By Tom Morrow
If you’ve been watching the weekly National Geographic miniseries on Albert Einstein (“Genius,” 9 and 11 p.m., Tuesdays on the Nat. Geo. cable channel), you’ve no doubt already come to the conclusion he was brilliant, a rascal, an adulterer, self-centered and would do anything to prove his ideas, which have proven to be from the mind of, indeed, a pure genius.
During his lifetime, Albert Einstein was among the most brilliant of minds on earth. He was a German theoretical physicist born March 14, 1879. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics).
His private life was tumultuous.Einstein and Marić Winteler married in January 1903. In May 1904, their first son, Hans Albert Einstein, was born in Bern, Switzerland. Their second son, Eduard, was born in Zürich in July 1910. In April 1914 they moved to Berlin. After a few months his wife returned to Zürich with their sons after learning Einstein’s chief romantic attraction was his first and second cousin Elsa Lowenthal. He and Maric divorced in February 1919, having lived apart for five years.
In letters revealed in 2015, Einstein wrote to an earlier love, Marie Winteler, about his marriage and his still-strong feelings for her. In 1910 he wrote, “I think of you in heartfelt love every spare minute and am so unhappy as only a man can be” while Maric was pregnant with their second child. Einstein spoke about a “misguided love” and a “missed life” regarding his love for Marie.
Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal in 1919, after having had a personal relationship with her since 1912.
Between 1895 and 1914 he lived in Switzerland where he received his academic diploma from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zürich in 1900. He later taught there at the same institute as a professor of theoretical physics between 1912 and 1914.
Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought Newtonian (Isaac Newton) mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led him to develop his special theory of relativity during his time at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern (1902-1909), Switzerland. He realized, however, the principle of relativity also could be extended to gravitational fields, and with his subsequent theory of gravitation
In 1916, Einstein published a paper on general relativity. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe.
Einstein’s work also is known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He is best known by the general public for his mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect,” a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory.
One simple explanation to the complex E = mc2 has been described thusly: If the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) were attained, time will stand still. Obviously, there’s far more to it, but the equation is a key used in today’s study of astronomical physics and space exploration
Einstein published four ground-breaking papers which were to bring him to the notice of the academic world, at the age of 26. He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany. He settled in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1940. Earlier, Elsa was diagnosed with heart and kidney problems; she died in December 1936.
On the eve of World War II, Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential development by Germany of “extremely powerful bombs of a new type” and recommending the U.S. begin similar research. This eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project – the development of the atomic bomb.
Einstein defending the Allied forces, but generally denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., until his death in 1955.
Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works. Einstein’s intellectual achievements and originality have made the word “Einstein” synonymous with “genius.
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