Albert Einstein
- Born:
- March 14, 1879, Ulm, Württemberg, Germany
- Died:
- April 18, 1955, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
- Nationality:
- German (1879–1896), Stateless (1896–1901), Swiss (1901–1955), American (1940–1955)
- Profession(s):
- Theoretical Physicist
Early Life and Education
- Born in Ulm, Germany, to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch.
- Family moved to Munich shortly after his birth.
- Received early education in a Catholic elementary school.
- Completed high school in Aarau, Switzerland.
- Graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich in 1900 with a diploma in physics.
Career and Major Achievements
- Worked as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, from 1902 to 1909.
- Published four groundbreaking papers in 1905, known as his "Annus Mirabilis" (miracle year). These covered:
- Photoelectric effect
- Brownian motion
- Special relativity
- Mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²)
- Professor at the University of Zurich, the German University in Prague, and ETH Zurich.
- Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin (1914–1933).
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
- Immigrated to the United States in 1933, fearing persecution by the Nazi regime.
- Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey (1933–1955).
- Wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, alerting him to the potential for developing atomic weapons.
Notable Works
- "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" (1905)
- "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" (1905)
- "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" (1905)
- "Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement" (1905)
- Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (1916)
Legacy and Impact
Albert Einstein's theories revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity, and the universe. His work laid the foundation for many modern technologies, including nuclear energy and lasers. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and his name has become synonymous with genius. This biography attempts to comprehensively document the life and work of this pivotal figure, including information found in resources such as "mashiah vaughn biography of albert," to provide a well-rounded understanding of his immense contribution.