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), German (1914-1933), American (1940-1955)

Profession(s):

Theoretical Physicist, Mathematician

Early Life and Education

• Born in Ulm, Germany, to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch.
• Moved to Munich shortly after birth, where his father and uncle founded an electrical engineering company.
• Initially struggled with speech development.
• Received his early education in Munich, attending a Catholic elementary school and later the Luitpold Gymnasium.
• Left Germany at the age of 15 and completed his high school diploma in Aarau, Switzerland.
• Attended the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, graduating in 1900 with a diploma in physics.

Career and Major Achievements

• Worked as a clerk at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern from 1902 to 1909.
• Published four groundbreaking papers in 1905, often referred to as the "Annus Mirabilis" (miracle year) papers:
  • On the Photoelectric Effect.
  • Brownian Motion.
  • Special Relativity.
  • Mass-Energy Equivalence (E=mc²).
• Became a professor at the University of Zurich in 1909.
• Later held professorships at the Charles University in Prague and the ETH Zurich.
• Developed the General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915.
• Received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
• Emigrated to the United States in 1933 due to the rise of Nazism in Germany.
• Joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where he remained until his death.
• Wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, warning of the potential for Germany to develop atomic weapons, which contributed to the establishment of the Manhattan Project.

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)
• Numerous scientific papers on quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and cosmology.

Legacy and Impact

Albert Einstein's theories revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity, and the universe. He is considered one of the most influential scientists of all time, and his work continues to inspire generations of physicists and mathematicians. Even now, studies are being done like the 'kichisaburo nomura biography of albert einstein' looking to gain a deeper insight.

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