Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein
Einstein in 1921
Born(1879-03-14)14 March 1879
Ulm, German Empire
Died18 April 1955(1955-04-18) (aged 76)
Citizenship
EducationETH Zurich (Dipl., 1900)
University of Zurich (PhD, 1905)
Known for
Spouses
(m. 1903; div. 1919)
(m. 1919; died 1936)
Children
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
See list
ThesisEine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen (A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions) (1905)
Doctoral advisorAlfred Kleiner
Other academic advisorsHeinrich Friedrich Weber
Signature

Albert Einstein (/ˈnstn/ EYEN-styne,[5] German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held as one of the most influential scientists. Best known for developing the theory of relativity, Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics.[1][6] His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from special relativity, has been called "the world's most famous equation".[7] He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.[8]

Born in the German Empire, Einstein moved to Switzerland in 1895, and at the age of seventeen he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss federal polytechnic school. In 1903, he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905, he submitted a successful PhD dissertation to the University of Zurich. In 1914, he moved to Berlin to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin, becoming director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in 1917. In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Horrified by the Nazi persecution of his fellow Jews,[9] Einstein decided to remain in the US.[10] 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 recommended that the US begin similar research, though he generally viewed the idea of nuclear weapons with great dismay.[11]

In 1905, he published four groundbreaking papers, sometimes described as his annus mirabilis (miracle year).[12] These papers outlined a theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced his special theory of relativity, and demonstrated that if the special theory is correct, mass and energy are equivalent to each other. In 1915, he proposed a general theory of relativity that extended his system of mechanics to incorporate gravitation. A cosmological paper that he published the following year laid out the implications of general relativity for the modeling of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole.[13][14] In 1917, he wrote a paper which laid the foundations for the concepts of both laser and maser, and contained a trove of information that would be beneficial to developments in physics later on.[15]

In the middle part of his career, Einstein made important contributions to statistical mechanics and quantum theory. Especially notable was his work on the quantum physics of radiation, in which light consists of particles, subsequently called photons. With the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose, he laid the groundwork for Bose-Einstein statistics. For much of the last phase of his academic life, Einstein worked on two endeavors that proved ultimately unsuccessful. First, he advocated against quantum theory's introduction of fundamental randomness into science's picture of the world, objecting that "God does not play dice".[16] Second, he attempted to devise a unified field theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result, he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream modern physics. His intellectual achievements and originality made Einstein broadly synonymous with genius.[17] In 1999, he was named Time's Person of the Century.[18]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference frs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The Gold Medal" (PDF). Royal Astronomical Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Membership directory". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  4. ^ Robinson, Andrew (2024). Einstein in Oxford. Bodleian Library Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85124-638-0.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NDxay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference YangHamilton2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference LnLVo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nobel Prize was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference zE9Bz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference BoyerDubofsky2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Albert Einstein on nuclear weapons | Wise International". wiseinternational.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  12. ^ Galison (2000), p. 377.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nobel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20151124 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Kleppner, Daniel (1 February 2005). "Rereading Einstein on Radiation". Physics Today. 58 (2): 30–33. Bibcode:2005PhT....58b..30K. doi:10.1063/1.1897520. ISSN 0031-9228.
  16. ^ Robinson, Andrew (30 April 2018). "Did Einstein really say that?". Nature. 557 (30): 30. Bibcode:2018Natur.557...30R. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-05004-4. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 14013938. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference wordnetweb.princeton.edu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Albert Einstein". Time. 31 December 1999.


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