Albert Einstein: The greatest physicist of all time

All of you are sure to have heard of Albert Einstein. He was one of the greatest scientists to have ever lived and is one of the greatest physicists of all time. His greatness is such that the word "Einstein" has become synonymous with great intelligence and genius.

Einstein is most famous for the Theory of Relativity (specifically for the formula, E=mc2). He won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his 1905 explanation of the photoelectric effect and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". He also made significant contributions to quantum theory and statistical mechanics.

Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, to a Jewish family, in the city of Ulm, Germany. His father, Hermann was a salesman who later ran an electrochemical facility, and his mother was Pauline. It is said that Albert's mother was so frightened when he was born, as his head was so large and oddly shaped. Although this oddity became less prominent as he grew older, his head remained proportionately large for his body.

Einstein is also said to have spoken much later than the average child. He hadn't begun speaking until the age of three, and continued to speak hesitantly, even beyond the age of nine. Because of his late speech development and his later childhood habit of ignoring school subjects that bored him and concentrating only on what interested him, some people had believed that he might be "retarded".

Young Einstein attended a Catholic elementary school, and was forced by his mother to take violin lessons. Though he didn't like these lessons then, Mozart's violin sonatas had given him great enjoyment later in life.

At the age of five, Einstein was shown a small pocket compass by his father, and the boy had realised that something in space acted upon the needle. He had referred to this incident as "one of the most revelatory events" of his life. He built models and mechanical devices for fun, and showed great mathematical ability early on.

In 1889, he was introduced to key science and philosophy texts by a medical student named Max Talmud. His interest in science was further boosted by two of his uncles who recommended and provided him with books on science, mathematics and philosophy.

He was then attending the Luitpold Gymnasium. He began to learn mathematics around the age of 12.

In 1894, the Einsteins moved from Munich to Pavia, Italy, but Albert remained in Munich to finish schooling. This was when he wrote his first scientific work, The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields, for one of his uncles. He left school and joined his family in Pavia in 1895. That year, at the age of 16, he performed the thought experiment known as "Albert Einstein's mirror".

His family sent him to Switzerland to finish secondary school, where he studied Maxwell's electromagnetic theory and received his diploma in 1896. In 1900, Einstein was granted a teaching diploma by the Federal Polytechnic Institute. He then submitted his first paper to be published, on the capillary forces of a drinking straw.

In 1896, he gave up his German citizenship and remained stateless for five years. In 1901, he gained Swiss citizenship, which he never revoked. Einstein obtained Prussian citizenship in 1914, but lost it in 1933. In 1940, he became an American citizen. He remained both an American and a Swiss citizen until his death.

Einstein married mathematician, Mileva Mari in 1903. In 1904, their first son, Hans Albert, was born. Their second son, Eduard, was born in 1910. Hans Albert went on to become a professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Eduard, the younger son, intended to practise as a Freudian analyst but suffered from schizophrenia and died in an asylum. Einstein divorced Mileva in 1919, and married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal.

In 1914, just before World War I started, Einstein settled in Berlin as professor at the local university and became a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. From 1914 to 1933, he was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin. He was also professor at the University of Leiden from 1920 until 1946, where he regularly gave guest lectures.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. Though he is now most famous for his work on relativity, it was for his work on photoelectricity that he won this prize.

The Einstein refrigerator was invented by him and a former student in 1926. They won a US Patent for this invention in 1930. In 1948, Einstein served on the original committee which resulted in the founding of Brandeis University. In 1952, the Israeli government made a proposal to appoint him as second president. He declined the offer, and is believed to be the only US citizen ever to have been offered a position as a foreign head of state.

He died in Princeton hospital in Princeton, New Jersey on April 18, 1955 at the age of 76 from internal bleeding. He was cremated without ceremony on the same day at Trenton, New Jersey, in accordance with his wishes. His ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.

Things and places named after him

* a unit used in photochemistry, the einstein

* the chemical element 99, einsteinium

* the asteroid, 2001 Einstein

* the Albert Einstein Award

* the Albert Einstein Peace Prize

* the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University opened in 1955

* the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania