Einstein's Quotes

“If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/c². The fact that the energy withdrawn from the body becomes energy of radiation evidently makes no difference, so that we are led to the more general conclusion that The mass of a body is a measure of its energy-content; if the energy changes by L, the mass changes in the same sense by L/9 × 1020, the energy being measured in ergs, and the mass in grammes.”

-Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig? (Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?)http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/E_mc2/e_mc2.pdf

“Some recent work by E.Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future… This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable - though much less certain - that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed.”

-Albert Einstein's Letter to FDR

http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/einstein.shtml#second

Albert Einstein Biography

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. His parents were Hermann and Pauline Einstein. His family went to Munich after his birth. They remained there until Albert was 15 and in 1894, they moved from Munich to Italy. Albert continued going to school in Switzerland, and after he graduated, he entered the Institute of Technology in Zurich. During his time at school he fell in love with Mileva Maric. She was a young girl from Serbia and the single woman in Einstein’s physics class. They had one daughter, and after that they got married in 1903. They later had two more children, both boys. Einstein and Maric divorced in 1919, and later that year Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal. While he was in college at Zurich He studied math and physics and hoped to become a teacher, but after he graduated in 1901, he could not find a job as a teacher. Therefore, he took a job in the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. He accomplished many things in the following years; he became associate professor at Zurich, he also became Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague, he was named Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute and became a Professor at the University of Berlin. In 1933 he renounced his German citizenship and moved to America to become the Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton. He worked as a professor until he retired in 1945. Albert Einstein died on April 17, 1955 due to internal bleeding. He was 76 Years old. In the course of his life he received many awards and honors. Most notably he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921 and Time ranked him as the person of the century.

Einstein's Scientific Achievements

Albert Einstein made many significant contributions to physics in his lifetime. In 1905 Einstein published four papers that contributed greatly to the founding of modern physics these papers are often called the Annus Mirabilis (Extraordinary Year) papers. He sent these papers to Annalen der Physik, the top German physics journal. In March of 1905, Albert Einstein proposed that light could act as if it consists of independent particles of energy. Einstein’s idea appeared as though it went against the universally accepted theory of light. It was thought that light consists of smoothly oscillating electromagnetic waves. However, he demonstrated that particles of energy, or light quanta as he called it, could help physicists better understand the phenomena they were studying. In May of 1905, the kinetic energy theory stated that heat was a result of atoms in motion. This theory was very well known and accepted, but Einstein suggested a way for the theory to be tested. He proposed that if particles were placed in a liquid the particles would start to move around. Einstein said this was because of the irregular bombardment by the liquid's atoms. He solidified the theory of kinetic energy and created a new technique for studying the movement of atoms. In September of 1905, Einstein, because of the theory of relativity, had a new idea. It can be summed up in this excerpt of a letter Einstein wrote to a friend: "The relativity principle in connection with the Maxwell equations demands that the mass is a direct measure for the energy contained in bodies; light transfers mass". He showed this in the famous equation E=mc². In this equation, “E” stands for energy “m” stands for mass and “c” stands for the speed of light.

Shor Term Influence

Albert Einstein had influenced many things, but one of the most important things he influenced was the making of the atomic bomb. Einstein did not work on the project directly, but his discoveries played a big part in the bombs creation. Einstein’s theory of relativity states that E=mc². This relation state that an incredibly large amount of energy can be taken out of a small amount of matter. This was fundamental in the creation of the bomb. Einstein also signed a letter addressed to Franklin Roosevelt, then president of the United States, that urged him to build a bomb.

Long Term Influence

Albert Einstein was the face of modern physics. One instance shows how Einstein became a household name and was the name most associated with physics. His theory of relativity said that when light passes an extremely big and dense body the light would bend. Einstein predicted that the starlight would be deflected, and was positive this would happen. In May of 1919, there was a total eclipse; this was the time to see if light would bend. It did, just as he predicted, the Starlight was deflected. When word of Einstein’s prediction of the eclipse being right spread, it spurred a sensation. Einstein was at the forefront of new and modern physics. He was overturning what was thought to be the true views energy, space, time and matter. Albert Einstein used his position as one of the best physicists to garner support for many causes that were unrelated to science, but still very important. One of the movements Einstein supported was Zionism. He wanted a homeland for the Jews. When Nazism started to grow and anti-Semitism gained support, he pushed even harder for a Jewish state. Einstein aided in the organization of a non-partisan group that supported a stand in opposition of fascism. He left Germany and renounced his citizenship in March of 1933.