Einstein Was Inspired By Dostoyevsky Poem by Paul Hartal

In Dostoyevsky's 1866 novel,
Crime and Punishment, the plot unfurls
in a relatively short period of a person's life,
in a few days. The author examines
the protagonist's thoughts and feelings
in microscopic detail. Time, especially
the moment of now slows down,
the present dilates.

The Russian writer's treatment of time
connects with Einstein's Theory of Relativity,
which antedates it by nearly 40 years.
In the Theory of Relativity Einstein stated
that to an observer traveling at very high
velocities, approaching the speed of light
of 300.000 kilometers per second,
the present dilates and all action slows down.

Einstein also read in Dostoyevsky
about the unity of space and time,
as well as about non-Euclidean geometry.