[PmbPhy (OP)]

Most people don't know that if it wasn't for nepotism Einstein may never have created relativity, would have created it later or it would have been published by someone else.

When Einstein finished college he applied all over Europe for a job at a university teaching and nobody would hire him due to his poor grades and attitude in school. He did get good grades in certain courses but not all courses and he had a bad attitude when it came to respecting his teachers. One teacher he pissed off by using "Herr so an so" instead of "Professor so and so".

It took his friend Marcel Grossman to get him a job a the patent office in Bern Switzerland. They were hiring class two clerks but he could only get hired as a class three clerk. He had plenty of time to think about physics and that's how he was able to come up with it at that time. Had he gotten a professorship he may have not published at that time, perhaps later. And it was likely that someone else would have published GR before him had he not been working and had more free time for thought than he actually had. All thanks to nepotism.

My cousin was in a position to get family/friends a job but chose not to for fear of being criticized for it.

I'm sure Einstein would not like my cousin. Lol!

[chris]

@PmbPhy - title of the thread changed to a question, in line with forum policy; can you please ensure that you do this in future.

Thanks.

[Ophiolite]

Two points:

1. You say Marcel Grossman was his friend. That being the case nepotism was not involved. Nepotism is favouritism in business directed towards relatives.

2. You imply that Grossman's role was to make Einstein aware of the position and to speak favourably of his capabilities to those who were making the decision. Are you suggesting they didn't even bother to interview him?
Networking is a normal part of business relationships. As described, there was nothing immoral, unethical, or quesitonable about the process.