
The three main epicenter geniuses, each depicted below surrounded by a large group of geniuses: Aristotle at the School of Athens (c.350BC), Goethe at Weimar (1803), and Einstein at the Solvay Conference (1927).

The three main epicenter geniuses, each depicted below surrounded by a large group of geniuses: Aristotle at the School of Athens (c.350BC), Goethe at Weimar (1803), and Einstein at the Solvay Conference (1927).

In geniuses, epicenter genius (IQavg:210) is a thinker whose intellectual output is so bright that he or she attracts a circle of surrounding geniuses, and the effect of the aggregation acts to increase the brightness, and in this sense, in analogy to the description of earthquakes, becomes an "epicenter" or the part of the earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

“At the 1927 Solvay conference—which was to become a landmark in physics—Einstein was the uncrowned king of physics. At the epicentre, of the debates about quantum theory, were Bohr and Einstein’s disagreements about Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which Bohr defended successfully against Einstein’s repeated onslaughts.”
— Graham Farmelo (2009) [9]

The following "genius epochs" statement by American reserve energy theory psychologist William James, from his 1880 lecture "Great Men and their Environment", given to the Harvard Natural History Society, might well capture the idea of the epicenter genius: [1]

“Sporadic great men come everywhere. But for a community to get vibrating through and through with intensely active life, many geniuses coming together and in rapid succession are required. This is why great epochs are so rare, - why the sudden bloom of a Greece [Aristotle], an early Rome [Cicero], a Renaissance [Goethe], is such a mystery. Blow must follow blow so fast that no cooling can occur in the intervals. Then the mass of the nation glows incandescent, and may continue to glow by pure inertia long after the originators of its internal movement have passed away. We often hear surprise expressed that in these high tides of human affairs not only the people should be filled with stronger life, but that individual geniuses should seem so exceptionally abundant. This mystery is just about as deep as the time-honored conundrum as to why great rivers flow by great towns. It is true that great public fermentations awaken and adopt many geniuses who in more torpid times would have had no chance to work. But over and above this there must be an exceptional concourse of genius about a time, to make the fermentation begin at all. The unlikeliness of the concourse is far greater than the unlikeliness of any particular genius; hence the rarity of these periods and the exceptional aspect which they always wear.”

An epoch genius, or epicenter genius, is a hammered genius, one that depends on concourse, forged into hardened shape by concourse other geniuses.

Historically, as represented in classical artistic depiction, as shown below, there have been three dominate epicenter geniuses: Aristotle (IQ=195), Goethe (IQ=230), and Einstein (IQ=220). With the inclusion of Voltaire (IQ=195), shown below, Café Procope (circa 1750), at a genius center, this yields and IQavg of 210 for an epicenter genius.

Aristotle's circle
The following is a depiction of epicenter genius Greek physicist-philosopher Aristotle (#15) and his circle in circa 350BC:


A vivid depiction of the School in Athens, Greece, circa 350BC, drawn by Italian painter Raphael (1510) (IQ=170), giving a well-imaged viewing of Aristotle's erudite intellectual circle: 1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: unknown 4: Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles? 5: Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great (IQ=180)? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon or Timon? 9: unknown or the Fornarina as a personification of Love or (Francesco Maria della Rovere?) 10: Aeschines or Xenophon? 11: Parmenides? 12: Socrates (IQ=160) 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo (IQ=180)) 14: Plato (IQ=180) (Leonardo da Vinci (IQ=205)) 15: Aristotle (IQ=190) 16: Diogenes 17: Plotinus (Donatello?) 18: Euclid (IQ=185) or Archimedes (IQ=190) with students (Bramante?) 19: Zoroaster 20: Ptolemy? R: Apelles (Raphael) 21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti).

