I've always been convinced that hadn't Einstein developed and publicised the ideas of relativity and mass-energy equivalence then somebody else would, and probably not much later. I believe that ideas pop up when their time is right.
Much along this line of thought is Kirby's part 3 of "
Everything is a Remix". It is well worth watching. I particularly like the Henry Ford quote towards the end, which finishes with:
“To teach that a comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.”
Cheers
Steffen.