The Life of a Scientific Revolutionary
Albert Einstein is one of the most famous scientists in history, known for developing the theory of relativity and revolutionising physics in the early 20th century. Einstein was born in 1879 in Ulm, Germany to Jewish parents. He struggled in school as a child and left at age 15, clashing with authority and resenting the school's regimented teaching style.
However, Einstein was brilliant in maths and science and developed a passion for learning how the universe worked, and thus continued to pursue his education independently.
In 1897, Einstein enrolled at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, Switzerland. While there, he met his future wife Mileva Maric, a fellow physics student. Einstein graduated in 1900 and became a teacher and Swiss citizen. In 1903, Einstein married Maric and they had three children. However, their relationship was troubled and they eventually divorced.
After struggling to find work in academia, Einstein got a job in 1902 at the Swiss patent office in Bern. In 1905, while working as a patent clerk, 26-year-old Einstein published four groundbreaking papers that fundamentally changed physics. One paper introduced his special theory of relativity, which revealed that time is not absolute as Isaac Newton had believed. Einstein showed that time and space are linked together in a fourth dimension called spacetime. Clocks run slower for objects moving close to the speed of light, following relativity. His famous equation E=mc2 emerged from the theory of relativity, demonstrating the equivalence of mass and energy.
Einstein's papers shocked the physics community and made him an overnight celebrity. He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for explaining the photoelectric effect, one of his 1905 papers. The photoelectric effect showed light could act as discrete particles as well as waves. Einstein continued his brilliant work at universities in Switzerland, Germany and the United States. In 1915, he published his general theory of relativity, which provided a better explanation for gravity than Newton's laws. General relativity predicted that light rays would be bent by a gravitational field, a phenomenon confirmed during a 1919 solar eclipse. This discovery made Einstein internationally famous.
As Einstein's fame grew, his eccentric personality and unruly hair made him an iconic figure in popular culture. He became known as the archetypal “genius” scientist. Einstein was often absent-minded and preferred informal dress. He played the violin for enjoyment and had a self-deprecating sense of humour.
However, Einstein spoke passionately about morality, politics and social issues. He advocated for a world government following World War Two and Zionism, a movement to establish a Jewish homeland. Einstein renounced his German citizenship in 1933 after the Nazis took power and immigrated to the United States, where he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
During the 1930s, Einstein's theories came under attack in Nazi Germany as "Jewish physics". His books were burned and bounties were put on his head. Einstein was a pacifist but wrote a famous letter urging the United States to pursue the development of an atomic bomb before Germany. But he later regretted this stance. After the war, Einstein campaigned against nuclear proliferation and for civil rights. He continued working on his unified field theory, gave speeches around the world, and wrote essays promoting democracy and human rights.
Einstein spent his later years trying to develop a unified field theory that would integrate gravity with electromagnetism. He hoped to create a single theory unifying all the fundamental forces of physics. Einstein searched for ways to expand general relativity into a unified theory.
Unfortunately, he never succeeded, leaving the problem to future generations of physicists. Einstein died in 1955 at age 76 at a Princeton, New Jersey hospital. His brain was removed and studied without his permission, but scientists found nothing unusual.
Einstein's theories from over a century ago still form the basis of modern physics. His work improved understanding of space, time, gravity, energy and matter. Einstein showed that seemingly absolute concepts were fluid and interconnected. His nonconformist thinking transformed science and how we view reality.
While Einstein made some of the most profound discoveries in physics, he also became the most famous scientist in the world and a household name synonymous with extraordinary genius. In 1999, Time magazine named Einstein the Person of the Century for his massive impact on science and culture. Einstein's story illustrates how even improbable breakthroughs are possible with imagination and determination.
View our other Albert Einstein related artifacts that are available to buy here.