A vivid depiction of the School in Athens, Greece, circa 350BC, drawn by Italian painter Raphael (1510) (IQ=170), giving a well-imaged viewing of Aristotle's erudite intellectual circle: 1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: unknown 4: Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles? 5: Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great (IQ=180)? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon or Timon? 9: unknown or the Fornarina as a personification of Love or (Francesco Maria della Rovere?) 10: Aeschines or Xenophon? 11: Parmenides? 12: Socrates (IQ=160) 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo (IQ=180)) 14: Plato (IQ=180) (Leonardo da Vinci (IQ=205)) 15: Aristotle (IQ=190) 16: Diogenes 17: Plotinus (Donatello?) 18: Euclid (IQ=185) or Archimedes (IQ=190) with students (Bramante?) 19: Zoroaster 20: Ptolemy? R: Apelles (Raphael) 21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti).

The following is closeup the of the lower left section, depicting the Heraclitus vs Parmenides debate, showing: Epicurus, representative of the atomic theory view, Pythagoras, representative of the mathematical geometrical view, Parmenides, representative of the immovable being view, Heraclitus, representative of the flux, fire, and eternal change view of nature, amid an unnamed woman, said to be representative of "love", who glares out of the scene, in a strikingly peculiar way, that draws one's attention::

Heraclitus vs Parmenides (School in Athens)

Heraclitus vs Parmenides (School in Athens)


Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, who might be classified as an epicenter genius, shown giving physics and astronomy lessons to the senate of Venice.

Galileo giving physics lessons to the Senate of Venice

Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, who might be classified as an epicenter genius, shown giving physics and astronomy lessons to the senate of Venice.

Galileo's circle
Italian physicist Galileo Galilei (IQ=200) might well be classified as an epicenter genius, who had in his immediate communication circle and number of thinkers, such as: Francesco Sagredo, Giovanni Baliani, Evangelista Torricelli, and an aftermath of a number of people affected by his experiments and influence, Blaise Pascal along with Pierre Petit, to name two.


At Café Procope (circa 1750): at rear, from left to right: Marquis Condorcet (IQ=180), Jean-Francois de La Harpe, Voltaire (IQ=195), with his arm raised, and Denis Diderot (IQ=165). [4]

At Café Procope (circa 1750): at rear, from left to right: Marquis Condorcet (IQ=180), Jean-Francois de La Harpe, Voltaire (IQ=195), with his arm raised, and Denis Diderot (IQ=165). [4]

Voltaire’s circle
As to whether or not French philosopher, scientist, and writer Voltaire (1694-1778)(IQ=195) can be classified as an “epicenter genius”, he was ranked by Catherine Cox with an IQ of 200 and he did have a rather large and impressive circle, as what some have classified as “Voltaire’s circle”, such as depicted adjacent, at the famous Café Procope (circa 1750): at rear, from left to right: Marquis Condorcet (IQ=180), Jean-Francois de La Harpe, Voltaire (IQ=195), with his arm raised, and Denis Diderot (IQ=165)—one of the locations of the “age of enlightenment” beginnings, at which Voltaire is said to have drank forty cups of coffee a day, mixing it with chocolate. [5]

Voltaire's circle had connections and homes in France, from which he was banished from in 1726 (and again in 1834), England, where he occupied himself mainly with mathematics and made himself familiar with the philosophy of Newton, and Leiden University, Netherlands, the home to the original heat experiments school of thermodynamics, where he studied the experimental works of Boerhaave and Gravesande.

Other encyclopedists met at Café Procope, including: did Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones, and Thomas Jefferson. [5]

French mathematician Marquis de Condorcet (IQ=180) is described as “one of the philosophers of Voltaire’s circle.” [2]

In 1734, following his second banishment from France, at the invitation of a highly-intelligent woman friend, Emilie Chatelet (IQ=190), the so-called “smartest woman ever”, Voltaire moved into her "Chateau de Cirey" near Luneville in eastern France. They studied the natural sciences together for several years. She became the mistress of Voltaire, who commented on her in retrospect: “in 1733, I met a young lady who happen to think nearly as I did.”

