Albert Einstein was a German American scientist. He is best known for his theories on relativity and theories of matter and heat. Einstein is considered one of the greatest physicists of all time because he is thought to have changed the way one looks at the universe.
Childhood and Early Years
Einstein was born in Ulm, southern Germany, to Jewish parents. A year after he was born, he moved to Munich, Germany. Einstein showed no signs of being a genius at an early age. He did not like to receive instructions in school. Therefore, his education had to begin at home. He would still have to attend school in Munich though, and would get exceptional grades, especially in Mathematics. However, he hated it. For that reason, his teacher suggested him to leave and study at home because of his dislike toward the school. Merely his presence caused the other students to disrespect the teachers.
A story that Einstein loved to tell was that he once saw a compass and saw that the needle had a northward swing. He knew there was something behind it, and he wanted to know the hidden mysteries. Einstein first learned algebra and the Pythagoras’ theorem when his uncle taught it to him. His uncle would visit the family frequently and was Einstein’s mentor. He would help and encourage him to go on and never give up. Einstein loved to solve the algebraic and geometrical problems on his own. At the age of twelve, he read a couple of books on Euclid Geometry and learned the whole thing on his own. At the age of fourteen, he read a few science books, and the books had an immense influence on his life.
One of the interesting facts that the majority of people do not know about Albert Einstein is that he was actually very talented in the area of music. His mother played the piano very well, and she believed that music had to be an integral part of the life of her boy. Albert started taking violin lessons at the age of five. It is known that the boy hated it until one day, he heard Mozart. After that, he always dedicated time to music for the rest of his life.
At the age of fifteen, his parents moved to Milan, Italy. Einstein took this opportunity to drop out of school in Munich. He spent a year just living with his parents and reading. Albert then realized that he needed to do something in life. He decided to finish school in Aarau, Switzerland. In 1895, he tried to enter the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (a type of university). He took the entrance exam, but he failed it. Luckily, he passed it the second time. In the institute, Albert realized that his true love was Physics. Albert hated that school, as well. Actually, the future genius hated the school so much that he would not even attend the classes. He would rather stay at home, do experiments, and have his friend take notes for him. Then he would just study the notes on his own and take the tests.
Graduation
Albert graduated from the university with low grades. He tried to get a job at a university as a professor but failed to find one. He even became a Swiss citizen to find a job in Switzerland, but it did not work out either.
In 1902, he found a job at the patent office in Bern. All he had to do was putting applications in for patents. This provided him with time he needed to devote to the Physics questions that he had and do scientific papers. In 1903, he married Mileva Marić, with whom he had two sons. It is known that Albert Einstein had an illegitimate daughter with Mileva, who was his fellow student at the time. According to some historical facts, their first child died because of an infection aged one. It is believed that this happened in 1903. Albert discussed his ideas with his wife all the time.
Marriage Unilateral Contract
Interestingly, Albert Einstein lived with Mileva Marić on certain conditions that the woman agreed to. They laid a special list of conditions that helped them during the times when they had marriage difficulties. In the contract, Albert Einstein specified that his wife had to always make sure that his clothes and laundry were kept in good order, while Albert received his three meals regularly in his room that had to be kept clean and neat, no matter what. Above that, Mileva had to forgo her husband’s sitting at home, going out, or traveling with her. In addition to everything mentioned above, the woman would obey that she would never expect any kind of intimacy from her husband, nor would she reproach him in any way. Additionally, Mileva had to immediately stop talking to Albert the very moment he asked her to. And finally, the wife was obliged to the fact that she had to leave her husband’s bedroom straightaway without protest if he requested her to.
Theory of Special Relativity and World Fame
Einstein started calling attention to himself when he began to publish his papers. In 1905, he got hired as a professor at the University of Zurich for his Annus Mirabilis – the four major papers that he wrote in his life. The first one was about the theoretical dissertations on the dimensions of molecules. The second was about the Brownian Motion. He made predictions about the motion of particles. The third one was about the Photoelectric Effect, which contained a revolutionary hypothesis on the nature of light. In this paper, Albert Einstein wrote about the photon being proportional to frequency. His Fourth and most revolutionary paper was the one about the Theory of Special Relativity. It contained the interaction viewed simultaneously by an observer at rest, and by an observer moving at a uniform speed.
Albert did not really become world-famous until some of the things in his Theory of Special Relativity proved to be true. In his theory, he explained the unexplained variations in the orbital motion of the planets. This was proved in 1919 when there was an eclipse. After the eclipse, people realized that what he had stated was true. From that time on, Albert Einstein became world-known. He was invited to many special meetings. On one of them, he met one of his favorite scientists Max Planck and others that he relished.
As for the other special meetings, it is interesting to know that Albert Einstein loved to smoke and was actually a life member of the Montreal Pipe Smokers Club. According to the words of the world-famous theoretical physicist, pipe smoking was his special technique that helped him to calm down when needed and judge things objectively.
It was in the same year that he married his cousin Elsa. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics for the research he did on the PhotoElectric effect.
Since Albert was a publicly declared Zionist, he was the target of many anti-Semitism representatives. He would be ridiculed in Germany because of his beliefs. Albert had moved to Germany to work at the University in Prague. When Hitler came to power, he immediately moved to Princeton, New Jersey. Albert later learned that some German scientists had discovered how to split the uranium atom. Albert and other scientists sent a letter to President Roosevelt with the request to start an atomic bomb project as well. That is how the Manhattan project was started. Albert Einstein helped to make the first two nuclear Bombs.
Death and Post-Morten Steal
Albert Einstein died in 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey. He was happy about the fact that he was able to see his own people returning to their homeland. It was something that he wanted to see throughout his life. One of the greatest scientists alive accomplished many things in life because of his hard work, and all his work has helped our world today.
The author of the iconic theory of general relativity was born Jew and a German. However, he renounced his German citizenship in 1896. Later, in 1901, Albert Einstein became a Swiss citizen. Nonetheless, the scientist passed away as a citizen of the United States of America in 1955.
According to historians, Albert Einstein could have lived longer. The thing is that before his death, the doctors suggested surgery to the physicist. However, the man refused on the grounds that it was utterly tasteless to prolong one’s life artificially.
Einstein was one of the most creative minds of all time. That was clear from the fact that even after his death, extraordinary things happened. Right after the death of the famous scientist and physicist, his body was cremated and ashes scattered. Nevertheless, one of his body parts was retained. Dr. Thomas Harvey, the pathologist who did the autopsy of Albert Einstein at Princeton Hospital, carefully removed and stole the scientist’s brain without any permission. Harvey lost both – his job and license.