Posted by Craig Howard on November 30, 19100 at 19:55:41:

In Reply to: Ayn Rand & Einstein posted by Adah on November 22, 19100 at 14:05:28:

: Does anyone know what Ayn Rand thought about Einstein? I remember vaguely a scene in Atlas Shrugged in which a scientist's discovery was used as a weapon to something up and the crowd wasn't sure how to react. I was wondering if this was in any way a reference to Einstein's unintentional contribution the the creation of the Atomic Bomb. Anyone have any ideas?

I don't have a specific quote about Einstein but your question reminded me of a page I read in a speech she made at MIT in 1962. It is included in the book "The Voice of Reason -- Essays in Objectivist Thought"

The purpose of her speech was to exhort the young scientists to remain true to their search for knowledge. She goes on at length to explain that reality determines what is right or wrong.

My opinion is that since Einstein worked alone -- not, for example in a laboratory (the time scale, is, of course, wrong for that I realize) that his discoveries stand by themselves. Ayn Rand simply warned scientists against working for people who would turn their discoveries against them.

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