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Even after a century, the work of Albert Einstein continues to inspire new sciences.
A meager patent clerk, ridiculed for his theories, had to flee Germany as he was widely thought to be public enemy number one of the Nazis, who discredited his work.
Even after a century, the work of Albert Einstein continues to inspire new sciences.
A meager patent clerk, ridiculed for his theories, had to flee Germany as he was widely thought to be public enemy number one of the Nazis, who discredited his work.
https://twitter.com/NobelPrize/status/1313420068047523845
One of the theories promoted by Hitler and Himmler to discredit the accepted understanding of how the Universe works was Welteislehre- World Ice Theory, which posited that everything in the Universe is made of ice crystals.
They promoted this theory to discredit Einstein.
They promoted this theory to discredit Einstein.
Initially floated by a Nazi philosopher/inventor Hanns Hörbiger, the theory came into being when Hörbiger had a dream in which he saw Moon as a piece of icy crystal and found himself swinging pendulum back and forth, growing ever longer and eventually breaking. 
He claimed that the ice is the basic substance of all cosmic processes, including the moon, the Milky Way, and the proverbial Greek 'ether'.
They actively promoted his theory as “German antithesis” of the “Jewish” theory of relativity.
The Germans believed him.
They actively promoted his theory as “German antithesis” of the “Jewish” theory of relativity.
The Germans believed him.
The Nazis(and Germans, by extension) believed that the world around them is made up of ice, just to discredit a Jewish Einstein.
Hörbiger was long dead before his obscure theory was picked up by the Nazis, to counter the sane, rational and otherwise scientific world.
Hörbiger was long dead before his obscure theory was picked up by the Nazis, to counter the sane, rational and otherwise scientific world.
The perpetual hate and disgust against Jews actively promoted and nurtured by the State allowed such pseudo science and ideas to be accepted widely by Germans.
Science is a constant work and rework of ideas. Very often you might get it wrong, but you accept the evidence.
Science is a constant work and rework of ideas. Very often you might get it wrong, but you accept the evidence.
Unlike other disproven theories, starting with the Greeks or the contemporaries of Einstein, who promoted the idea of a Static Universe, the ice theory had no reasoning other than perpetual hate.
Perhaps, one the reasons why WIT received such strong support from The Third Reich is the fact that this theory perfectly aligned with Nazi Cosmology and the idea of Aryan Race.
Also making it easier to sell to the Germans, which they did, effectively.
Also making it easier to sell to the Germans, which they did, effectively.
The history of science has lessons for all us. Hitler and his ideas now rest in the dustbin of history, while the work of Jewish Einstein continue to inspire people across the time & space!
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