Albert Einstein

1879-1955
Born: March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany Died: April 18, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey, United States Nationality: American. Occupation: physicist. Table of Contents:Biographical Essay | Chronology | Further Readings | View Multimedia File(s) | Works

Biographical Essay:

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientific intellects of all time, formulated the theory of relativity. He won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. Albert Einstein ranks as one of the most remarkable theoreticians in the history of science. During a single year, 1905, he produced three papers that are among the most important in twentieth-century physics, and perhaps in all of the recorded history of science, for they revolutionized the way scientists looked at the nature of space, time, and matter. These papers dealt with the nature of particle movement known as Brownian motion, the quantum nature of electromagnetic radiation as demonstrated by the photoelectric effect, and the special theory of relativity . Although Einstein is probably best known for the last of these works, it was for his quantum explanation of the photoelectric effect that he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics. In 1915, Einstein extended his special theory of relativity to include certain cases of accelerated motion, resulting in the more general theory of relativity. Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879, the only son of Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein. Both sides of his family had long-

established roots in southern Germany, and, at the time of Einstein's birth, his father and uncle Jakob owned a small electrical equipment plant. When that business failed around 1880, Hermann Einstein moved his family to Munich to make a new beginning. A year after their arrival in Munich, Einstein's only sister, Maja, was born. Although his family was Jewish, Einstein was sent to a Catholic elementary school from 1884 to 1889. He was then enrolled at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich. During these years, Einstein began to develop some of his earliest interests in science and mathematics, but he gave little outward indication of any special aptitude in these fields. Indeed, he did not begin to talk until the age of three and, by the age of nine, was still not fluent in his native language. His parents were actually concerned that he might be somewhat mentally retarded. Leaves School Early and Moves to Italy In 1894, Hermann Einstein's business failed again, and the family moved once more, this time to Pavia, near Milan, Italy. Einstein was left behind in Munich to allow him to finish school. Such was not to be the case, however, since he left the gymnasium after only six more months. Einstein's biographer, Philipp Frank, explains that Einstein so thoroughly despised formal schooling that he devised a scheme by which he received a medical excuse from school on the basis of a potential nervous breakdown. He then convinced a mathematics teacher to certify that he was adequately prepared to begin his college studies without a high school diploma. Other biographies, however, say that Einstein was expelled from the gymnasium on the grounds that he was a disruptive influence at the school. In any case, Einstein then rejoined his family in Italy. One of his first acts upon reaching Pavia was to give up his German citizenship. He was so unhappy with his native land that he wanted to sever all formal connections with it; in addition, by renouncing his citizenship, he could later return to Germany without being arrested as a draft dodger. As a result, Einstein remained without an official citizenship until he became a Swiss citizen at the age of 21. For most of his first year in Italy, Einstein spent his time traveling, relaxing, and teaching himself calculus and higher mathematics. In 1895, he thought himself ready to take the entrance examination for the Eidgenssiche Technische Hochschule (the ETH, Swiss Federal Polytechnic School, or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), where he planned to major in electrical engineering. When he failed that

examination, Einstein enrolled at a Swiss cantonal high school in Aarau. He found the more democratic style of instruction at Aarau much more enjoyable than his experience in Munich and soon began to make rapid progress. He took the entrance examination for the ETH a second time in 1896, passed, and was admitted to the school. (In Einstein, however, Jeremy Bernstein writes that Einstein was admitted without examination on the basis of his diploma from Aarau.) The program at ETH had nearly as little appeal for Einstein as had his schooling in Munich, however. He apparently hated studying for examinations and was not especially interested in attending classes on a regular basis. He devoted much of this time to reading on his own, specializing in the works of Gustav Kirchhoff, Heinrich Hertz, James Clerk Maxwell, Ernst Mach, and other classical physicists. When Einstein graduated with a teaching degree in 1900, he was unable to find a regular teaching job. Instead, he supported himself as a tutor in a private school in Schaffhausen. In 1901, Einstein also published his first scientific paper, "Consequences of Capillary Phenomena." In February, 1902, Einstein moved to Bern and applied for a job with the Swiss Patent Office. He was given a probationary appointment to begin in June of that year and was promoted to the position of technical expert, third class, a few months later. The seven years Einstein spent at the Patent Office were the most productive years of his life. The demands of his work were relatively modest and he was able to devote a great deal of time to his own research. The promise of a steady income at the Patent Office also made it possible for Einstein to marry. Mileva Maric (also given as Maritsch) was a fellow student in physics at ETH, and Einstein had fallen in love with her even though his parents strongly objected to the match. Maric had originally come from Hungary and was of Serbian and Greek Orthodox heritage. The couple married on January 6, 1903, and later had two sons, Hans Albert and Edward. A previous child, Liserl, was born in 1902 at the home of Maric's parents in Hungary, but there is no further mention or trace of her after 1903 since she was given up for adoption. Explains Brownian Movement and the Photoelectric Effect In 1905, Einstein published a series of papers, any one of which would have assured his fame in history. One, "On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid Demanded by the Molecular-

