Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

New Einsteins Need Positive Environment, Independent Spirit, Amin Dharamsi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

After reading the letters about Lee Smolin’s “Why No ‘New Einstein’?” (PHYSICS TODAY, June 2005, page 56; January 2006, page 13), I could not help but relive my undergraduate and graduate experiences at Columbia University from 1968 to 1978. As one of the few black and Hispanic people with a PhD in theoretical physics from that institution, I hope my observations expand the argument about creativity and the perception of it, particularly regarding minorities and how they are perceived by others.