Albert Einstein, Albert Einstein- the most prominent physicist of the 20th century, founder of the theory of relativity.
For discovering the law of the photoelectric effect to the world in 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (the idea of induced emission of atoms was later continued in the form of a laser).
He was the first to set forth the theory that gravity is nothing more than a distortion of space-time, which can explain many physical phenomena. Today's picture of the world largely rests on Einstein's laws. Einstein's personality has attracted enormous public attention since the publication of his special “theory of relativity” in 1905.
Biography
Physicist Albert Einstein of German, Swiss and American origin was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, a medieval town in the kingdom of Württemberg (now Baden-Württemberg in Germany), in the family of Hermann Einstein and Paulina Einstein, he grew up in Munich, there with his father and uncle there was a small electrochemical plant. He was a very quiet, absent-minded boy, with a penchant for mathematics, but could not tolerate the teaching methods at school, with its automatic cramming and rigid discipline.
IN early years, spent at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich, Albert himself began to study books on philosophy, mathematics and popular science literature. The idea of space made the greatest impression on him. When his father's affairs were poor in 1895, the family moved to Milan. However, Einstein remained in Munich, leaving the gymnasium without receiving a certificate, so he also joined his family.
I don't know what weapon the Third will be fought with World War, but in the Fourth they will use bows and arrows!
At one time, Einstein was struck by the atmosphere of freedom and culture that he was able to find in Italy. Despite his in-depth knowledge in the field of mathematics and physics, acquired through self-education and development, and far from his age independent thinking, Einstein never chose suitable profession. His father wanted him to become an engineer and be able to feed his family.
But Albert tried to give in entrance exams to Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, for admission to which you did not need a special certificate of completion of high school.
He failed the exams, not having the necessary preparation, but the director of the school could not help but notice his talent and therefore sent him to Aarau, twenty miles west of Zurich, so that he could graduate from the gymnasium there. One year later, in the summer of 1896, Einstein successfully passed the entrance exams to the Federal Institute of Technology. In Aarau, Einstein flourished greatly, enjoying the close contacts with teachers and the liberal atmosphere that reigned in the gymnasium. He said goodbye to his past life with great desire.
Scientific life
In Zurich, Einstein began to study physics on his own, relying on to a greater extent on self-study material. At first he wanted to teach physics, but was unable to find a job and later became an expert at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, where he served for about seven years. It was a very happy and productive time for him. His early work was devoted to the forces of interaction between molecules and applications statistical thermodynamics. One of them - “A New Determination of the Size of Molecules” - was accepted as a doctoral dissertation by the University of Zurich, and in 1905 Albert Einstein was awarded the title of Doctor of Science.
Another paper proposed an explanation for the photoelectric effect - which is emitted by electrons on a metal surface when exposed to electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet range.
Third, great job Einstein, which was published in 1905– was called the special theory of relativity, which managed to completely change the entire understanding of physics.
After he published most For his scientific articles in 1905, Einstein received full academic recognition.
In 1914, Albert was invited to Germany to the position of professor at the University of Berlin and at the same time director Physical Institute Kaiser Wilhelm (now the Max Planck Institute).
After hard work, Einstein succeeded in 1915 in establishing the general theory of relativity, which went far beyond the special theory in which motions should be uniform and relative velocities should be stable. The general theory of relativity covered all possible movements, including accelerated ones (that is, occurring at variable speeds).
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity was able to replace Newton's theory of the gravitational attraction of bodies in the space-time segment. According to this theory, bodies are not able to attract each other, they change and determine the bodies passing through it. Einstein's colleague, physicist J. A. Wheeler, noted that "space tells matter itself how it needs to move, and matter tells space how it needs to curve."
In 1922, Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Peace Prize in Physics “for services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”
“Einstein’s law has become the basis of photochemistry, just as Faraday’s law has become the foundation of electrochemistry,” said Svante Arrhenius from the Royal Swedish Academy at the presentation of the new laureate.
Since he said in advance that he was speaking in Japan, Albert was unable to attend the award ceremony and gave his Nobel lecture one year after he was awarded the award.
When Hitler came to power in 1933, Einstein was outside Germany, never returning there. Einstein turned out to be a professor of physics at the new Institute basic research, which was created in Princeton (New Jersey). In 1940, Einstein was awarded American citizenship. During the Second World War, Einstein revised his pacifist views; in 1939, under the guidance of some emigrant physicists, Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which he wrote that an atomic bomb was most likely being developed in Germany . He pointed out the need for American government support for uranium fission research.