Kinetic Theory of Heat," dealt with a phenomenon first observed by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown in 1827. Brown had reported that tiny particles, such as dust particles, move about with a rapid and random zigzag motion when suspended in a liquid. Einstein hypothesized that the visible motion of particles was caused by the random movement of molecules that make up the liquid. He derived a mathematical formula that predicted the distance traveled by particles and their relative speed. This formula was confirmed experimentally by the French physicist Jean Baptiste Perrin in 1908. Einstein's work on the Brownian movement is generally regarded as the first direct experimental evidence of the existence of molecules. A second paper, "On a Heuristic Viewpoint concerning the Production and Transformation of Light," dealt with another puzzle in physics, the photoelectric effect. First observed by Heinrich Hertz in 1888, the photoelectric effect involves the release of electrons from a metal that occurs when light is shined on the metal. The puzzling aspect of the photoelectric effect was that the number of electrons released is not a function of the light's intensity, but of the color (that is, the wavelength) of the light. To solve this problem, Einstein made use of a concept developed only a few years before, in 1900, by the German physicist Max Planck, the quantum hypothesis. Einstein assumed that light travels in tiny discrete bundles, or "quanta," of energy. The energy of any given light quantum (later renamed the photon), Einstein said, is a function of its wavelength. Thus, when light falls on a metal, electrons in the metal absorb specific quanta of energy, giving them enough energy to escape from the surface of the metal. But the number of electrons released will be determined not by the number of quanta (that is, the intensity) of the light, but by its energy (that is, its wavelength). Einstein's hypothesis was confirmed by several experiments and laid the foundation for the fields of quantitative photoelectric chemistry and quantum mechanics. As recognition for this work, Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics. Refines the Theory of Relativity A third 1905 paper by Einstein, almost certainly the one for which he became best known, details his special theory of relativity. In essence, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" discusses the relationship between

measurements made by observers in two separate systems moving at constant velocity with respect to each other. Einstein's work on relativity was by no means the first in the field. The French physicist Jules Henri Poincar , the Irish physicist George Francis FitzGerald, and the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz had already analyzed in some detail the problem attacked by Einstein in his 1905 paper. Each had developed mathematical formulas that described the effect of motion on various types of measurement. Indeed, the record of pre-Einsteinian thought on relativity is so extensive that one historian of science once wrote a two-volume work on the subject that devoted only a single sentence to Einstein's work. Still, there is little question that Einstein provided the most complete analysis of this subject. He began by making two assumptions. First, he said that the laws of physics are the same in all frames of reference. Second, he declared that the velocity of light is always the same, regardless of the conditions under which it is measured. Using only these two assumptions, Einstein proceeded to uncover an unexpectedly extensive description of the properties of bodies that are in uniform motion. For example, he showed that the length and mass of an object are dependent upon their movement relative to an observer. He derived a mathematical relationship between the length of an object and its velocity that had previously been suggested by both FitzGerald and Lorentz. Einstein's theory was revolutionary, for previously scientists had believed that basic quantities of measurement such as time, mass, and length were absolute and unchanging. Einstein's work established the oppositethat these measurements could change, depending on the relative motion of the observer. In addition to his masterpieces on the photoelectric effect, Brownian movement, and relativity, Einstein wrote two more papers in 1905. One, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on Its Energy Content?," dealt with an extension of his earlier work on relativity. He came to the conclusion in this paper that the energy and mass of a body are closely interrelated. Two years later he specifically stated that relationship in a formula, E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared), that is now familiar to both scientists and non-scientists alike. His final paper, the most modest of the five, was "A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions." It was this paper that Einstein submitted as his doctoral dissertation, for which the University of Zurich awarded him a Ph.D. in 1905. Fame did not come to Einstein immediately as a result of his five 1905 papers. Indeed, he submitted his paper on relativity to the University of

