A Little Bit About Einstein. Essay, Research Paper

Albert Einstein is known as one of the greatest scientists of all time. He has propose many great theories like the Special Theory of Relativity, the Theory of General Relativity, and E=mc2. (Einstein is famous for these theories along with his help in developing the laser.) He also influences many other scientists in the study of quantum theory and the cosmos. Know one really will ever understand what went on in this man s mind but he was defiantly one of the greatest men of

all times. The following is a description of this great scientist.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. He was born to Herman and Pauline Einstein, middle class German Jews. Einstein was a very bright child; a magnetic compass sparked his interest in the natural world, at the young age of four.

Einstein began his formal education at a school in Ulm. Contrary to what you would think Albert hated formal schooling. He often did poorly in subjects such as Geography, Language, and History, but excelled in Mathematics and Science. He generally did his real studies at home where he concentrated on physics, mathematics, and philosophy. One year one of Einstein s teachers suggested that he leave school, so at mid-term the 15 year old boy quit school. Einstein then moved to Italy to help his father in business. In 1895, he failed the entrance exam for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. They suggested that he studied at a Swiss school in Aarau. There he studied theories of electromagnetism, by James Clark Maxwell. At the age of 16, he wrote an essay on why he would like to study theoretical math or physics. He stated, “All above it is my individual disposition for abstract and mathematical thought, my lack of imagination in practical talent. My inclinations have also led me to resolve that is quite natural; one always likes to do things which one has talent. And there is a certain independence in the scientific profession which greatly pleases me.” He graduated from the Swiss school, in 1896 at 17 years old. Then he was then accepted to the Institute of Technology in Zurich. This is where he met his first wife, Melvia Merich; she was the only girl in his physics class. They had a daughter, Lieserl, together who was given up for adoption and never see or heard of again. They became married and had two sons; the first was Hans Albert born in 1904, and the second son Eduard was born in 1910.

Einstein realized he would never be an outstanding student, for his benefit his friend Marcel Grossmann had traits Einstein lacked. Grossmann took all the notes in the lecture Einstein needed and he would give them to him before every test. Einstein later said “I would rather not speculate what would have became of me without these notes.”

He tried to get a job as a physicist but failed. He finally got a job at a paten office ion Bern, Switzerland. Einstein thought that the job was a terrific place to get new scientific ideas. Einstein and his friend Michelle Besso created a group called The Olympia Academy; mocking officials that dominated science field in 1909 had the privilege to be appointed the associate professor at the University of Zurich.

During the next few years, he came to know more physicists of Europe. In 1912, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology invited Einstein to become a professor. Here Einstein rejoined his friend Marcel Grossmann; with his help, Einstein began his new mathematical theories and techniques that he found a necessity toward his new Theory of Gravitation. In 1914, the German Government gave Einstein a Swiss Research appointment in Berlin, plus a membership in the Prussian Academy of Science. Soon after this, Einstein and his wife separated and then divorced in 1919. The reason being Einstein s love affair with his cousin, Elsa Lowen, who nursed him back to health in 1917 after he fell deathly ill. Einstein continued with his theory of Relativity and a solar eclipse proved that it was true in 1919. He married Elsa just before the eclipse occurred.

Einstein s Theory of Special Relativity had beginnings in an essay he wrote when he was just sixteen. The Theory of Special Relativity says, “for all frames of reference, the speed of light is constant and if all natural laws are the same, then both time and motion are found to be relative to the observer. Einstein wanted to provide a consistent explanation for the way radiation (light an example in many cases) and matter interact when viewed simultaneously by an observer at rest and in constant motion. In the year of 1905, he realized that his problems were caused by the theory of measurement and not with the theory of matter. He knew that all measurements of time and space were based on an assumption that two distance events happen at the same time. This helped him base his theory on two things: Physical laws are the same in all inertial references. Then variance of the speed of light is at a constant in a vacuum. Einstein was then able to make his correct and accurate descriptions of different inertial frames without making any assumptions.

Now this leads to Einstein s Theory of General Relativity. The key to Einstein s theory is that gravity as well as matter can effect time and space. He began his work to expand his theory of Special Relativity to all coordinate systems. He started this by expanding the principle of equivalence. He said that gravitational fields are equal to accelerations at the point of reference. An example is, people in a moving elevator cannot decide whether the force acting upon the person is gravity or the acceleration of the elevator. The full theory was not announced until 1916. In the theory of the interactions of bodies, which had been ascribed should gravitational forces, are described as the influence of bodies on the geometry of space-time. Einstein describes the basis for the General Theory of Relativity as “the previous unexplained variations in orbital motion of the planets and the predictions of bending of starlight in the vicinity of a massive body, such as the sun.” This was confirmed by an eclipse later in 1919. Einstein s fame then spread across the globe.

The equation E=mc2 is another of Einstein s great accomplishments. He developed this equation after developing his Special Theory of Relativity. In the equation, E represents energy, m represents mass, and c2 is the speed of light squared. He was only 26 years old when he applied his theory of mass and energy.

Einstein was also very involved with the public around him. Einstein traveled throughout the world. His visited many countries as a member of the physics community and a representative for liberal causes. These countries included England, France, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and as far east as Japan. In 1922, he went to Sweden to accept a Nobel Prize. As the Nazi movement grew, Einstein developed a non-partisan group, inside his Jewish Community, that was against fascism. Einstein renounced German citizenship. Soon after Einstein s personal properties were confiscated by the Nazi government, The Nazi s put Einstein at the top of the list of people stripped of their German citizenship. Einstein moved to the United States to escape the Nazi Germany, and also settled in Princeton New Jersey with Elsa. After World War II began Einstein urged President Roosevelt, after a series of letters, to push the study of nuclear war power and its effects. He was informed that Nazi Germany had the intelligence to create nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Einstein then became a United States citizen, he also remained a Swiss Citizen.

He remained in the United States until his death in 1955. Einstein died of heart failure on April 16th in Princeton New Jersey. Einstein the was one the greatest scientists of all time, he discovered theories no one else ever even thought of, and created a completely different way to look at the natural world.

Bibliography

http//:www.alp.org/history/einsteinearly1.htm

http://www.groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/ history/mathematicians/Einstein.html

http://library.advanced.org/11924/einstieninfo.html

Encyclopedia Britannica On Line

World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM