Albert Einstein: Brief Biography and 1905

Brief Background:

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879 to a Jewish family (Albert Einstein, Nobel Lectures 1967). He was an average student at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich. While in school many professors strongly disliked Einstein. He also met and married his first wife, classmate Mileva Maric during this time (Einstein’s Big Idea, 2005). He graduated in 1896 with a degree in teaching mathematics and physics (Albert Einstein, accessed 2008).
After graduation Einstein began working as a clerk in a patent-office in order to support his wife and children, but this really wasn’t enough. During this time Einstein wrote numerous scientific papers on theoretical physics, and had a few published. It was a paper submitted in 1905 to obtain his doctorate that earned Einstein success and fame (Albert, accessed 2008). While Einstein is most well-known for his E=mc2 work he did not win the Nobel Prize for this. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for his paper on the theory of the photoelectric effect (Albert, 1967).


Relationship:
Einstein married Mileva Maric in 1903, and they had three children. Einstein was a very solitary person, and created an ultimatum document for Maric to sign. The document contained things such as; she must bring him food to his study, she could only speak to him when he wanted to be spoken too, and that she could not expect him to be

http://www.twurl.com/Controversy/einst_wedd.jpg
affectionate. She chose not to sign the ultimatum, and moved out with the children. They did not divorce right away, and Einstein actually bribed Maric into divorce. The bribe was that he would give her and the children the prize money if he were to ever win the Nobel Prize (Einstein, The History channel, 2008). After the divorce in 1909, he remarried within the year to his cousin Elsa Lowenthal (Albert Einstein, 1967).


1905:
Einstein published three significant papers in the year of 1905. The year of 1905 is sometimes referred to as the “miracle year” for Einstein. The first paper he published in 1905 described the photoelectric effect. The photoelectric effect is when metals emit electrons when hit by a particular wavelength of light. He based his theory on Planck’s work that described electromagnetic radiation. Planck had discovered that light energy was proportional to frequency of radiation, but Einstein further interpreted this to show that light energy was formed by a collection of radiation (Albert, accessed 2008). Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his work on this paper.

The second paper of 1905 proposed the special theory of relativity, and the third paper provided evidence of atom-sized molecules. His work on the theory of relativity was based off of Hendrik Antoon Lorentz’s theory of electrons and also on Maxwell’s equations of thermodynamics. He based the theory on the knowledge that equations describing the motion of an electron could be used to explain the motion of any particle or rigid body moving with a constant velocity. The theory of relativity describes time dilation, and how mass and energy are related. He also later wrote that in a certain way mass and energy could be considered as the same (Albert, accessed 2008). This notion that mass and energy are related is what led to the famous E=mc2 equation. This equation explains/hypothesizes that mass would be equivalent to energy if all the mass was turned into energy based on the relation of mass to the speed of light (c). His paper on the evidence of atom-sized molecules was based on calculating the average trajectories of particles during random collisions with other molecules as a fluid or gas (Albert, accessed 2008). It was these initial papers that started Einstein’s career of discoveries, theories, and equations. He later would become famous for his E=mc2 equation, and his general theory of relativity that are still being proven today,
https://www.msweb.gettysburg.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081120/sc_afp/sciencephysicseinstein_081120235605.

Einstein was also known for his anti-war beliefs during World War II. He did not renew his German citizenship when he returned in 1919 from Switzerland and moved to the United States in 1933. Once he moved to the United States Einstein began to urge the development of nuclear weapons, more specifically an atomic bomb before Germany did. His correspondence with President Roosevelt at this time persuaded Roosevelt to fund the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was simply the project to develop the first nuclear weapon during WWII that was supported by the US, United Kingdom, and Canada. He later became involved in efforts towards nuclear disarmament during the 1950’s (Nobel Lectures, Physics, 1967). He became chair of the Emergency Committee for Atomic Scientists in (The Nuclear Age II, 1996), and stated,
"Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race or shall mankind renounce war? People will not face this alternative because it is so difficult to abolish war."

Einstein was very dedicated to his
stance on the war, and the use of nuclear weapons only when absolutely necessary, as well as many other civil rights issues.
Einstein died in April 15, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey (Nobel Lectures, Physics, 1967).

Images:
Albert Einstein, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html
http://www.twurl.com/Controversy/einst_wedd.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.andrewsavory.com/blog/einstein.010.png&imgrefurl=http://onthewritersblock.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-this-day-in-history-april-11th.html&usg=__1wx3QMmtSwRTorncrFY-YWOjg6o=&h=768&w=1024&sz=655&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=pqQAMmf7rEVsKM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deinstein%252Bnuclear%2Bproliferation%26hl%3Den



Sources:
(n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2008, from Famous Physicist and Astronomers: http://www.phy.hr/~dpaar/fizicari/xeinstei.html

Nobel Lectures, Physics. (1967). Noberl Prize Foundation. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from NobelPrize.org: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html

NOVA. (2005, June). Retrieved November 24, 2008, from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/bodanis.html

The Nuclear Age II. (1996). Retrieved December 1, 2008, from The Center for History of Physics: http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/nuclear2.htm