Bern in support of his application to become a privatdozent, or unsalaried instructor, but the paper and application were rejected. His work was too important to be long ignored, however, and a second application three years later was accepted. Einstein spent only a year at Bern, however, before taking a job as professor of physics at the University of Zurich in 1909. He then went on to the German University of Prague for a year and a half before returning to Zurich and a position at ETH in 1912. A year later Einstein was made director of scientific research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin, a post he held from 1914 to 1933. Debate Centers on the Role of Einstein's Wife in His Work In recent years, the role of Mileva Einstein-Maric in her husband's early work has been the subject of some controversy. The more traditional view among Einstein's biographers is that of A. P. French in his "Condensed Biography" in Einstein: A Centenary Volume. French argues that although "little is recorded about his [Einstein's] domestic life, it certainly did not inhibit his scientific activity." In perhaps the most substantial of all Einstein biographies, Philipp Frank writes that "For Einstein life with her was not always a source of peace and happiness. When he wanted to discuss with her his ideas, which came to him in great abundance, her response was so slight that he was often unable to decide whether or not she was interested." A quite different view of the relationship between Einstein and Maric is presented in a 1990 paper by Senta Troemel-Ploetz in Women's Studies International Forum. Based on a biography of Maric originally published in Yugoslavia, Troemel-Ploetz argues that Maric gave to her husband "her companionship, her diligence, her endurance, her mathematical genius, and her mathematical devotion." Indeed, Troemel-Ploetz builds a case that it was Maric who did a significant portion of the mathematical calculations involved in much of Einstein's early work. She begins by repeating a famous remark by Einstein himself to the effect that "My wife solves all my mathematical problems." In addition, Troemel-Ploetz cites many of Einstein's own letters of 1900 and 1901 (available in Collected Papers ) that allude to Maric's role in the development of "our papers," including one letter to Maric in which Einstein noted: "How happy and proud I will be when both of us together will have brought our work on relative motion to a successful end." The author also points out the somewhat unexpected fact that Einstein gave the money he received from the 1921 Nobel Prize to Maric, although the two had been divorced two years earlier. Nevertheless,

Einstein never publicly acknowledged any contributions by his wife to his work. Any mathematical efforts Mileva Einstein-Maric may have contributed to Einstein's work greatly decreased after the birth of their second son in 1910. Einstein was increasingly occupied with his career and his wife with managing their household; upon moving to Berlin in 1914, the couple grew even more distant. With the outbreak of World War I, Einstein's wife and two children returned to Zurich. The two were never reconciled; in 1919, they were formally divorced. Towards the end of the war, Einstein became very ill and was nursed back to health by his cousin Elsa. Not long after Einstein's divorce from Maric, he was married to Elsa, a widow. The two had no children of their own, although Elsa brought two daughters, Ilse and Margot, to the marriage. Announces the General Theory of Relativity The war years also marked the culmination of Einstein's attempt to extend his 1905 theory of relativity to a broader context, specifically to systems with non-zero acceleration. Under the general theory of relativity, motions no longer had to be uniform and relative velocities no longer constant. Einstein was able to write mathematical expressions that describe the relationships between measurements made in any two systems in motion relative to each other, even if the motion is accelerated in one or both. One of the fundamental features of the general theory is the concept of a space-time continuum in which space is curved. That concept means that a body affects the shape of the space that surrounds it so that a second body moving near the first body will travel in a curved path. Einstein's new theory was too radical to be immediately accepted, for not only were the mathematics behind it extremely complex, it replaced Newton's theory of gravitation that had been accepted for two centuries. So, Einstein offered three proofs for his theory that could be tested: first, that relativity would cause Mercury's perihelion, or point of orbit closest to the sun, to advance slightly more than was predicted by Newton's laws. Second, Einstein predicted that light from a star will be bent as it passes close to a massive body, such as the sun. Last, the physicist suggested that relativity would also affect light by changing its wavelength, a phenomenon known as the redshift effect. Observations of the planet Mercury bore out Einstein's hypothesis and calculations, but astronomers and physicists had yet to test the other two proofs.