Voltaire began a correspondence with Frederick the Great in August 1736. Frederick greatly admired Voltaire and invited him to come to Prussia many times; the invitation did not include Emilie. Frederick and Emilie did not like each other—both were competing for Voltaire. After Emilie's end, Frederick offered Voltaire the position of Chamberlain and 20,000 francs a year if he would come to Prussia. Voltaire accepted and spent three years at Frederick's court from 1750 to 1753. The materialist philosopher Baron d’Holbach was defined as being “one member of Voltaire’s circle”. [3]

In 1777, a year before his end, he visited French philosopher Jean Sales (IQ=190), the initiator of the human molecular hypothesis, and gave 500 pounds to towards his release.

Franklin | Madison
The following shows the depiction of the famous 1789 signing of the Constitution of the United States, centered around Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, the father of the constitution, said to have used his Princeton social physics training and ideas to formulate a Newtonian government:

Signing of the Constitution (labeled)

Goethe's circle

See main: Goethe’s circle

The following is a depiction of epicenter genius German polymath Johann Goethe (read dinner jacket, standing center) and his circle in 1803:


A vivid depiction of Weimar, Germany, in 1803, drawn by German painter Otto Knille (1884), giving a well-imaged viewing of Goethe's erudite intellectual circle: Johann Schlosser, Georg Hegel, Johann Fichte, Jean Paul, Ludwig Tieck, Wilhelm Humboldt, Alexander Humboldt, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Carl Gauss, who knew all of Goethe's poetry works, August Schlegel, Friedrich Klinger (KUnger), Peter Cornelius, Heinrich Kleist, Johann Pestalozzi seated left red jacket hunched over, who affixed Goethe with the title "prince of the mind", Barthold Niebuhr, Johann Herder, in whom in 1784 Goethe first confided his discovery of evidence for human evolution from lower animals, Johann Gleim, Lorenz Oken, Johann Voss, Johann Blumenbach, Friedrich Klopstock — and Goethe —the big dog, standing at the center of attention—followed by Christoph Wieland, seated right front, who in 1810 called Goethe's self-defined greatest theory "childish nonsense and fooling around", August Iffland—and last but not least Friedrich Schiller — Goethe’s closest intellectual friend — in whom, in 1796, he first confided his newly-forming human elective affinities theory—and a bench mark for the launching of the science of human chemistry and in effect the seeds to the newly-forming overly-complex 21st century science of human chemical thermodynamics (see: human free energy theorists).

A vivid depiction of Weimar, Germany, in 1803, drawn by German painter Otto Knille (1884), giving a well-imaged viewing of Goethe's erudite intellectual circle: Johann Schlosser, Georg Hegel, Johann Fichte, Jean Paul, Ludwig Tieck, Wilhelm Humboldt, Alexander Humboldt, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Carl Gauss, who knew all of Goethe's poetry works, August Schlegel, Friedrich Klinger (KUnger), Peter Cornelius, Heinrich Kleist, Johann Pestalozzi seated left red jacket hunched over, who affixed Goethe with the title "prince of the mind", Barthold Niebuhr, Johann Herder, in whom in 1784 Goethe first confided his discovery of evidence for human evolution from lower animals, Johann Gleim, Lorenz Oken, Johann Voss, Johann Blumenbach, Friedrich Klopstock — and Goethe —the big dog, standing at the center of attention—followed by Christoph Wieland, seated right front, who in 1810 called Goethe's self-defined greatest theory "childish nonsense and fooling around", August Iffland—and last but not least Friedrich Schiller — Goethe’s closest intellectual friend — in whom, in 1796, he first confided his newly-forming human elective affinities theory—and a bench mark for the launching of the science of human chemistry and in effect the seeds to the newly-forming overly-complex 21st century science of human chemical thermodynamics (see: human free energy theorists).

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An 1887 group photo (Ѻ), showing (standing, from the left): Walther Nernst, Heinrich Streintz, Svante Arrhenius, Hiecke, and (sitting, from the left): Aulinger, Albert von Ettingshausen, Ludwig Boltzmann (seated at middle), head of the Vienna school, who can be considered a type of epicenter genius (though Clausius, not shown, is the main genius of the thermodynamics network), Ignacij Klemencic, Hausmanninger.

An 1887 group photo (Ѻ), showing (standing, from the left): Walther Nernst, Heinrich Streintz, Svante Arrhenius, Hiecke, and (sitting, from the left): Aulinger, Albert von Ettingshausen, Ludwig Boltzmann (seated at middle), head of the Vienna school, who can be considered a type of epicenter genius (though Clausius, not shown, is the main genius of the thermodynamics network), Ignacij Klemencic, Hausmanninger.

Clausius circle | Boltzmann circle
Shown below is the connectivity diagram of the twelve founding schools of thermodynamics, showing that Rudolf Clausius, having the most nodal connections (nine), might be an epicenter genius:

It may also be cogently argued that both Maxwell (IQ=210), leader of the Edinburg school of thermodynamics (four nodal points) and Clausius (IQ=205), central founder of the Berlin school of thermodynamics—the biggest of the thermodynamic schools (nine nodal points), were epicenter geniuses, but artistic representation of this view, nodal diagram aside, seems to be lacking.

Einstein's circle
The start of German-born American physicist Albert Einstein's rise to "epicenter genius" seems to have found its seed in his 1902 two-person, turned three-person "Olympia Academy". Specifically, sometime in 1902, Einstein, having recently graduated (1900) from the Ecole Polytechnique of Zurich, with a degree in mathematical physics, and working for a minimal wage at the Berne Patent Office, put an advertisement in the paper offering to teach physics as a private tutor at so much an hour.


Conrad Habicht (left), Maurice Solovine (center), and Albert Einstein (right), circa 1902-1903, at one of their Olympia Academy meetings, during which time they read Karl Pearson's 1900 The Grammar of Science, with its superluminal Filon-Pearson demon note. [6]

Conrad Habicht (left), Maurice Solovine (center), and Albert Einstein (right), circa 1902-1903, at one of their Olympia Academy meetings, during which time they read Karl Pearson's 1900 The Grammar of Science, with its superluminal Filon-Pearson demon note. [6]

Shortly thereafter, Rumanian college student Maurice Solovine (1875-1958), shown seated center, adjacent photo, who was studying a mixture of subjects at Berne University, including literature, philosophy, Greek, mathematics, and geology, became Einstein’s first tutor pupil. The two men struck up a close relationship and Einstein was to say to Solovine a few days after meeting him:

"It is not necessary to give you lessons in physics, the discussion about the problems which we face in physics today is much more interesting; simply come to me when you wish, I am pleased to be able to talk to you."

On the third visit, Solovine suggested that they should read some of the standard works and discuss the problems they presented. Einstein then proposed they start with Karl Pearson’s 1900 The Grammar of Science.

This was followed by John Stuart Mill’s (IQ=185) A System of Logic, David Hume’s (IQ=180) Treatise on Human Nature, Benedict Spinoza’s (IQ=175) Ethics, Ernst Mach’s (IQ=?) Analysis of Sensations, Henri Poincare’s (IQ=195) Science and Hypothesis, the work of Bernhard Riemann (IQ=?), whose non-Euclidean geometry was utilized in Einstein’s development of his 1916 general theory of relativity, along with literary works, such as Miguel de Cervantes’s (IQ=155) Don Quixote. At some point along the line, Conrad Habicht (1876-1958), Einstein’s old friend from Zurich, who had recently arrived in Berne to continue his mathematical studies, joined the study group. [7] The three formed a weekly discussion group that eventually came to be known as the Olympia Academy. [7]

Twenty-five years later, Einstein's three person intellectual social club, amassed into the following expanded global circle of intellectuals, showing Einstein seated center front at the 1927 Solvay conference, giving a well-earned depiction of him as an "epicenter genius":


