|
  |
|
|
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a famous physicist, scientist and Nobel Prize winner best-known for his theory of relativity. Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany, growing up in Munich, where his family had a small machinery manufacturing plant. The business ultimately failed, and the family moved to Milan, Italy when Einstein was 15 years old. Some early acquaintances thought Einstein was possibly retarded. He did not talk until he was three years old, and did not do well in school. He later said that he was just bored with school, it was too regimented and dull. He would skip classes to do things that were more interesting to his brilliant and curious mind. His teachers were not at all impressed with him. After graduating from school, Einstein worked as a tutor, then obtained a job in the Swiss patent office in 1902. In 1903 he married Mileva Maric with whom he had two sons. They eventually divorced, and Einstein later remarried. Einstein received a doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905; he wrote his dissertation on the dimensions of molecules. He also published three papers that were important to the world of science. The first was on Brownian motion; the second on photoelectric effect. The third paper was "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies." This paper included what was called the special theory of relativity. Scientists had long been trying to explain how light (or other radiation) and matter intereact from different points of view of different observers in different inertial frames of reference. Einstein hypothesized that the problem could be solved by a new theory of measurement, not matter. His special theory of relativity was based on two things; one, that physical laws remain the same in all references and two, the speed of light is a universal constant. When the paper was published, very few scientists understood it or supported it. Not because it was so complex, which it was, but because it had not been tested with actual experiments. Up until that time, scientists had accepted most theories only after extensive testing and experiments had proved them. Einstein believed that a good theory was primarily based on logical, scientific intuition and experience, and only needed a bare minimum of any kind of experiment to be true. This is what made it difficult for other scientists to accept his theory. Einstein worked at the patent office until 1907, all the time working on expanding and refining his theory of relativity. His general theory of relativity was finally published in 1916. One aspect of the theory explained the variations in the orbits of the planets and the bending of light near a large mass. This was confirmed during an eclipse of the sun in 1919, and Einstein was suddenly world-famous. He won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1922. During the 30's the physics world was putting its collective energies into developing "quantum theory". Einstein had little patience with these theories and spent the rest of his life working on other things, as well as expanding his theory of relativity even more. He also became involved in social causes that interested him, and used his fame to draw attention to those causes, specifically pacifism and zionism. Einstein left Germany when Hitler came to power, and took a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He continued his scientific work and published many important papers. He died in Princeton on April 18, 1955. |
|
 |
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
You've done a good job here. It's interesting isn't it that Einstein did badly at school? I dug out a quote of his that goes like this, "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." Having worked in an environment of formal education for a number of years, I think I know what he meant!
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thank you. Yes, I know what you mean, I have seen it myself.
The copyright for this content entitled "Albert Einstein" has been specified by the contributor as:
Public Domain
The copyright for this content has been relinquished by the author. The content may be used freely by anyone.
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
