>>14087250Just before Einstein, Planck unified thermodynamic radiation. Einstein saw the packet of energy as a particle. From there he got the photoelectric effect. Instead of jars of marbles shooting at each other making things bright, the interaction was two film strips of different speeds. The frequency is the barrier for interaction, not the intensity.
Einstein was fascinated with physics from an early age. He kept up on it professionally. Special relativity was famously influenced when a patent for two clocks to be synced up perfectly was under his review. The photoelectric effect, Brownian motion of subatomic interactions, and special relativity led to general relativity to supplant the mystical aether medium. Einstein directly said he was influenced by Mach who studied moving objects submerged in mediums and used real life measurements as the authority of truth over universal ideals
