Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
German-American Scientist
The Theory of Relativity - die Relativitätstheorie
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It’s All Relative
“Raffiniert ist der Herrgott, aber
boshaft ist er nicht.”
“God is subtle but he is not malicious.”
- Albert Einstein
Das Einstein Jahr 2005 > Einstein Bio > Books and Links
Introduction
The German-American scientist and Nobel Prize winner (1921) Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg on March 14, 1879. He spent his early formative years in Munich. He and his family later lived in Italy and Switzerland. Einstein published his famous "Special Theory of Relativity" in 1905.
Chronology
Here are some key events in the life of Albert Einstein:
- 1879 March 14 - Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany (Württemberg) to Hermann and Pauline Einstein. His mother is musically inclined and Albert began violin lessons when he was six.
- 1879 End of April - Only six weeks after Albert's birth, the Einstein family moves to Munich, where his father sets up a small factory for manufacturing electrical products.
- 1881 Maja Einstein is born. Albert's sister will also get a Ph.D. in Switzerland, but in romance languages.
- 1895 Hermann's business fails and the family moves to Milan, Italy.
- 1896 Albert enters the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, but is not an eager student.
- 1900 Graduation from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute with a degree in teaching physics and mathematics. Renounces his German citizenship and becomes stateless. (Becomes a Swiss citizen in 1921.)
- 1902-1909 Employed at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Fathers a daughter (Liserl) out of wedlock with Mileva Maric, who was a fellow student at the Polytechnic Institute. Liserl is later given up for adoption.
- 1903 Jan. 6 - Marries Mileva Maric in Zurich. They later have two sons.
- 1905 Publishes his doctoral dissertation (including his Relativitätstheorie) and gets his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich.
- 1909 Professorship at the University of Zurich.
- 1910 Post at the German university in Prague (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
- 1912 Returns to Switzerland to teach at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich.
- 1914 Moves to Berlin where he becomes a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik. Einstein remains in Berlin until 1933, but continues to hold Swiss citizenship.
- 1914 August - With the outbreak of the First World War the pacifist Einstein refuses to support Germany in its war efforts. He is vilified as a traitor and a defeatist by certain elements in Germany. His wife and two sons go to Switzerland to live.
- 1919 Feb. 14 - Einstein's divorce from Mileva becomes final. He marries his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal, that same year.
- 1919 British eclipse observations confirm Einstein's theoretical predictions about light and gravity. Einstein's fame grows even more.
- 1922 Receives the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics "for the photoelectric law and his work in the domain of theoretical physics." He gives the cash award to his wife. (She may have helped him write some of his theoretical works.)
- 1933 Einstein is in Californa when Hitler comes to power. He decides to stay in the U.S.
- 1933 Einstein accepts a position at the Institute for Advanced Studies located in Princeton, New Jersey. He will remain in Princeton for the rest of his life.
- 1936 Einstein's wife Elsa dies.
- 1939 Hitler invades Poland and starts the Second World War. Einstein, a former pacifist, sends a letter (composed by fellow scientist Leo Szilard) to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging the U.S. to develop an atomic bomb before Germany. It, along with several other letters, helps persuade the president to establish the top secret Manhattan Project. (Ironically, Einstein was considered a security risk and did not take part in the project.)
- 1940 Einstein becomes a U.S. citizen.
- 1952 Israel offers Einstein the presidency of the young nation, but he refuses the honor.
- 1955 April 18 - Einstein dies in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 76.
- 1955 The 99th element is discovered shortly after Einstein's death and is dubbed "einsteinium."
NEXT > Einstein Books and Links
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MORE > Albert Einstein profile from About's Physics Guide
Das Einstein Jahr 2005 > Einstein Bio > Books and Links
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