Albert Einstein
- Born:
- March 14, 1879, Ulm, Württemberg, Germany
- Died:
- April 18, 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, Mathematician
Early Life and Education
- Early education at Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich.
- Renounced German citizenship in 1896.
- Graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich in 1900.
- Awarded a PhD from the University of Zurich in 1905.
Career and Major Achievements
- Worked at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern from 1902 to 1909.
- Published groundbreaking papers in 1905, including work on Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect, special relativity, and mass-energy equivalence.
- Professor at the University of Zurich, Charles University of Prague, and ETH Zurich.
- Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin.
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
- Developed the theory of General Relativity.
- Emigrated to the United States in 1933, becoming a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
- Wrote to President Roosevelt in 1939 about the potential of nuclear weapons.
Notable Works
- On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (1905)
- Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy-Content? (1905)
- Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (1916)
Legacy and Impact
Albert Einstein is widely regarded as one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century. His theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity, and the universe. Beyond his scientific contributions, he was a prominent public figure known for his humanitarian and pacifist views. The enduring interest in his life and work is reflected in scholarly analyses, such as leszek kolakowski biography of albert, which explore various aspects of his complex character and intellectual journey.