Einstein had calculated that the amount of light bent by the sun would amount to 1.7 seconds of an arc, a small but detectable effect. In 1919, during an eclipse of the sun, English astronomer Arthur Eddington measured the deflection of starlight and found it to be 1.61 seconds of an arc, well within experimental error. The publication of this proof made Einstein an instant celebrity and made "relativity" a household word, although it was not until 1924 that Eddington proved the final hypothesis concerning redshift with a spectral analysis of the star Sirius B. This phenomenon, that light would be shifted to a longer wavelength in the presence of a strong gravitational field, became known as the "Einstein shift." Einstein's publication of his general theory in 1916, the Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity, essentially brought to a close the revolutionary period of his scientific career. In many ways, Einstein had begun to fall out of phase with the rapid changes taking place in physics during the 1920s. Even though Einstein's own work on the photoelectric effect helped set the stage for the development of quantum theory, he was never able to accept some of its concepts, particularly the uncertainty principle. In one of the most-quoted comments in the history of science, he claimed that quantum mechanics, which could only calculate the probabilities of physical events, could not be correct because "God does not play dice." Instead, Einstein devoted his efforts for the remaining years of his life to the search for a unified field theory, a single theory that would encompass all physical fields, particularly gravitation and electromagnetism. Becomes Involved in Political Issues Since the outbreak of World War I, Einstein had been opposed to war, and used his notoriety to lecture against it during the 1920s and 1930s. With the rise of National Socialism in Germany in the early 1930s, Einstein's position became difficult. Although he had renewed his German citizenship, he was suspect as both a Jew and a pacifist. In addition, his writings about relativity were in conflict with the absolutist teachings of German leader Adolf Hitler's party. Fortunately, by 1930, Einstein had become internationally famous and had traveled widely throughout the world. A number of institutions were eager to add his name to their faculties. In early 1933, Einstein made a decision. He was out of Germany when Hitler rose to power, and he decided not to return. Instead he accepted an

appointment at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey, where he spent the rest of his life. In addition to his continued work on unified field theory, Einstein was in demand as a speaker and wrote extensively on many topics, especially peace. The growing fascism and anti-Semitism of Hitler's regime, however, convinced him in 1939 to sign his name to a letter written by American physicist Leo Szilard informing President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the possibility of an atomic bomb. This letter led to the formation of the Manhattan Project for the construction of the world's first nuclear weapons. Although Einstein's work on relativity, particularly his formulation of the equation E=mc2, was essential to the development of the atomic bomb, Einstein himself did not participate in the project. He was considered a security risk, although he had renounced his German citizenship and become a U.S. citizen in 1940. After World War II and the bombing of Japan, Einstein became an ardent supporter of nuclear disarmament. He also lent his support to the efforts to establish a world government and to the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish state. In 1952, after the death of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, Einstein was invited to succeed him as president; he declined the offer. Among the many other honors given to Einstein were the Barnard Medal of Columbia University in 1920, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1925, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1926, the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society in 1929, and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935. Einstein died at his home in Princeton on April 18, 1955, after suffering an aortic aneurysm. At the time of his death, he was the world's most widely admired scientist and his name was synonymous with genius. Yet Einstein declined to become enamored of the admiration of others. He wrote in his book The World as I See It: "Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and respect from my fellows through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the one or two ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle."

CHRONOLOGY:

The Life and Times of Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

At the time of Einstein's birth:

Rutherford B. Hayes was president of the United States Zulus massacred British soldiers in Isandhlwana, Africa London's first telephone exchange was established Heinrich Ibsen wrote A Doll's House

At the time of Einstein's death: Martin Luther King Jr. led a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama Civil War erupted in Vietnam F. W. Muller developed the ion microscope Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was used for first time in U.S The times: 1830-1914: Industrial Revolution 1898: Spanish-American War 1899-1902: Boer War 1909-1915: Futurism period in art 1914-1918: World War I 1936-1939: Spanish Civil War 1939-1945: World War II 1950-1953: Korean War Einstein's contemporaries: Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) German writer Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Austrian nuclear physicist Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) U.S. novelist and social reformer Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) Russian autocrat Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) U.S. birth control pioneer Helen Keller (1890-1968) U.S. writer and feminist socialist Hans Geiger (1891-1945) German physicist Selected world events: 1891: First escalator was invented by Jesse W. Reno 1895: Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered x-rays 1902: First Animal Crackers were produced 1917: Czar Nicolas abdicated the Russian throne 1923: Hitler jailed for trying to overthrow German government 1935: Nuremburg Laws deprived German Jews of rights, citizenship 1942: J. Robert Oppenheimer became director of the Manhattan Project 1952: Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot was published

