Time Is Still a Mystery to ‘Einstein’s Dreams’ Author - The New York Times

Time Is Still a Mystery to ‘Einstein’s Dreams’ Author - The New York Times: Dr. Lightman would go on to have his own moments. He described one such incident in a memoir, “Searching for the Stars from an Island in Maine,” when, early in his research career, a difficult calculation fell suddenly into place: “My head was floating off my shoulders. I felt weightless. I was floating. And I had no sense of my self, where I was, or who I was. I did have a feel of rightness.”

Many scientists will tell you these are the most precious moments in their lives. Dr. Lightman said that it had happened to him five or six times in his scientific career. But he believes most theorists dry up by the age of 40 or so. “You just seem to have more of what it takes at a young age,” he said. “It’s kind of like athletic limberness.”