After the Second World War, which shocked the world with the use of nuclear bomb against Japan, Einstein, shortly before his death, signed the Bertrand Russell Treaty indicating and warning the entire planet about the danger of using a nuclear bomb.
The most famous of all scientists of the 20th century. and one of the greatest scientists of all times, Albert Einstein enriched the entire theory and practice of physics with his unique play of imagination. From childhood, he perceived the earth as a harmonious, knowable whole, “standing before us like a great and eternal riddle.” By his own admission, he believed in “Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the harmony of all things.”
Among the many honors that were constantly offered to him, one of the most honorable was the offer to become President of Israel, which followed in 1952. Einstein refused. In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, he was awarded many other awards, including the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London (1925) and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute (1935). Einstein was honorary doctor of many universities and a member of leading academies of sciences.
Of course, Albert Einstein is one of the greatest and the smartest people throughout history, which gave our world many discoveries. An interesting fact is that when scientists studied his brain, it was discovered that those areas that are responsible for speech and language in anyone are reduced, and the areas responsible for computing abilities, on the contrary, are larger than those of the average person.
Other studies showed that he had significantly more neural cells and improved communication between them. This is what is responsible for mental activity person.
A successful person is always an amazing artist of his imagination. Imagination is much more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited, but imagination is unlimited.
Albert Einstein (German Albert Einstein; March 14, 1879, Ulm, Württemberg, Germany - April 18, 1955, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) - theoretical physicist, one of the founders of modern theoretical physics, winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics , public figure and humanist. Lived in Germany (1879-1893, 1914-1933), Switzerland (1893-1914) and the USA (1933-1955). Honorary doctor of about 20 leading universities in the world, member of many Academies of Sciences, including foreign honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1926).
Albert Einstein 1920
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the southern German city of Ulm, into a poor Jewish family. His parents married three years before their son was born, on August 8, 1876. Father, Hermann Einstein (1847-1902), was at that time a co-owner of a small enterprise producing feather stuffing for mattresses and featherbeds.
Herman Einstein
Mother, Pauline Einstein (née Koch, 1858-1920), came from the family of wealthy corn merchant Julius Derzbacher (changed his surname to Koch in 1842) and Yetta Bernheimer.
Paulina Einstein
In the summer of 1880, the family moved to Munich, where Hermann Einstein, together with his brother Jacob, founded a small company selling electrical equipment.
Albert Einstein at the age of three. 1882
Albert's younger sister Maria (Maya, 1881-1951) was born in Munich.
Albert Einstein with his sister
Albert Einstein received his primary education at a local Catholic school. For about 12 years he experienced a state of deep religiosity, but soon reading popular science books made him a freethinker and forever gave rise to a skeptical attitude towards authorities. Of his childhood experiences, Einstein later recalled as the most powerful: the compass, Euclid's Principia, and (around 1889) Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. In addition, on the initiative of his mother, he began playing the violin at the age of six. Einstein's passion for music continued throughout his life. Already in the USA in Princeton, in 1934 Albert Einstein gave a charity concert, where he performed Mozart’s works on the violin for the benefit of scientists and cultural figures who emigrated from Nazi Germany.
Albert Einstein is 14 years old, 1893
At the gymnasium, he was not among the first students (with the exception of mathematics and Latin). The ingrained system of rote learning of material by students (which, as he believed, harms the very spirit of learning and creative thinking), as well as the authoritarian attitude of teachers towards students, caused Albert Einstein’s distaste, so he often entered into disputes with his teachers.
In 1894, the Einsteins moved from Munich to the Italian city of Pavia, near Milan, where the brothers Hermann and Jacob moved their company. Albert himself remained with relatives in Munich for some time to complete all six classes of the gymnasium. Having never received his matriculation certificate, he joined his family in Pavia in 1895.
In the fall of 1895, Albert Einstein arrived in Switzerland to take the entrance exams to the Higher Technical School (Polytechnic) in Zurich and become a physics teacher. Having shown himself brilliantly in the mathematics exam, he at the same time failed the exams in botany and French, which did not allow him to enter the Zurich Polytechnic. However, the school director advised young man enroll in graduating class schools in Aarau (Switzerland) to obtain a certificate and repeat admission.
