Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) was a physicist and mathematician who proposed the theory of relativity, the quantum theory of light[?], and a proof of the atom. He made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and cosmology, and is generally regarded as the most important physicist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect "and other contributions"; however, the announcement of the award was not made until a year later, in 1922. Abram Joffe[?], in his biography, argues that Einstein was assisted by his wife Mileva Maric, who was also a physicist.

Born at Ulm in Württemberg, Germany, Einstein grew up in Munich and later in Italy and received his higher education in Switzerland. He renounced his German citizenship and was accepted as a Swiss citizen in 1901. He was an examiner at the Swiss Patent Office from 1902-1905. He obtained his doctorate in 1905. That same year, he wrote four articles that laid the foundation for modern physics.

The first article in this remarkable year is remembered as his study of Brownian motion. It established empirical evidence for the reality of atoms. Before this paper, atoms were recognized as a useful concept, but physicists and chemists hotly debated the question of whether atoms were real things. Einstein's statistical discussion of atomic behavior gave experimentalists a way to count atoms by looking through an ordinary microscope. Wilhelm Ostwald, one of the leaders of the anti-atom school, later told Arnold Sommerfeld that he had been converted to a belief in atoms by Einstein's complete explanation of Brownian motion.

The second paper of 1905 proposed the idea of "light quanta" (now called photons) and showed how they could be used to explain such phenomena as the photoelectric effect. The theory of light quanta contradicted the wave theory of light that followed naturally from James Clerk Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic behavior. By simultaneously incorporating wave-like and particle-like properties for photons, it demonstrated wave-particle duality. Even after experiments showed that Einstein's equations for the photoelectric effect were accurate, his explanation was not universally accepted. In 1922, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize, and his work on photoelectricity was mentioned by name, most physicists thought that, while the equation was correct, light quanta were impossible. The complete picture did not emerge until the maturity of quantum mechanics.

1905's third paper introduced the special theory of relativity, an accurate theory of time, distance, mass and energy (which is consistent with electromagnetism, but omits the force of gravity). Special relativity solved the puzzle that had been apparent since the Michelson-Morley experiment, which had shown that light waves could not be travelling through any medium (other known waves travelled through media - such as water or air). The speed of light was thus fixed, and not relative to the movement of the observer. This is impossible under Newtonian classical mechanics.

Some of the paper's core mathematical ideas -- the Lorentz transforms -- had been introduced a year earlier by the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, but Einstein showed how to understand these mathematical oddities. His explanation arose from two axioms: one was Galileo's old idea that the laws of nature should be the same for all observers that move with constant speed relative to each other; and, two, that the speed of light is the same for every observer. Special relativity has several striking consequences because the absolute concepts of time and size are rejected. The theory came to be called "special theory of relativity" to distinguish it from his later theory of general relativity, which considers all observers to be equivalent.

A fourth paper published later that same year showed one further deduction from relativity's axioms. That deduction was the famous equation that rest energy (E) equals mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared: <math>E = mc^2</math>. Einstein considered this equation to be of paramount importance because it showed that matter and energy are profoundly linked. The idea later proved invaluable for understanding how the Big Bang, which was a pure burst of energy, could lead to the precipitation of a universe filled with matter (it turns out that the energy required to create the matter is exactly offset by the negative potential energy of the universe's gravitational well[?]).

The equation is often cited as an explanation of how atomic weapons produce such phenomenal amounts of energy. Although this is literally true (the mass of the residue from a nuclear blast is smaller than the mass of the original weapon; the difference has been converted to energy, as per the formula), it is also misleading, because the theory of relativity is not the key to the physics of fission or fusion.

In 1914, just before the start of World War I, Einstein settled in Berlin. His pacifism and Jewish origins outraged German nationalists. After he became world-famous (on November 7, 1919, when The Times reported the success of his gravitational theory) nationalist hatred of him grew even more ferocious.

From 1914 to 1933 he served as director of Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin, and it was during this time he received his Nobel Prize.

In November 1915, Einstein presented a series of lectures before the Prussian Academy of Sciences[?] in which he described his theory of general relativity. The final lecture climaxed with his introduction of an equation that replaced Newton's law of gravity. This theory considers all observers to be equivalent, not only those moving at a uniform speed. In general relativity, gravity is no longer a force (as it was in Newton's law of gravity) but is a consequence of the curvature of space-time. The theory provided the foundation for the study of cosmology and gave scientists the tools for understanding many features of the universe that were not discovered until well after Einstein's death.

Einstein spent the last forty years of his life trying to unify gravity and electromagnetism giving a new subtle understand of quantum mechanics. He was looking for a classical unification of gravity and electromagnetism.

Einstein's relationship with quantum physics is quite remarkable. He was the first, even before Max Planck, the discoverer of the quantum, to say that quantum theory was revolutionary. His idea of light quanta was a landmark break with the classical understanding of physics. In 1909, Einstein presented his first paper to a gathering of physicists and told them that they must find some way to understand waves and particles together.

In the early 1920s, Einstein was the lead figure in a famous weekly physics colloquium at the University of Berlin.

However, in the mid-1920s, as the original quantum theory was replaced with a new quantum mechanics, Einstein balked at the Copenhagen interpretation of the new equations because it settled for a probabilistic, non-visualizable account of physical behavior. Einstein agreed that the theory was the best available, but he looked for an explanation that would be more "complete," i.e., deterministic. His belief that physics described the laws that govern "real things" had led to his successes with atoms, photons, and gravity. He was unwilling to abandon that faith.

