"Einstein" redirects here.
For other uses, see Einstein (disambiguation) and Albert Einstein
(disambiguation).
Albert Einstein
Einstein in 1921, by Ferdinand Schmutzer
Born 14 March 1879
Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, German
Empire
Died 18 April 1955 (aged 76)
Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Kingdom of Württemberg, part of the
Citizenship
German Empire (1879–1896)[note 1]
Stateless (1896–1901)
Switzerland (1901–1955)
Austria, part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire (1911–1912)
Kingdom of Prussia, part of the German
Empire (1914–1918)[note 1]
Free State of Prussia (Weimar Republic,
1918–1933)
United States (1940–1955)
Education Federal polytechnic
school in Zurich (Federal teaching diploma,
1900)
University of Zurich (PhD, 1905)
Known for General relativity
Special relativity
Photoelectric effect
E=mc2 (Mass–energy equivalence)
E=hf (Planck–Einstein relation)
Theory of Brownian motion
Einstein field equations
Bose–Einstein statistics
Bose–Einstein condensate
Gravitational wave
Cosmological constant
Unified field theory
EPR paradox
Ensemble interpretation
List of other concepts
Mileva Marić
Spouse(s)
(m. 1903; div. 1919)
Elsa Löwenthal
(m. 1919; died[1][2] 1936)
Children Lieserl
Hans Albert
Eduard "Tete"
Awards Barnard Medal (1920)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
Matteucci Medal (1921)
ForMemRS (1921)[3]
Copley Medal (1925)[3]
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical
Society (1926)[4]
Max Planck Medal (1929)
Member of the National Academy of
Sciences (1942)[5]
Time Person of the Century (1999)
Scientific career
Fields Physics, philosophy
Institutions Swiss Patent Office (Bern) (1902–1909)
University of Bern (1908–1909)
University of Zurich (1909–1911)
Charles University in Prague (1911–1912)
ETH Zurich (1912–1914)
Prussian Academy of Sciences (1914–
1933)
Humboldt University of Berlin (1914–1933)
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (director, 1917–
1933)
German Physical Society (president, 1916–
1918)
Leiden University (visits, 1920)
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
University (1933–1955)
California Institute of Technology (visits,
1931–1933)
University of Oxford (visits, 1931–1933)
Thesis Eine neue Bestimmung der
Moleküldimensionen (A New Determination
of Molecular Dimensions) (1905)
Doctoral advisor Alfred Kleiner
Other academic Heinrich Friedrich Weber
advisors
Influences Arthur Schopenhauer
Baruch Spinoza
Bernhard Riemann
David Hume
Ernst Mach
Hendrik Lorentz
Hermann Minkowski
Isaac Newton
James Clerk Maxwell
Michele Besso
Moritz Schlick
Thomas Young
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Influenced Virtually all modern physicists
Signature
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Albert Einstein (/ˈaɪnstaɪn/ EYEN-styne;[6] German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] ( listen); 14 March 1879 – 18
April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist,[7] widely acknowledged to be one of the
greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of
relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum
mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics.[3]
[8]
His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been
dubbed "the world's most famous equation". [9] His work is also known for its influence on
the philosophy of science.[10][11] He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to
theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect",[12] a pivotal
step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in
"Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".[13]
In 1905, a year sometimes described as his annus mirabilis ('miracle year'), Einstein published four
groundbreaking papers.[14] These outlined the theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian
motion, introduced special relativity, and demonstrated mass-energy equivalence. Einstein thought
that the laws of classical mechanics could no longer be reconciled with those of the electromagnetic
field, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He then extended the theory to
gravitational fields; he published a paper on general relativity in 1916, introducing his theory of
gravitation. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe.
[15][16]
He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to
his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal
properties of light and the quantum theory of radiation, which laid the foundation of the photon theory
of light.
However, for much of the later part of his career, he worked on two ultimately unsuccessful
endeavors. First, despite his great contributions to quantum mechanics, he opposed what it evolved
into, objecting that nature "does not play dice".[17] Second, he attempted to devise a unified field
theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result,
he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream of modern physics.
Einstein was born in the German Empire, but moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German
citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg)[note 1] the following year. In 1897, at the age
of 17, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal
polytechnic school in Zürich, graduating in 1900. In 1901, he acquired Swiss citizenship, which he
kept for the rest of his life, and in 1903 he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent
Office in Bern. In 1905, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. In 1914, Einstein moved
to Berlin in order to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In
1917, Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics; he also became a
German citizen again, this time Prussian.
In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.
Einstein, of Jewish origin, objected to the policies of the newly elected Nazi government;[18] he settled
in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940. [19] On the eve of World War II, he
endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear
weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported
the Allies but generally denounced the idea of nuclear weapons.
