Albert Einstein (1879-1955) : World renowned scientist

Albert Einstein was born in Württemberg, Germany in 1879. There was little in his early life to suggest that this boy was anything exceptional. In fact, he was very late in learning to talk. As a schoolboy, he had many problems with teachers and didn’t like the way he was taught. When he left school in 1894 he had no examinations or certificates.
In 1896, Einstein gave up his German citizenship and was stateless for a number of years. In 1901 he was granted Swiss citizenship.

Einstein made important contributions to quantum theory, but he also sought to extend the special theory of relativity. By 1900, Einstein had become a lecturer at the University of Bern. By 1909, he had become recognised as a leading scientific thinker. In 1915, he published his definitive version of the general theory of relativity. Einstein became idealised by the popular press. The London ‘Times’ ran the headline “Revolution in science - New theory of the universe - Newton’s ideas overthrown”. In 1929, Einstein made his first visit to America. His main reason was to raise funds for a planned Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1921 he received the Nobel Prize. His life was becoming increasingly hectic and in 1928 he paid the price with a physical collapse brought on by overwork.

By 1930, he was making international visits again and returned to the United States. In 1932, he was offered a position at Princeton University. He planned to spend seven months in Germany each year followed by five months in America. Einstein accepted the offer and he left Germany in December 1932. Though he was not to know it, he would never return. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. In Nazi Germany persecution of the Jews began and intensified. Einstein decided that he could never return to the land of his birth. In 1935 he was granted permanent residency in the United States. By 1940, had become a citizen of the United States but chose also to retain his Swiss citizenship.

He made many contributions to peace during his life. In 1944, he made his own contribution to the war effort by rewriting his 1905 paper on special relativity in his own handwriting, putting it up for auction. It raised $6,000,000 and is today displayed in the Library of Congress.

Such was Einstein’s genius that very few people are able to understand his scientific theories. Suffice to say that in modern parlance, the ‘Newton vs. Einstein’ argument has been summarised as “Albert’s turn to kick butt”.

In 1949, Einstein became very ill. After a short time in hospital he recovered, but took the precaution of drawing up his will. He left his scientific papers to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. One week before his death, Einstein signed his last letter. It was a letter to Bertrand Russell in which he agreed that his name should go on a manifesto urging all nations to give up nuclear weapons. It is fitting the one of his last acts was to argue, as he had done all his life, in favour of international peace. He was cremated in New Jersey on 18 April 1955 and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.

Web Links

Einstein - TIME.com. Person of the Century
The Albert Einstein Institution
Nobel Prize

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