There is a very real story behind Marić’s life that’s worth telling in its own right, that of an academically talented girl who overcame both personal and institutionalised difficulties to acquire a College education in physical science from which women were disbarred in many parts of Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. But the actual facts of a life lived bravely in the face of adverse circumstances is apparently not enough for some doctrinaire feminists who have sought to make ideological capital out of claims based on misconceptions and erroneous contentions.
They have seized upon these dubious claims to produce an alternative history of Einstein and Marić in a way that violates the basic tenets of principled historical research. Dubious speculation, hearsay evidence, and contentions that have been refuted are all asserted as fact, and excessive claims are made about Marić’s mathematical and scientific abilities that the records do not bear out. And now this false history is being used to promote Marić to the list of feminist icons, as she is portrayed by writers such as Andrea Gabor who uncritically recycle unsubstantiated and erroneous contentions as historical fact.
The proponents of this alternative history display an almost complete ignorance of the scientific subject matter, and a corresponding lack of comprehension of the magnitude of Einstein’s achievements.