Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany on march 14, 1879. As a boy he was fascinated by the compass needle, how it always pointed north. He felt that “something deeply hidden had to be behind things.”
Einstein Had Speech Difficulty as a Child .
He studied mathematics and physics in Zurich, Switzerland, then from 1902 to 1909 he worked in the Swiss Patent Office in Bern.
In 1905, at age 26, Einstein contributed four papers to the German scientific publication, “Annals of Physics.” Any one of them would have been enough to secure him an important place in the history of science.
In one article he said light could sometimes be described as particles, or “quanta.” This explained some puzzling experimental results, such as the photoelectric effect, and it became the starting point of quantum physics.
In the second and most famous paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” he outlined his special theory of relativity, which says that the speed of light is the same, regardless of how the observer moves. This means, he said, that the time between two events depends on the speed of the observer measuring it. Time, in other words, is “relative.” In a follow-up paper later that year he showed another aspect of special relativity, that energy and matter are equivalent. This is expressed in his famous formula: E=mc2 (Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared).
In a fourth paper, he explained Brownian motion, the irregular movements of particles in water. He showed that random collisions of water molecules would exactly produce the motion. This is considered one of the first proofs of the existence of atoms.
In 1915 Einstein completed his general theory of relativity, which greatly expanded on special relativity. In fact, it explained the universe in a radically different way. Einstein’s theory of gravitation is based on the “curvature” of space and time, which explains phenomena that Newton’s theory could not. It also predicts totally new phenomena, such as black holes and the expansion of the universe. However, Einstein was bothered because it failed to explain electromagnetism. He spent the remaining 25 years of his life unsuccessfully trying to develop a Unified Field Theory that would explain all natural forces. He was concerned that if he couldn’t find the answer, nobody would.
Albert loved taking long walks around town. His walks gave him time to think and relax him with the world. Albert also inherit his love for music from his mother – Pauline Einstein. Albert played and loved the violin.
Beginning in 1909 Einstein accepted various teaching positions in Europe. Then, in 1933, Nazi Germany took away his citizenship, property and positions because he was Jewish. He moved to the United States and took a position at Princeton University.
On Aug. 2, 1939, he wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, urging him to provide government help in creating an atomic bomb, and warning that Germany might already be working on one. The bomb was later used to end World War II.
Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel in 1952 but he refuse it. An element named einsteinium was unwrap in 1952 and named in respect for him.
After his death in 1955, Einstein’s brain was removed – without permission from his family take away , and hold, to be studied in the future when neuroscience might clue us in to what made him so smart.
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