Albert Einstein is the most recognized physicist of the 20th century. It was his theories that influenced some of the inventions that are useful to us today. He is a Nobel laureate, creator of the theory of relativity, and one of the most important creators of quantum mechanics, whose autobiography fascinates people all over the world. Albert Einstein also contributed to the enormous development of the philosophy of science. What was Einstein's birthplace? What were his biography and the most important theories? Here is a biography of one of the world's most famous scientists.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Württemberg (Germany). Einstein grew up in a secular Jewish family. His father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer who together with his brother founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie - a Munich-based company dealing with mass production of plumbing and gas installations. Einstein's mother, Pauline Koch, in turn, ran the family household. Einstein had one sister, Maja, who was born two years after him (1881).
The young Albert Einstein attended elementary school at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich. However, he felt alienated there, despite the fact that he achieved the best academic results. Einstein stood out from other children above all because of his deep inquisitiveness. In the late 1880s, Max Talmud, a Polish medical student (sometimes ate lunches with the Einstein family), became the informal teacher of the young Einstein. The Talmud introduced his student to a scientific text for children, which inspired Einstein to later consider the nature of light and a thought experiment.
The Einstein family moved to Milan (Italy) in the mid-1890s. Young Albert stayed in Munich to complete his studies at the Luitopold Gymnasium. However, the boy began to have problems with coping with himself, so he cleverly signed out of school and joined the family.
In time, the young Einstein managed to get into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, thanks to his excellent results in mathematics and physics in the entrance examination. However, he still had to complete his abandoned education. Albert was attending a secondary school in Aarau, Switzerland, in the meantime. In 1896, he passed his high school diploma and at the same time renounced German citizenship, becoming a Swiss citizen (to avoid compulsory military service).
Einstein finally got the job in 1902 as a clerk at the Swiss Patent Office. While working in it, Albert Einstein had time to further explore the ideas that emerged during his studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. It was these considerations that cemented Einstein's theorems on the principle of relativity. In 1905 there was a "wonderful year" for the future scientist. Albert Einstein then published books (5 copies), the most important of which are:
On the electrodynamics of moving bodies - this famous publication introduced the special theory of relativity by reconciling Maxwell's electrodynamics with the principle of relativity, without changing it. SR, as special relativity is abbreviated as it is briefly called, also explained the independence of the speed of light in a vacuum. In another work, the scientist also predicted the equivalence of mass and energy. Thanks to this discovery, the formula E = mc2 was created
It is worth adding that the scientist also developed the topic of the photoelectric effect (observed by Philip Lenard in 1888). Einstein assumed that light interacts with matter as particles (photons). It was thanks to this statement that the Nobel Prize went into his hands.
About the new method of determining the size of molecules - in it, Albert Einstein explained and described in detail Brownian motion.
Albert Einstein was promoted in 1906 to a second-class technical expert. Later, in 1907, another turning point in his life took place. Einstein formulated the principle of equivalence, calling it "the happiest thought of life." It was this happy thought that allowed man to make a breakthrough in the work on the general theory of relativity.
On January 6, 1903, Einstein married Mileva Maric, a Serbian physics student. The scientist met his future wife at a school in Zurich. At first, Albert's parents were vehemently opposed to this union, mainly because of Mileva's ethnic background. Nevertheless, Einstein continued to meet her, and also spoke through letters in which he also described many of his scientific ideas to the girl.
In 1903, there were also other interesting facts about Albert Einstein. The young couple had a daughter, Lieserl, who was reportedly given up for adoption and her fate was unknown. Apart from the girl, the couple had two sons - Hans Albert Einstein (who became a famous hydraulic engineer) and Eduard Einstein (who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at an early age). The Einstein marriage was not a happy one, however, as the couple divorced in 1919.
During his marriage to Mileva, Einstein began an affair with his cousin Elsa. The couple formalized their relationship on July 2, 1919. Unfortunately, Einstein continued to date other women. The scientist's second marriage ended on December 20, 1936, with the death of Elsa.
As for interesting facts, it is worth remembering that Albert Einstein was nominated for the Nobel Prize 11 times. Even more interesting is the fact that as many as 40 different scientists nominated him for the award, twelve of them really many times.
In 1922, the scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize (for the year 192) 1. In most of the award nominations, the rationale was the theory of relativity formulated by Einstein. As the committee considered it insufficient, the justification for donating the Nobel Prize was provided by Albert Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect. The scientist did not collect the award in person, because he was traveling abroad - it was done on his behalf by the then German ambassador to Sweden (Rudolf Nadolny).
The famous physicist began to travel a lot. In the 1920s and 1930s, he visited many Asian countries, but also visited the United States three times. In 1933 he moved to New York and later moved to Bermuda with his then-wife. In 1936, Albert Einstein became a doctor of New York University. In the same year, the scientist's wife, Elsa, died. On October 1, 1940, Einstein became a US citizen.
At the same time, the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler were gaining importance - thanks to their brutal propaganda in impoverished Germany (after World War I). The Nazi party influenced other scientists by calling Einstein's work "Jewish physics." Jewish citizens were forbidden to work at university or other scientific positions, and Einstein himself was to be murdered. Meanwhile, other European scientists left the regions threatened by Germany and migrated to the United States, fearing Nazi strategies to create nuclear weapons.
After moving to the USA, Albert Einstein never returned to his homeland. It was in Princeton, New Jersey, that he spent the rest of his life working on a unified field theory - a comprehensive paradigm designed to standardize the various laws of physics. During World War II, Einstein worked on naval weapon systems and made large donations to the military, auctioning manuscripts worth millions. In an essay for The Atlantic Monthly, Einstein also advocated working with the United Nations - to maintain nuclear weapons as a deterrent to conflict during World War II.
