Albert Einstein was a German born theoretical science philosopher and theoretical physicist. He was born in March 14, 1879 in Ulm, German Empire. He came up with the idea of general theory of relativity which is one of the two pillars of modern physics, the other one being quantum mechanics (Parker, 2000). After acquiring education in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and practicing professorship in Zurich, Bern, and Prague, he was selected to the Director of Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin in 1914. Einstein became a professor in the School of Mathematics at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study. In summer of 1936, Einstein became an American citizen.
Einstein is famous for introducing the mass-energy equivalence formula that was later considered to be the most famous equation in the world. In 1921, Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution in theoretical physics, particularly because of his discovery of the photoelectric effect law (Nobel Prize, 2014). Photoelectric effect law was significant in the establishment of Quantum theory. At the start of his career, Einstein argued that Newtonian mechanics was not reliable to reconcile the classical mechanics laws with the electromagnetic laws. This resulted to the creation of the special theory of relativity that was inspired him (Holton, 1996). However, Einstein realized that the principle or relativity could support an extension to gravitational fields. Subsequently, his theory of gravitation in 1916, Einstein published a general theory of relativity paper. He provided explanations regarding the movement of molecules and particle theory after handling problems related to quantum theory and statistical mechanics. Furthermore, Einstein carried out investigation regarding the light’s thermal features which formed the basis of the photon theory of light. He made an application of the general theory of relativity to a large scale model structure of the universe in 1917 (Isaacson, 2007).
Albert Einstein was a Jewish and had to escape from Germany and settle in the United States to avoid the rule of Adolf Hitler who was during the time persecuting the Jewish people. In 1940, Einstein was granted American citizenship. At the beginning of the 1st World War, Einstein endorsed a letter addressed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that informed him of the capability of developing powerful bombs and recommended a similar research be carried out by the US. The Manhattan Project was formed as a result. Einstein published over 300 scientific publications in addition with more than 150 non-scientific works. He died in 1955 but his achievements are still recognized up to today (Brian, 1996).
- Brian, D. (1996). Einstein: A Life. New York: John Wiley
- Holton, G. (1996). Einstein, History, and Other Passions. Harvard University Press.
- Isaacson, W. (2007). Einstein: His Life and Universe. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York
- Nobel Prize. (2014). Albert Einstein – Biographical. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from http://www.nobelprize.org
- Parker, Barry (2000). Einstein’s Brainchild: Relativity Made Relatively Easy! Prometheus Books.
