"Let me
tell you what I look like: pale face, long hair, and a tiny
beginning of a paunch.
In addition, an awkward gait, and a cigar in the mouth ..."
---Albert Einstein, 1920---
In addition, an awkward gait, and a cigar in the mouth ..."
---Albert Einstein, 1920---
Albert Einstein was born as the first child of the Jewish couple Herman and Pauline Einstein, nee Koch, in Ulm on March 14,
1879. When Albert’s grandmother saw him for the first time she
is said to have cried continuously: "Much too thick! Much too
thick!" But despite all fear the development of young Albert was
a normal one. In November 1881 Albert’s sister Maria – called Maia – was born.
A short time later the Einstein family went to Munich where
Albert first attended elementary school and subsequently
Luitpold grammar school. He was an "average" pupil but already
very early interested in science and mathematics. He did not
like lessons in grammar school as they were held with strict
discipline and as he was forced to learn. When he turned 15 he
left school without any degree and followed his family to Milan.
To make up for the missed degree he attended school in Aarau (Switzerland) from 1895 to 1896 when he
successfully took his A-levels and began to study in Zurich. His
ambition was to obtain the diploma of a subject teacher for
mathematics and physics. He successfully finished his studies in
July 1900.
He moved to Bern and was given work at the Patent
Office. In his leisure time he worked in the area of theoretical
physics. In 1905 he published several of his important
scientific works. One of them deals with the ground-breaking
special theory of relativity. Another work contains the most
famous formula of the world "E = m
·
c2".
This formula states that matter can be converted into
energy.
Einstein’s famous formula:
In this mathematical equation, E stands for energy, m for mass and c for the speed of the light in a vacuum (ca. 300,000 km/s).
In 1903 he married his college mate
Mileva Maric. One year later
Einstein’s first son,
Hans Albert, was born and his second son
Eduard followed in 1910. In 1909 he became professor for
theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. After that time
he was given a professorship in Prague and then again in Zurich.
In 1914 Einstein was called to Berlin to work there
scientifically. In the same year World War I broke out.
1
Albert Einstein, 1916
|
2
Light deflection
(here amplified) in the gravitational field of the
sun
|
After Einstein had separated from his wife Mileva
he married his cousin
Elsa
Löwenthal in 1919. From 1909 to 1916 Albert Einstein
worked on a generalisation of the special theory of relativity,
the general theory of relativity. After this theory was proven
right in an experiment in 1919 (deflection of light by the sun’s
gravitational field) Einstein became famous over night. He
received invitations and honours from all over the world. There
was hardly any magazine which did not report about him and
praise his work to the skies. For the year 1921 he received the
Nobel Prize for Physics.
When the 12-year-old Eduard asked his father why he was so
famous he got the answer:
"When a blind beetle crawls over the surface of a curved branch,
it doesn’t notice that the track it has covered is indeed
curved. I was lucky enough to notice what the beetle didn’t
notice."
quoted in Max Flückiger, Albert Einstein in Bern, Bern 1974
|
Through the political situation in Nazi Germany Einstein left
the country in December 1932 and never again entered German
ground. From 1933 Einstein and his family lived in Princeton,
USA. At the "Institute for Advanced Study" he found ideal
working conditions. In December 1936 Einstein’s wife Elsa died.
In 1939 World War II broke out. Because of his fear that Germany
was working on atomic bombs he wrote a letter to
Franklin
D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States of America, to
tell him about the possibility of atomic weapons. In 1946 he
proposed a world government in which he saw the only way to
achieve continuous peace.
3 Albert Einstein in Princeton, ca. 1950 |
Einstein spent the last years of his life reclusively in
Princeton. Until his last breath he worked on a new theory, the
unified field theory, which however was not successful. Albert
Einstein died on April 18, 1955. He was 76 years old.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar