Albert Einstein And His Theories :: essays research papers

Albert Einstein and His TheoriesEinstein, Albert (1879-1955), German-born American physicist and Nobellaureate, best known as the creator of the special and general theories ofrelativity and for his bold meditation concerning the particle nature of light.He is perhaps the most well-known scientist of the 20th century.Einstein was born in Ulm on March 14, 1879, and spent his youth inMunich, where his family owned a subaltern shop that manufactured electric machinery.He did non talk until the age of three, plainly even as a youth he showed a first-class curiosity about nature and an ability to understand difficultmathematical concepts. At the age of 12 he taught himself Euclidean geometry.Einstein hated the dim regimentation and unimaginative spirit of schoolin Munich. When repeated business failure led the family to leave Germany forMilan, Italy, Einstein, who was then 15 years old, use the opportunity to repossess from the school. He spent a year with his parents in Milan, and when itbecame clear that he would have to make his own way in the world, he finishedsecondary school in Arrau, Switzerland, and entered the Swiss NationalPolytechnic in Zrich. Einstein did not enjoy the methods of instruction there.He often cut classes and used the time to study physics on his own or to playhis beloved violin. He passed his examinations and graduated in 1900 by studyingthe notes of a classmate. His professors did not think highly of him and wouldnot recommend him for a university position.For two years Einstein worked as a tutor and substitute teacher. In 1902he secured a position as an examiner in the Swiss patent office in Bern. In 1903he married Mileva Mari, who had been his classmate at the polytechnic. They hadtwo sons but eventually divorced. Einstein later remarried.Early Scientific PublicationsIn 1905 Einstein received his doctorate from the University of Zrichfor a theoretical dissertation on the dimensions of molecules, and he alsopublished three theoreti cal papers of central importance to the development of20th-century physics. In the first of these papers, on Brownian motion, he made real predictions about the motion of particles that are randomlydistributed in a fluid. These predictions were later confirmed by experiment.The second paper, on the photoelectric effect, contained a revolutionaryhypothesis concerning the nature of light. Einstein not only proposed that undercertain circumstances light can be considered as consisting of particles, but healso hypothesized that the zip fastener carried by any light particle, called a photon,is proportional to the frequency of the radiation.