Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century, brought about a massive revolution in the application of physical sciences. His theories and discoveries transformed fundamental concepts of the universe and his mathematical equations became the gateway to the atomic age. Even though decades have passed since his theoretical propositions, science has only recently begun to affirm their accuracy due to the technological revolution that has swept the world. Einstein, the most influential scientist of the past century, is often seen as an international icon of wisdom, intelligence, and genius.
Early Life
Albert Hermann Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in the town of Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany, to a secular Jewish family. His father, Hermann Einstein, was an engineer who co-founded an electronics company in Munich with his brother, focusing on electrical equipment. His mother, Pauline Koch, was a homemaker. Einstein had one sibling, a sister named Maja, born two years after him. He attended a primary school in Munich but felt uncomfortable due to its rigid educational style. From a young age, he was passionate about classical music, particularly the violin, which remained a lifelong hobby. Near the end of the 1880s, Max Talmud, a Polish medical student who occasionally dined with the family, became an informal tutor for Einstein and introduced him to scientific texts that inspired his interest in the nature of light.
During his adolescence, Einstein formulated what could be considered his first major research paper, titled “Investigations on the State of the Ether in Magnetic Fields.” The family moved to Milan, Italy, in the mid-1890s, but Einstein was left behind in Munich with relatives to continue his education. Upon reaching adulthood, he withdrew from schooling, citing nervous exhaustion, and moved to join his family in Italy. Despite his parents’ concerns about his future prospects as a school dropout, they supported his decision.
Education and Career
After moving to Switzerland, Einstein secured a place at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich due to his excellent grades in mathematics and physics. However, he was required to complete his pre-university education first, so he enrolled in a secondary school in Aarau, Switzerland, under the guidance of Just Winteler. Einstein lived with Winteler’s family and fell in love with Winteler’s daughter, Marie. He later renounced his German citizenship and became a Swiss national at the turn of the new century.
After graduating, Einstein faced significant challenges in finding academic positions, having been dismissed by some of his professors due to his irregular attendance at lectures. Eventually, he found a stable job in 1902 as a patent examiner at the Swiss Patent Office. During this time, he had ample opportunity to explore the ideas that had taken root during his studies at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute, which laid the groundwork for his theories on what would later be known as relativity. In 1905, Einstein published four groundbreaking papers in the journal “Annalen der Physik,” one of the most renowned physics journals of that era. Two of these papers focused on the photoelectric effect and Brownian motion, while the other two addressed the equation of energy equivalence and the special theory of relativity.
Family Life
Einstein married Mileva Maric on January 6, 1903, a Serbian physics student he met during his time at the Institute in Zurich. Their relationship, which faced opposition from his parents due to her ethnic background, continued until his father’s death in 1902. They had a daughter named Lieserl, whose fate remains unknown, with some speculating she may have been raised by relatives or put up for adoption. The couple also had two other children: Hans, who became a well-known hydraulic engineer, and Edward, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young man.
Despite their 16-year marriage, Albert and Mileva were unhappy and separated in 1919. Mileva suffered emotional distress from the separation, and as part of their settlement, Einstein agreed to give her any potential Nobel Prize winnings he might receive. In the same year as his first marriage’s end, Einstein married his cousin Elsa Löwenthal, with whom he had a romantic relationship during his first marriage. This marriage lasted until Elsa’s death in 1936. Despite his love for Elsa, Einstein continued to engage in extramarital affairs during their marriage.
Nobel Prize in Physics
In 1921, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Although his ideas on relativity were still questioned, he was not officially awarded the prize until the following year due to bureaucratic reasons. Despite receiving the Nobel for the photoelectric effect, Einstein preferred to discuss his theory of relativity.
Inventions and Discoveries
As a physicist, Einstein made numerous discoveries, the most famous being the energy-mass equivalence equation E = mc², which indicates that a body’s energy is equal to its mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light. This equation suggested that tiny particles of matter could be converted into energy and later played a crucial role in the advent of the nuclear age and the development of the atomic bomb. The equation was supported by the renowned quantum theorist Max Planck.
Einstein also enriched science and physics with his theory of relativity, beginning with special relativity in 1905 through his paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” which directed physics toward new aspects of electrical energy. In 1915, Einstein completed the general theory of relativity, which he considered the pinnacle of his life’s research. This theory allowed for more accurate predictions of planetary orbits around the sun and provided a comprehensive explanation of gravitational forces. It was confirmed by observations and measurements conducted by British astronomers Sir Frank Dyson and Sir Arthur Eddington during the 1919 solar eclipse, making it a globally recognized scientific milestone.
Migration to the United States
In 1933, Einstein settled in the United States and took a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, after finding it difficult to return to Germany due to the rise of the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler. The Nazis gained prominence in German society through propaganda and racist ideas, pressuring some German scientists to attack Einstein’s work and label it as “Jewish physics,” and forbidding Jewish citizens from working in universities and other official positions, even inciting calls for Einstein’s assassination. Consequently, Einstein and other European scientists living in Nazi-threatened areas had no choice but to migrate to the United States and inform its leaders of their concerns about Nazi strategies related to nuclear weapons.
After moving and settling in Princeton, Einstein spent the rest of his life working on the unified field theory, a comprehensive model aimed at unifying the diverse laws of physics. He expressed his appreciation for American life, which provided opportunities and freedom of thought. He gained permanent residency in 1935 and became a U.S. citizen five years later. During World War II, he worked on developing naval weapons systems and made substantial financial donations to the military through the auctioning of his manuscripts, which were valued at millions of dollars.
The Atomic Bomb
In 1939, Einstein and fellow physicist Leo Szilard wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt, warning of the potential for a Nazi atomic bomb and urging the United States to develop its own nuclear weapons. This led to the immediate initiation of the Manhattan Project, though Einstein did not participate directly in its implementation due to his pacifist and socialist beliefs and the lack of trust from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Upon learning of the bombing of Hiroshima in Japan in 1945, Einstein felt regret and became a leading advocate for efforts to limit the use of atomic bombs. He and Szilard founded the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists the following year, and in 1947, Einstein wrote an article published in Atlantic Monthly advocating for working with the United Nations to keep nuclear weapons as mere deterrents in warfare.
Time Travel and Quantum Theories
After World War II, Einstein continued working on his unified field theory of physics and the principal aspects of his general theory of relativity, including time travel, wormholes, black holes, and the origins of the universe. However, he felt isolated in his pursuits as most of his colleagues shifted their focus to quantum theory. In the last decade of his life, Einstein withdrew from public life, preferring to stay near Princeton and immerse himself in discussing theories and ideas with colleagues.
Death
Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76 at the University Medical Center in Princeton. He had suffered a health crisis the previous day, resulting in an aortic aneurysm. He was taken to the hospital for treatment but refused surgery, believing he had lived a full life and was ready to accept his fate. He stated at the time, “Extending life artificially is meaningless. I have done my work, and it is time to go. I will do so with elegance.”
Einstein’s Brain
During Einstein’s autopsy, pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey removed his brain without the family’s consent, intending for neurologists to preserve and study it in the future. It was claimed that Einstein had expressed hope for researchers to study his brain after his death. Einstein’s brain is now held at the Princeton Medical Center, and, fulfilling his wish, the rest of his body was cremated and the ashes scattered in an undisclosed location.
By 1999, Canadian scientists studying Einstein’s brain found that the lower parietal lobe and the region responsible for spatial relations and three-dimensional thinking were 15 percent larger than those of individuals with average intelligence. According to The New York Times, researchers believe this may help explain Einstein’s remarkable intelligence.