The iconic group photograph of the 1927 Solvay conference, in Brussels, Belgium, giving a well-imaged viewing of Einstein's erudite intellectual circle: back row: Auguste Piccard, Emile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Edouard Herzen, Theophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger (IQ=190), Jules Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg (IQ=180), Ralph Fowler, Leon Brillouin; middle row: Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Bragg, Hendrik Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr (IQ=185); front row: Irving Langmuir, Max Planck (IQ=190), Marie Curie (IQ=185), Hendrik Lorentz—and at center front, Albert Einstein (IQ=220), intellectual protégé of Goethe—seated next to Paul Langevin, Charles Guye, Charles Wilson, and Owen Richardson.

The iconic group photograph of the 1927 Solvay conference, in Brussels, Belgium, giving a well-imaged viewing of Einstein's erudite intellectual circle: back row: Auguste Piccard, Emile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Edouard Herzen, Theophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger (IQ=190), Jules Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg (IQ=180), Ralph Fowler, Leon Brillouin; middle row: Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Bragg, Hendrik Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr (IQ=185); front row: Irving Langmuir, Max Planck (IQ=190), Marie Curie (IQ=185), Hendrik Lorentz—and at center front, Albert Einstein (IQ=220), intellectual protégé of Goethe—seated next to Paul Langevin, Charles Guye, Charles Wilson, and Owen Richardson.

Thims circle
In 2012, Belgian philosopher David Bossens, suggestively joked, in a thread post, after reading the above page, whether jokingly or not, that American electrochemical engineer Libb Thims be ranked as an "epicenter genius" (see: Libb Thims (genius ranking)), with him in the center, surrounded by other hmolpedias; the following photo, from the 2013 University of Pitesti Econophysics and Sociophysics Workshop, might give a glimpse into the future:

An after workshop group photo of some of the speakers at UPESW 5 (29 Jun 2013): Libb Thims (center), wearing Hu element golf shirt, Constantin Bratianu (Thims’ right), Daniel Pele (Thims’ back right), Mircea Gligor (Thims’ back left), and seated in front left to right: Ion Siman and Gheorghe Savoiu, all noted members of the Romanian school of physical socioeconomics.


An after workshop group photo of some of the speakers at UPESW 5 (29 Jun 2013): Libb Thims (center), wearing Hu element golf shirt, Constantin Bratianu (Thims’ right), Daniel Pele (Thims’ back right), Mircea Gligor (Thims’ back left), and seated in front left to right: Ion Siman and Gheorghe Savoiu, all noted members of the Romanian school of physical socioeconomics.

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Quotes
The following are related quotes:

“People behave as if Einstein is the sun around which all wisdom revolves around like planets.”
— Monydit Malieth (2013), The Future Affects the Past [10]

References
1. (a) James, William. (1880). “Great Men and Their Environment”, Lecture before the Harvard Natural History Society; in: Atlantic Monthly, 1880, Oct.; in The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, and Human Immortality (§: Great Men and their Environment, pgs. 105-22; quote, pg. 118). Digireads.com Publishing, 2010.
(b) Quotations on Genius – TheAbsolute.net.
2. Schaeffer, Francis A. (2005). How Should We Then Live?: the Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture (pg. 121). Crossway.
3. Baron d’Holbach – Wikipedia.
4. Age of Enlightenment – Wikipedia.
5. Café Procope – Wikipedia.
6. Maurice Solovine – Wikipedia.
7. Clark, Ronald W. (1984). Einstein: the Life and Times (pgs. 78-79). Harper Collins.
8. Olympia Academy – Wikipedia.
9. Farmelo, Graham. (2009). The Strangest Man: the Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom (pg. 136-37). Basic Books.
10. Malieth, Monydit (aka Tonnerre). (2013). The Future Affects the Past: What Destination is Time Rushing To? (pg. 60). Red Lead Books.