Well, I think it could also be disingenuous to presume that anyone could do what he did if you just put in the hard work. If hard work was all you need, we would have a lot more Einstein level discoveries than we do.
We do have a lot more Einstein level discoveries than most people may realize. If anything, we have so many discoveries that it's hard to single one out for special consideration. The big difference between now and then I'd argue is that progress is much more incremental today so that it never seems like you just wake up and there's one major breakthrough that comes out of nowhere. Instead we're constantly being exposed to small improvements that add up to significant advances over a 15-20 year period.
What would you say are some examples where you look back what the state was 15 years ago vs the progress we made till the present and the jump would seem just as profound. Just curious.
I felt the same way - it seemed like the early 20th century made so much progress with those visionaries compared what what is being made now. Obviously I am not well informed because that is likely not the case.