At the cantonal school of Aarau, Albert Einstein devoted his free time to studying electromagnetic theory Maxwell. In September 1896, he successfully passed all final exams at school, with the exception of the French language exam, and received a certificate
A matriculation certificate issued to Albert Einstein in 1896, at the age of 17, after attending the cantonal high school in Aarau, Switzerland.
In October 1896 he was admitted to the Polytechnic Faculty of Education. Here he became friends with a fellow student, mathematician Marcel Grossman (1878-1936), and also met a Serbian medical student, Mileva Maric (4 years older than him), who later became his wife. That same year, Einstein renounced his German citizenship. To obtain Swiss citizenship, he was required to pay 1,000 Swiss francs, but the poor financial situation of the family allowed him to do this only after 5 years. This year, his father’s enterprise finally went bankrupt; Einstein’s parents moved to Milan, where Herman Einstein, already without his brother, opened a company selling electrical equipment.
The teaching style and methodology at the Polytechnic differed significantly from the ossified and authoritarian Prussian school, so further education was easier for the young man. He had first-class teachers, including the wonderful geometer Hermann Minkowski (Einstein often missed his lectures, which he later sincerely regretted) and the analyst Adolf Hurwitz.
In 1900, Einstein graduated from the Polytechnic with a diploma in teaching mathematics and physics. He passed the exams successfully, but not brilliantly. Many professors highly appreciated the abilities of the student Einstein, but no one wanted to help him continue scientific career. Einstein himself later recalled: I was bullied by my professors, who did not like me because of my independence and closed my path to science.
Although the following year, 1901, Einstein received Swiss citizenship, but until the spring of 1902 he could not find permanent place work - even as a school teacher. Due to lack of income, he literally starved, not eating for several days in a row. This became the cause of liver disease, from which the scientist suffered for the rest of his life. Despite the hardships that plagued him in 1900-1902, Einstein found time to further study physics.
Albert Einstein with friends. 1903
In 1901, the Berlin Annals of Physics published his first article, “Consequences of the theory of capillarity” (Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen), devoted to the analysis of the forces of attraction between atoms of liquids based on the theory of capillarity. Former classmate Marcel Grossman helped overcome difficulties, recommending Einstein for the position of expert III class to the Federal Office for the Patent of Inventions (Bern) with a salary of 3,500 francs per year (during his student years he lived on 100 francs per month).
Einstein worked at the Patent Office from July 1902 to October 1909, working primarily expert assessment applications for inventions. In 1903 he became a permanent employee of the Bureau. The nature of the work allowed Einstein to devote his free time to research in the field of theoretical physics.
Albert Einstein is 25 years old. 1904
In October 1902, Einstein received news from Italy that his father was ill; Hermann Einstein died a few days after his son's arrival.
On January 6, 1903, Einstein married twenty-seven-year-old Mileva Maric. They had three children.
Mileva Maric
The year 1905 went down in the history of physics as the “Year of Miracles” (Latin: Annus Mirabilis). This year, the Annals of Physics, Germany's leading physics journal, published three outstanding papers by Einstein, ushering in a new scientific revolution.
Many prominent physicists remained faithful classical mechanics and concepts of the ether, among them Lorenz, J. J. Thomson, Lenard, Lodge, Nernst, Wien. At the same time, some of them (for example, Lorentz himself) did not reject the results of the special theory of relativity, but interpreted them in the spirit of Lorentz’s theory, preferring to look at the space-time concept of Einstein-Minkowski as a purely mathematical technique.
In 1907, Einstein published the quantum theory of heat capacity (an old theory at low temperatures strongly diverged from experiment. At the same time, Smoluchowski, whose article was published several months later than Einstein, came to similar conclusions. Einstein presented his work on statistical mechanics, entitled “A New Determination of the Size of Molecules,” to the Polytechnic as a dissertation and in the same 1905 received the title of Doctor of Philosophy (equivalent to a candidate of natural sciences) in physics. The following year, Einstein developed his theory in a new paper, “Toward a Theory of Brownian Motion.” Soon (1908), Perrin's measurements completely confirmed the adequacy of Einstein's model, which became the first experimental proof of the molecular kinetic theory, which was subject to active attacks from positivists in those years.
