Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) was a physicist and mathematician who proposed the theory of relativity. He also made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and cosmology, and is generally regarded as the most important physicist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect and "for his services to Theoretical Physics";[1] however, the announcement of the award was not made until a year later, in 1922.
In popular culture, Einstein has become synonymous with someone of very high intelligence. His face is also one of the most recognizable the world-over.
In his honor, a unit used in photochemistry was named after him. An einstein is equal to Avogadro's number times the energy of one photon of light. The chemical element Einsteinium is named after the scientist as well.
Abram Joffe, in Einstein's biography, argues that Einstein was assisted by his wife Mileva Maric, who was a mathematician.
Albert Einstein
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2 Political views 3 External Links, Resources, and References 4 Some Books by Albert Einstein |
Biography
Early years
Youth and College
Einstein was born at Ulm in Württemberg, Germany. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a featherbed salesman, and his wife, née Pauline Koch. He was given religious education (Judaism) and violin lessons during his youth. Around 1884, Einstein obtained his first compass, began a course of studies of self-education and absorbed as much science as possible. He built models and mechanical devices for fun. He began to learn mathematics around 1891. There is a recurring rumor that he failed math during this period, but this is not true, it is caused by a change in the way grades were assigned leading to confusion years later.
In 1894, the Einsteins moved to Pavia, Italy (near Milan) from Munich. Albert remained in Munich to finish school. He completed a term by himself and then moved to Pavia to join his family. In 1895, Einstein took an exam for the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Federal Swiss Polytechnic University), but failed the arts portion of the test. He was sent by his family to Aarau, Switzerland to finish secondary school. In 1896, Einstein received his diploma from high school.
He subsequently enrolled at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, in Zurich. That same year, Einstein renounced his German citizenship, becoming stateless. In 1898, Albert met Mileva Maric, a Hungarian classmate (who was also a friend of Nikola Tesla), and fell in love with her. In 1900, Einstein was granted a teaching diploma by the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. He was accepted as a Swiss citizen in 1901.
Einstein and Maric had an illegitimate daughter, Liserl, born in January 1902.
Work and Doctorate
Upon graduation, Einstein could not find a teaching post. He began working as a technical assistant examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in 1902. At the Swiss Patent Office, Einstein judged the worth of applications by the inventors, rectified their design errors, and evaluated the practicality of their work. Einstein married his first wife, Mileva Maric, on January 6, 1903. Einstein's marriage to Mileva was both a personal and intellectual partnership: Einstein referred lovingly to Mileva as "a creature who is my equal and who is as strong and independent as I am".
On May 14, 1904, Einstein's son Hans Albert Einstein was born. In 1904, Einstein's position at the Swiss Patent Office was made permanent. He obtained his doctorate after submitting his thesis "On a new determination of molecular dimensions" in 1905.
That same year, he wrote four articles that provided the foundation of modern physics, without much scientific literature to refer to or many scientific colleagues to discuss the theories with. Most physicists agree that three of those papers (Brownian Motion, the Photoelectric Effect, and special relavitiy) deserved Nobel prizes. Only the photoelectric effect would win. This is something of an irony, in that Einstein is far better-known for relativity, but that the photoelectric effect is all quantum, and Einstein became somewhat disenchanted with the path quantum theory would take. What makes these papers remarkable is that, in each case, Einstein boldly took an idea from theoretical physics to its logical consequences and managed to explain experimental results that had baffled scientists for decades.
Einstein discussed his scientific interests with Mileva and his close friends. He submitted these papers to the "Annalen der Physik" (they are commonly referred to as the "Annus Mirabilis Papers").
Brownian motion
The first article in