WORKS:

On the Method of Theoretical Physics, Oxford University Press, 1933 Essays on Science, Philosophical Library, 1934 The World as I See It, John Lane, 1935 The Evolution of Physics: The Growth of Ideas from Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta, Simon and Schuster, 1938 The Meaning of Relativity, Princeton University Press, 1950 Out of My Later Years, Philosophical Library, 1950 The Principle of Relativity, Dover, 1952 Ideas and Opinions, Crown, 1954 Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement, edited by R. Frth, Dover, 1956 Einstein on Peace, edited by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden, Schocken Books, 1960 Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Crown, 1961 The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Princeton University Press, Volume 1, 1987, Volume 2, 1989, Volume 3, 1993 Annalen der Physik, 1905 Annalen der Physik, 1905 Annalen der Physik, 1905 Annalen der Physik, 1905 A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions,, 1905

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Source Citation:
"Einstein, Albert (1879-1955)." DISCovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Gale. Putnam City High School. 10 Dec. 2009

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Overview of Albert Einstein

Table of Contents:Essay [Overview of the author's work and career.] Albert Einstein is generally considered the greatest scientist of the twentieth century. Creator of the theory of relativity and recipient of a Nobel Prize, the theoretical physicist is acclaimed for revolutionizing the world's understanding of space, time, and matter. Einstein is also revered for his longtime commitment to pacifism, but it is for his pioneering research on laws governing the physical universe that he will be most remembered. According to historians, Einstein's achievements in physics place him among the ranks of scientists Archimedes, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton. Born to Jewish parents in Ulm, Germany, Einstein grew up in Munich, where his father operated a small electrochemical plant. A rebellious student, he resisted the stringent discipline of German schools and instead indulged in independent readings of philosophy, math, and science. When his father's business failed in 1895, the family moved to Milan, leaving Einstein behind to finish his education. The student, though, soon quit school to join his family in Italy. Enjoying there a short period of unstructured learning, Einstein taught himself calculus and higher scientific principles. Despite his advanced intelligence, he failed an entrance examination to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Dedicating the following year to preparation, Einstein retook the examination and earned acceptance in 1896. At the Institute he studied physics and mathematics, graduating in 1901 and becoming a Swiss citizen. Einstein significantly nurtured his profound understanding of science while working at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern as a technical assistant.

Relishing the job's relatively undemanding work, he was able to concentrate on his own theoretical scientific investigations. Einstein described such subjects as capillarity, intermolecular forces, and applications of statistical thermodynamics in a number of papers, one of which was accepted in 1905 as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Zurich. Other papers produced that same year would distinguish him as a preeminent thinker among scientists of his day. One significant document of this time illustrates Einstein's theory concerning Brownian motion, the random movement of particles suspended in liquid. By observing liquid under a microscope, Einstein determined that the particle motion was caused by collisions with unseen molecules, thus verifying for the first time the existence of molecules. Another major paper published in 1905 described Einstein's revolutionary research into light, which he determined was dualistic in its ability to exist as either a wave or a particle. Theorizing that light energy travels in discrete packets of photons, or quanta, Einstein helped shape the modern quantum theory of light and furthered research on the nature of matter and the molecular process. While these discoveries significantly advanced the science of physics, they are considered minor when compared to Einstein's major proposal of 1905, his theory of special relativity. Discarding the existing concept that time and space are absolute, the theory proposes that time and space vary with circumstances and can only be measured relative to two systems or frames of reference. Mind-bending postulates of this discovery theorize that time slows down for a moving body, nothing can travel faster than light, and all objects become more massive as they seem to travel faster. Following the publication of his findings, Einstein received substantial academic attention. He worked as a professor of physics at universities in Zurich and Czechoslovakia before returning to Germany in 1914 to become a professor at the University of Berlin and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. Despite his opposition to the German cause during World War I at this timeadopting instead a stance of pacifism Einstein restored his German citizenship and was elected a member of the prestigious Prussian Academy of Sciences. This secure professional stature allowed the physicist to devote time and money toward scientific research. In 1915 Einstein produced significant discoveries that expanded his 1905 theory of special relativity. In what he termed the general theory of relativity, Einstein, upon observing the behavior of light as it reacts to

