For decades, hundreds of writers have developed analyses and
conjectures about how Albert Einstein formulated his special theory of
relativity of 1905. I will summarize and critique certain provocative
and influential accounts, and will also describe neglected aspects of
the process. Which experiments were most influential to Einstein? What
role did patents or Swiss clocks play? Did his wife contribute to the
process? How did philosophical notions, such as by Mach and Hume,
affect the creative process?