People/Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists of all time. Best known for developing the theory of relativity. His contributions was a central figure in the revolutionary reshaping of the scientific understanding of nature that modern physics accomplished in the first decades of the twentieth century. His mass–energy equivalence formula $E=mc^{2}$ , which arises from relativity theory, has been called "the world's most famous equation". In 1921, He received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. His intellectual achievements and originality have made the word Einstein broadly synonymous with genius.

Childhood

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March 1879. His parents, secular Ashkenazi Jews, were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, and Pauline Koch. In 1880, the family moved to Munich, where Einstein's father and his uncle Jakob founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current.

Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in Munich from the age of five. When he was eight, he was transferred to the Luitpold-Gymnasium (now known as the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium) where he received advanced primary and then secondary school education. In 1894, Hermann and Jakob's company tendered for a contract to install electric lighting in Munich, but without success—they lacked the capital that would have been required to update their technology from direct current to the more efficient, alternating current alternative. The failure of their bid forced them to sell their Munich factory and search for new opportunities elsewhere. The Einstein family moved to Italy, first to Milan and a few months later to Pavia, where they settled in Palazzo Cornazzani. Einstein, then fifteen, stayed behind in Munich in order to finish his schooling.

It is said that Einstein excelled at physics and mathematics from an early age, and soon acquired the mathematical expertise normally only found in a child several years his senior. He began teaching himself algebra, calculus and Euclidean geometry when he was twelve; he made such rapid progress that he discovered an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem before his thirteenth birthday.

In 1895, at the age of sixteen, Einstein sat the entrance examination for the Federal polytechnic school in Zürich, Switzerland. He failed to reach the required standard in the general part of the test, but performed with distinction in physics and mathematics. On the advice of the polytechnic's principal, he completed his secondary education at the Argovian cantonal school (a gymnasium) in Aarau, Switzerland, graduating in 1896.

In January 1896, with his father's approval, Einstein renounced his citizenship of the German Kingdom of Württemberg in order to avoid conscription into military service.

At seventeen, he enrolled in the four-year mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Federal polytechnic school. Over the next few years, he spent many hours discussing shared interests and learning about topics in physics with Mileva Marić. In his letters to Marić, Einstein confessed that exploring science with her by his side was much more enjoyable than reading a textbook in solitude. Eventually the two students became not only friends but also lovers. (this was before Albert loved and married his cousin)

Albert was horrified by the Nazi "war of extermination" against his fellow Jews, Einstein decided to remain in the US, and was granted American citizenship in 1940. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported the Allies but generally viewed the idea of nuclear weapons with great dismay. (This was before Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Nazis cush jobs in NASA with Operation Paperclip in 1945 ).

Theories ≠ Facts

In 1905, a year sometimes described as his "annus mirabilis" (miracle year), Einstein published four groundbreaking papers. These outlined a theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced his special theory of relativity—a theory which addressed the inability of classical mechanics to account satisfactorily for the behavior of the electromagnetic field—and demonstrated that if the special theory is correct, mass and energy are equivalent to each other.

Note: 1666 was also labeled "annus mirabilis" (miracle year) for the occultist Isaac Netwon's discoveries.

But when I was a student, I saw that experiments of this kind have already been made, in particular by your compatriot, Michelson. He proved that one does not notice anything on earth that it moves, but everything takes place on earth as if the Earth is in a state of rest.

Albert Einstein in a letter to Edwin E. Slosson, July 1925

My opinion about Millers experiments is the following. ..Should the positive results be confirmed, then the special theory of relativity and with it the general theory of relativity, in it's current form, would be invalid. Expiramentum summus judex. Only the equivalence of inertia and gravitation would remain, however they would have to lead to a significantly different theory.

Zurich, June 25, 1913

Highly esteemed Colleague,
You have probably received a few days ago my new paper on relativity and gravitation, which is now finally completed after unceasing toil and tormenting doubts. Next year, during the solar eclipse, we shall learn whether light rays are deflected by the sun, or in other words, whether the underlying fundamental assumption of the equivalence of the acceleration of the reference system, on the one hand, and the gravitational field, on the other hand, is really correct.
If yes, then - in spite of Planck's unjustified criticism - your brilliant investigations on the foundation of mechanics will have received a splendid confirmation. For it follows of necessity that inertia has its origin in some hind of interaction of the bodies, exactly in accordance with your argument about Newton's bucket experiment.
You will find a first consequence in this sense on the top of page 6 of the paper. Beyond that, the following results have been obtained. 1. If one accelerates an inertial spherical shell S, then, according to the theory, a body enclosed by it experiences an accelerating force.
2. If the shell S rotates about an axis passing through it's center (relative to the fixed stars ("Restsystem"), then a Coriolis field arises inside the shell, i.e., the plane of the Foucault pendulum is being carried along (though with a practically immeasurably small velocity).
It gives me great pleasure to be able to tell you about this, all the more so because Planck's criticism always seemed to me to be most unjustified.

Gallery

Einstein as a child
Helios?
Fruit Loops
Teaching pseudo science
Albert Einstein 1947
Albert's Wife & Cousin
What is Relativity?