or even four of the smaller,
whilst the whole kept whirling in a giddy dance.
I saw how the larger ones formed a chain,
dragging the smaller ones after them
but only at the ends of the chains. …
The cry of the conductor, ‘Clapham Road,’
awakened me from my dreaming;
but I spent a part of the night
in putting on paper at least sketches
of these dream forms.”
⚘
Featured image: Neils Bohr, ca. 1922 (R) and Albert Einstein. (Neils Bohr: AB Lagrelius & Westphal; Albert Einstein: Public domain; Background: Alexander Bedrin/iStock)
⚘
The article ‘*Five Scientific Discoveries Made in Dreams*’
was originally published on*
The Epoch Times*
and has been republished with permission.*⚘
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