gravitational forces in the universe, was able to postulate that energy and mass interact in a four-dimensional continuum called space-time. Summed up in the now well-known equation "energy equals mass times the speed of light squared," this theory, according to John Maddox writing in theWashington Post Book World, "provided for the first time a way of calculating how the universe behaves." Additional related discoveries by Einstein include his theory of an expanding universe, in which the physicist reconciled seemingly conflicting notions of finite mass and infinite space. His findings were published in such books asThe Principle of Relativity, Sidelights on Relativity, and The Meaning of Relativity. Einstein's brilliant scientific findings earned him the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics, among other prestigious prizes. Although he had attained worldwide admiration, he came under increasing attack in Germany for his continued commitment to pacifism and for his scientific theories that conflicted with those of other prominent German scientists. Einstein nevertheless persisted in his independent studies of physics and continued to espouse pacifist causes, including supporting the peace efforts of the League of Nations and becoming a spokesperson for Zionist issues. Eventually, though, he was unable to reconcile his humanitarianism with the rising fascist ideals and militant nationalism permeating German culture; Einstein left his country, and, in so doing, avoided the 1933 rise to power of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Einstein settled permanently in Princeton, New Jersey, where he became a professor of theoretical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study. While he continued intense scientific investigations, he remained active in propagating pacifist ideals, producing such books as The Fight Against War and, with German psychologist Sigmund Freud, Why War? At the onset of World War II, however, Einstein realized the importance of thwarting German expansion and, reluctantly concluding that U.S. military superiority was essential, appealed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to step up nuclear fission research. The scientist, though, played no role in subsequent developments of the atomic bomb and was ultimately horrified by the United States's atomic bombing of Japan during the closing months of World War II. He consequently renewed his pacifist position, arduously campaigning for the abolition of war and controlled development of nuclear arms in order to ensure the survival of humanity. Following World War II, Einstein produced a number of books reflecting his firm commitment to world peace, including Essays in Humanism and Ideas and Opinions. While his later years seem to have been dominated by political activism, Einstein remained dedicated to furthering his

understanding of the universe through science. "Equations are more important to me," the scientist was quoted by Stephen W. Hawking in A Brief History of Time. "Politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." Einstein spent the final thirty years of his life in pursuit of what he called a grand unified theory of physics. Striving to develop a model of nature that would express the properties of matter and energy in a single formula, Einstein was ultimately unsuccessful. He died in 1955 at the age of seventy-six. Since his death, many of Einstein's writings, both personal and professional, have been published. Many of these are found in the fivevolume Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, published between 1987 and 1995. Among the collections of private letters published areLetters to Solovine, Elie Cartan-Albert Einstein: Letters on Absolute Parallelism, 1929-1932, and Albert Einstein/Mileva Maric-The Love Letters. The latter volume, published in 1992, contains fifty-four letters exchanged by Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Maric, between 1897 and 1903. All but eleven of the letters were written by Einstein. As Carol Anshaw explained in Voice Literary Supplement, the letters "stop just two years before Einstein's annus mirabilis, the year (1905) in which, at 26, he would introduce three startling concepts-light quanta; Brownian motion...; and the special theory of relativity, his revolution of the notions of space and time." Critics noted that these letters provide little insight into the genius behind Einstein's achievements; rather, the letters reveal a young man grappling with love, courtship, marriage, and quotidian concerns such as finding a job. AlthoughTimes Literary Supplement reviewer Michael Neve commented that "eleven short letters cannot allow for any quick unlocking of the secrets of Mileva Maric's personality," Robert Kanigel of the New York Times Book Review remarked that "it's plain from this correspondence that theirs was an intellectual bond as well as a physical and emotional one." When once asked what motivated his relentless quest for scientific truth, Einstein, as quoted by Ronald W. Clark in Einstein: The Life and Times, replied: "The important thing is not to stop questioning.... Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when [one] contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

Source Citation:

"Overview of Albert Einstein." DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Bronze. Gale. Putnam City High School. 10 Dec. 2009

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