Albert Einstein

Born:

14 March 1879, Ulm, Württemberg, German Empire

Died:

18 April 1955, Princeton, New Jersey, United States

Nationality:

German (until 1896), Stateless (1896–1901), Swiss (1901–1955), German (1914–1933), American (1940–1955)

Profession(s):

Theoretical Physicist

Early Life and Education

• Born in Ulm, Germany, to a Jewish family.
• Early education was primarily at home before attending Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich.
• Renounced German citizenship in 1896 and became stateless.
• Graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich in 1900.
• Obtained a doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905.

Career and Major Achievements

• Worked as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, from 1902 to 1909.
• Published four groundbreaking papers in 1905, often referred to as the "Annus Mirabilis" papers.
• Developed the theory of special relativity.
• Developed the theory of general relativity.
• Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."
• Professor at the German University in Prague (1911-1912) and ETH Zurich (1912-1914).
• Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin (1914-1932).
• Immigrated to the United States in 1933 and became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Notable Works

• "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" (1905) - Introduces special relativity.
• "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" (1905) - Introduces E=mc².
• "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" (1905) - Discusses the photoelectric effect.
• "Relativity: The Special and the General Theory" (1916) - Popular account of his theories.
• "Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement" (1926).

Legacy and Impact

Albert Einstein is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. His theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity, and the universe. He had a profound impact on the development of modern physics and technology, including the atomic bomb and nuclear energy. The name "Einstein" has become synonymous with genius.

Notable Works and Honors

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