In the last decade of his life, Einstein, who always considered himself a loner, moved further away from all kinds of spotlights, preferring to stay close to Princeton and plunge into the development of new scientific theories. The day before his speech on the seventh anniversary of Israel's founding, he was diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (1948). The scientist was taken to hospital for treatment, but refused surgery, believing that he had lived his life. Einstein accepted the situation and decided to make as much of his life as possible. In 1950, however, the aneurysm began to enlarge, so the scientist wrote a will - in order for his copyrights, manuscripts and letters to be transferred to the Hebrew University.
Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955, in Princeton, at the age of 76. During an autopsy of Einstein, pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey removed the scientist's brain. Einstein took an active part in brain research during his lifetime - one biography confirmed that the scientist always hoped that other scientists would examine his brain after death. Albert Einstein's brain is now housed in the Princeton University Medical Center. According to the physicist's last wish, the rest of his body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in a secret place.
When young Albert was only 5 years old, then his father showed him a compass. Dad explained to the future scientist exactly how the mechanism of the device works. Years after this event, Einstein told everyone that he was most fascinated by the power of the magnetic needle directing it. Albert Einstein was so intrigued by the operation of the compass that he called it his first encounter with science. Scientific historians believe that the compass needle that obeys the invisible field most influenced Albert Einstein's field theory. The scientist believed that field theory most closely reflected the laws governing nature.
Few of Einstein's biographies mention that the scientist loved smoking a pipe. He smoked shabby cigars at first, but then switched to a pipe. Apparently, he never parted with her - even when one day he capsized from his sailboat into the water. Smoking a pipe, he used to say, gives him an objective judgment of humanity. Smoking a pipe had a negative effect on Einstein's health. He was supposed to limit smoking, but he did not follow the doctors' recommendations. Interestingly, he also received a distinction at the Pipe Smokers Club in Montreal. Until the end of his days, the scientist was unable to say goodbye to his smoking addiction.
Young Einstein studied, but he did not like school. He did not like going to her. About himself, he used to say “I have no special talents. I'm just passionate about curiosity. " Einstein never shone in school, but he learned new material very quickly. While the other kids stood out on the school desks, Einstein always had some other more interesting job. Therefore, no one suspected that Albert would someday receive the Nobel Prize.
The young Albert Einstein went to a Catholic elementary school. He was so fascinated by it that he began to compose songs praising God on his own. Let us just remind you that Albert was born into a Jewish family. Young Einstein, however, was far from Judaism. The parents of the future scientist, although they did not attend the synagogue themselves, decided to balance their son's religiousness. Albert Einstein, therefore, did not eat pork, while singing to God and composing more glorious songs. Nationally, Einstein was a German Jew. He treated himself as a "citizen of the world".
Albert started playing the violin at the age of 6. He played music until the age of 14. Information about Einstein points to various incidents by Albert while downloading the game teachings. The young musician was looking for a passion in playing the violin, and not only looking for technical solutions. Apparently, he hit the teacher with a chair once because he was fed up with repeated exercises. Einstein made the discovery on himself that if he were not a physicist, he would definitely become a musician. If Albert Einstein had not played his beloved violin, today there probably would not be the E = mc2 formula.
Einstein's biography is rich e.g. in his constant emigration. In 1986, he renounced his German citizenship to avoid military service. In 1901, Albert became a Swiss citizen, and in 1940 he was sworn in as a US citizen. It is worth adding that in those days it was possible to become a citizen of several countries at the same time. Albert Einstein, however, never renounced his Swiss citizenship. His Nobel Prize for 1921 was not assigned to any country in which the scientist was a citizen. Einstein insisted on this.
When Hitler came to power, he wanted to remove all Jews. There was a prize of $ 5,000 for the head of Einstein, who was of Jewish origin. At his home in Belgium, the guards began to observe everything going on there - so the hunt for Einstein was not just a rumor. Albert Einstein sneered at the award for his own head: "I didn't know I was worth that much." In the collection of all enemies of the Third Reich, one could read the note "not yet hung" under the scientist's photo.
It might seem that a physicist with such a strict mind should have an excellent memory. In fact, however, it was quite the opposite. Albert Einstein forgot the basics and had a poor memory for small things. Scientists often confused the dates. He also sometimes forgot the phone numbers or names of his friends.
This is evidenced by Einstein's memorabilia in the form of letters to his lovers. He sent, among others 24 love letters to his cousin and future wife, Elsa Einstein. He had a romance with her long before he divorced Mileva Maric (first wife). Elsa married Einstein despite the fact that one day he told the woman directly that he would rather marry her 20-year-old daughter. Elsa turned a blind eye to her husband's affairs. Moreover, she even hired a secretary so that he could satisfy his desires with her. Einstein's wife was sure that her husband would be bored anyway.
Wearing socks was quite a challenge for Albert Einstein. He did not like to wear them because they hurt him and he often had holes in them. Einstein did not wear socks even while visiting the White House with President Roosevelt. In response to an announcement that he would wear socks to his first scientific meeting, he replied, “What for? Nobody knows me there anyway. "
Bibliography:
- Abraham Pais: God is sophisticated ... The science and life of Albert Einstein, Prószyński and S-ka Publishing House, Warsaw 2001
- Abraham Pais: Here lived Albert Einstein, Próczyński i S-ka Publishing House, Warsaw 2005
- Jeremy Bernstein: Albert Einstein and the limits of physics, Świat Książki Publishing House, Warsaw 2008
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