Albert Einstein
Overview
 
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...

 who developed the theory of general relativity
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...

, effecting a revolution in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics
Modern physics
The term modern physics refers to the post-Newtonian conception of physics. The term implies that classical descriptions of phenomena are lacking, and that an accurate, "modern", description of reality requires theories to incorporate elements of quantum mechanics or Einsteinian relativity, or both...

 and one of the most prolific intellects
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....

 in human history. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...

 "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect
Photoelectric effect
In the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength, such as visible or ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner may be referred to as photoelectrons...

".
Discussions
Timeline

1879    Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany.

1900    Einstein graduates from the Swiss Polytechnic University in Zurich, Switzerland.

1902    Einstein takes a job as a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office.

1905    Albert Einstein reveals his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).

1905    Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity.

1905    The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².

1905    Albert Einstein's paper, ''Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?'', is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula ''E'' = ''mc''².

1916    Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1919    Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total solar eclipse in Principe and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil.

1921    Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with the photoelectric effect.

Quotations

A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.

"My Future Plans" an essay written at age 17 for school exam (18 September 1896) The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Vol. 1 (1987) Doc. 22

I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.

Letter to Alfred Kneser (7 June 1918); Doc. 560 in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Vol. 8

I have also considered many scientific plans during my pushing you around in your pram!

Letter to his son Hans Albert Einstein|Hans Albert Einstein (June 1918)

Make a lot of walks to get healthy and don’t read that much but save yourself some until you’re grown up.

Letter to his son Eduard Einstein|Eduard Einstein (June 1918)

Dear mother! Today a joyful notice. Hendrik Lorentz|H. A. Lorentz has telegraphed me that the English expeditions have really proven the deflection of light at the sun.

Postcard to his mother Pauline Koch|Pauline Einstein (1919) File:Spinoza.jpg|144px|thumb|right|How much do I love Baruch Spinoza|that noble manMore than I could tell with words...

We may assume the existence of an aether; only we must give up ascribing a definite state of motion to it, i.e. we must by abstraction take from it the last mechanical characteristic which Lorentz had still left it.

On the irrelevance of the luminiferous aether hypothesis to physical measurements, in an address at the University of Leiden (May 5, 1920)

 
x
OK