Einstein's famous remark, "Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that he does not throw dice," appeared in a 1926 letter to Max Born. It was not a rejection of probabilistic theories per se. Einstein had used statistical analysis in his work on Brownian motion and photoelectricity. In papers published before the miraculous year of 1905 he had even discovered Gibbs ensembles[?] on his own. But he did not believe that, at bottom, physical reality behaves randomly.

In 1924, Einstein received a short paper from a young Indian physicist named Satyendra Nath Bose, describing light as a gas of photons, and asking for Einstein's assistance in publication. Einstein realised that the same statistics could be applied to atoms, and published an article in German (then the lingua franca of physics) which described Bose's model and explained its implications. Bose Einstein statistics are now known to describe any gas of indistinguishable particles (bosons). Einstein also assisted Erwin Schrödinger in the development of the Quantum Boltzmann distribution[?], a mixed classical and quantum mechanical gas model -- although he realised that this was less significant that the Bose Einstein model, and declined to have his name included on the paper.

After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Einstein was accused by the National Socialist regime of creating a "Jewish physics". Nazi physicists (notably including the Nobel laureate Johannes Stark[?]) attempted to discredit his theories. Einstein fled to the United States and accepted a position at the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He became an American citizen in 1940. He spent his last 20 years in an increasingly isolated and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at constructing a theory that would unify General Relativity and quantum mechanics.

He died in Princeton.

Personal Life

Einstein married his first wife, Mileva Maric on January 6, 1903. Her role in his early years is subject of much controversy. She was about 4 years older than him. They had three children. They were divorced on February 14, 1919. Einstein married his cousin Elsa Loewenthal (née Einstein: Loewenthal was the surname of her first husband, Max) on June 2, 1919. Elsa was Albert's first cousin (maternally) and his second cousin (paternally) and she was 3 years older than Albert. There were no children from this marriage.

The fate of Albert and Mileva's first child, a daughter, born prior to their marriage, is unknown: some believe she died in infancy and some believe she was given out for adoption. The other two children were boys: one was institutionalized for schizophrenia and died in an asylum. The other moved to California and became a university professor, and had little interaction with his father.

Political views

Einstein considered himself a pacifist [1] (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/peace/index.php) and humanitarian [2] (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/global/index.php). Einstein's views on other issues, including socialism, McCarthyism and racism, were controversial. (Einstein on socialism)

The American FBI kept a 1,427 page file on his activities and recommended that he be barred from immigrating to the United States under the Alien Exclusion Act[?], alleging that Einstein "believes in, advises, advocates, or teaches a doctrine which, in a legal sense, as held by the courts in other cases, 'would allow anarchy to stalk in unmolested' and result in 'government in name only'," among other charges.

Einstein initially favored construction of the atomic bomb, in order to ensure that Hitler did not do so first, and he even sent a letter to President Roosevelt (dated August 2, 1939, before WW-II broke out) encouraging him to initiate a programme to create a nuclear weapon. But after the war he lobbied for nuclear disarmament and a world government.

He was offered the opportunity to become the first President of Israel but declined. His religious views were close to the pantheism of Baruch Spinoza: he believed that God revealed himself in the holy harmony of the laws of nature and he rejected a personal God able to interact with humans. He once said that among the major religions, he preferred Buddhism.

Albert Einstein has become the subject of a number of novels, films and plays including Nicolas Roeg's film, Insignificance[?] and Alan Lightman's novel, Einstein's Dreams. Einstein was even the subject of Philip Glass's groundbreaking 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach[?].

Quotations attributed to Einstein

• "Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."
• "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler."
• "Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love."
• "The search for truth is more precious than its possession."
• "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."
• "What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world."
• "A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
• "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." (From a 1954 letter to an atheist. Source: "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press, 1981.)
• "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
• "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."
• "The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."
• "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
• "He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
• "The important thing is not to stop questioning."
• "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
• "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
• "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
• "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."
• "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
• "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
• "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."
• "The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax."
• "We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality."
• "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
• "The only real valuable thing is intuition."
• "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
• "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
• "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
• "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
• "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
• "I am convinced that he (God) does not play dice."
• "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
• "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
• "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
• "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
• "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
• "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
• "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."
• "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)
• "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
• "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."
• "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
• "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
• "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
• "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
• "No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"
• "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
• "The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."
• "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."
• "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
• "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
• "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
• "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
• "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."
• "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."
• "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."
• "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
• "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
• "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
• "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
• "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut."
• "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."
• "Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever."
• "...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought."
• "Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."
• Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. -- The world as I see it (1934)

External links

• Official Einstein Archives Online (3000 private and scientific documents) (http://www.alberteinstein.info/)
• S. Morgan Friedman, "Albert Einstein Online (http://www.westegg.com/einstein/)" -- a comprehensive listing of online resources about Einstein.
• FBI files (http://foia.fbi.gov/einstein.htm)
• the e-text of Relativity - The Special And General Theory (http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1971)
• Albert Einstein's Famous Quotes (http://www.thinkexist.com/English/Author/x/Author_1082_1.htm)
• Einstein's letter to Roosevelt (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_einstein)
• Theory of relativity in 4-letter words or shorter (http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/txt/al)