The work of 1905 brought Einstein, although not immediately, worldwide fame. On April 30, 1905, he sent the text of his doctoral dissertation on the topic “A New Determination of the Size of Molecules” to the University of Zurich. On January 15, 1906, he received his doctorate in physics. He corresponds and meets with the most famous physicists in the world, and Planck in Berlin includes the theory of relativity in his curriculum. In letters he is called “Mr. Professor,” but for another four years (until October 1909) Einstein continued to serve in the Patent Office; in 1906 he was promoted (he became an expert of class II) and his salary was increased. In October 1908, Einstein was invited to read an elective course at the University of Bern, however, without any payment. In 1909, he attended a congress of naturalists in Salzburg, where the elite of German physics gathered, and met Planck for the first time; over 3 years of correspondence, they quickly became close friends and maintained this friendship until the end of their lives. After the congress, Einstein finally received a paid position as an extraordinary professor at the University of Zurich (December 1909), where he taught geometry old friend Marcel Grossman. The pay was small, especially for a family with two children, and in 1911 Einstein without hesitation accepted an invitation to head the department of physics at the German University in Prague. During this period, Einstein continued to publish a series of papers on thermodynamics, relativity and quantum theory. In Prague, he intensifies research on the theory of gravity, setting the goal of creating a relativistic theory of gravity and fulfilling the long-standing dream of physicists - to exclude Newtonian long-range action from this area.
In 1911, Einstein participated in the First Solvay Congress (Brussels), dedicated to quantum physics. There his only meeting took place with Poincaré, who continued to reject the theory of relativity, although he personally had great respect for Einstein
Photos of participants of the first Solvay Congress in 1911 Brussels, Belgium.
The Solvay Congresses are a series of congresses that began on the visionary initiative of Ernest Solvay and continued under the leadership of the founder International Institute physics, was unique opportunity for physicists to discuss fundamental problems that have been the focus of their attention at various periods.
Seated (from left to right): Walter Nernst, Marcel Brillouin, Ernest Solvay, Hendrik Lorenz, Emil Warburg, Wilhelm Wien, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Marie Curie, Henri Poincaré.
Standing (from left to right): Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederic Lindmann, Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Hasenorl, Georg Hostlet, Eduard Herzen, James Jeans, Ernest Rutherford, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Albert Einstein , Paul Langevin.
A year later, Einstein returned to Zurich, where he became a professor at his native Polytechnic and lectured there on physics. In 1913, he attended the Congress of Naturalists in Vienna, visiting 75-year-old Ernst Mach there; once criticized by Mach Newtonian mechanics made a huge impression on Einstein and ideologically prepared him for innovations in the theory of relativity.
Second Solvay Congress (1913)
Seated (from left to right): Walter Nernst, Ernest Rutherford, Wilhelm Wien, Joseph John Thomson, Emil Warburg, Hendrik Lorenz, Marcel Brillouin, William Barlow, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Robert Williams Wood, Louis Georg Gouy, Pierre Weiss.
Standing (from left to right): Friedrich Hasenorl, Jules Emile Verschafelt, James Hopwood Jeans, William Henry Bragg, Max von Laue, Heinrich Rubens, Marie Curie, Robert Goldschmidt, Arnold Sommerfeld, Eduard Herzen, Albert Einstein, Frederick Lindmann, Maurice de Broglie, William Pope, Edward Grüneisen, Martin Knudsen, Georg Hostlet, Paul Langevin.
At the end of 1913, on the recommendation of Planck and Nernst, Einstein received an invitation to head the physics center being created in Berlin. Research institute; He is also enrolled as a professor at the University of Berlin. In addition to being close to his friend Planck, this position had the advantage that it did not oblige him to be distracted by teaching. He accepted the invitation, and in pre-war 1914, the convinced pacifist Einstein arrived in Berlin. Mileva and her children remained in Zurich; their family broke up. In February 1919 they officially divorced
Albert Einstein with Fritz Haber, 1914
In 1915, in a conversation with the Dutch physicist Vander de Haas, Einstein proposed a scheme and calculation of the experiment, which, after successful implementation, was called the “Einstein-de Haas effect.” The result of the experiment inspired Niels Bohr, who two years earlier had created a planetary model of the atom, since it confirmed that circular electron currents exist inside atoms, and electrons in their orbits do not emit. It was these provisions that Bohr based his model on. In addition, it was discovered that the total magnetic moment was twice as large as expected; the reason for this became clear when spin, the electron's own angular momentum, was discovered.
In June 1919, Einstein married his maternal cousin Elsa Leventhal (née Einstein, 1876–1936) and adopted her two children. At the end of the year, his seriously ill mother Paulina moved in with them; she died in February 1920. Judging by the letters, Einstein took her death seriously.
Albert and Elsa Einstein meet with reporters
After the end of the war, Einstein continued to work in the previous areas of physics, and also worked on new areas - relativistic cosmology and the “Unified Field Theory”, which, according to his plan, was supposed to combine gravity, electromagnetism and (preferably) the theory of the microworld. The first paper on cosmology, "Cosmological Considerations on the General Theory of Relativity", appeared in 1917. After this, Einstein experienced a mysterious “invasion of disease” - except serious problems with the liver, a stomach ulcer was discovered, then jaundice and general weakness. He did not get out of bed for several months, but continued to work actively. Only in 1920 did the diseases recede.
Photo of Albert Einstein in his office at the University of Berlin in 1920.
Einstein in the house of Leiden University physics professor Paul Ehrenfest 1920.
Einstein visiting Amsterdam with experimental physicist Peter Zeman (left) and his friend Paul Ehrenfest. (Circa 1920)
In May 1920, Einstein, along with other members of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, was sworn in as a civil servant and legally considered a German citizen. However, he retained Swiss citizenship until the end of his life. In the 1920s, receiving invitations from everywhere, he traveled extensively throughout Europe (using a Swiss passport),
Albert Einstein in Barcelona, 1923
He lectured for scientists, students and the inquisitive public.
Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921
Einstein speaking in Gothenburg, Sweden.1923
He also visited the United States, where a special welcoming resolution of Congress was adopted in honor of the eminent guest (1921).
Albert Einstein and observatory staff near the 40-inch refractor of the Yerkes Observatory. 1921
Tour of Marconi Station in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Famous scientists are present in the photograph, including Tesla, 1921
At the end of 1922, he visited India, where he had long contact with Tagore, and China. Einstein met winter in Japan.
Albert Einstein's visit to Tohoku University. From left to right: Kotaro Honda, Albert Einstein, Keichi Aichi, Shirouta Kusakabe.1922
In 1923 he spoke in Jerusalem, where it was planned to open the Hebrew University soon (1925).
Einstein has been nominated several times Nobel Prize in physics, but members of the Nobel Committee for a long time did not dare to award the prize to the author of such revolutionary theories. In the end, a diplomatic solution was found: the prize for 1921 was awarded to Einstein (at the very end of 1922) for the theory of the photoelectric effect, that is, for the most indisputable and well-tested experimental work; however, the text of the decision contained a neutral addition: “... and for other work in the field of theoretical physics.”
On November 10, 1922, the Secretary of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Christopher Aurvillius, wrote to Einstein:
Albert Einstein in Berlin. 1922
As I have already informed you by telegram, the Royal Academy of Sciences, at its meeting yesterday, decided to award you the Prize in Physics for the past year (1921), thereby recognizing your work in theoretical physics, in particular the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, without taking into account your work on the theory of relativity and the theory of gravity, which will be appreciated after their confirmation in the future.
Naturally, Einstein dedicated his traditional Nobel speech (1923) to the theory of relativity.
Albert Einstein. Official photograph of the 1921 Nobel Prize winner in physics.
In 1924, a young Indian physicist, Shatyendranath Bose, wrote to Einstein in a brief letter asking for help in publishing a paper in which he put forward the assumption that formed the basis of modern quantum statistics. Bose proposed to consider light as a gas of photons. Einstein concluded that the same statistics could be used for atoms and molecules in general. In 1925, Einstein published Bose's paper in German translation, and then own article, in which he outlined a generalized Bose model applicable to systems of identical particles with integer spin, called bosons. Based on this quantum statistics, now known as Bose-Einstein statistics, both physicists theoretically substantiated the existence of the fifth in the mid-1920s state of aggregation substance - Bose - Einstein condensate.
Portrait of Albert Einstein. 1925
In 1927, at the Fifth Solvay Congress, Einstein decisively opposed the “Copenhagen interpretation” of Max Born and Niels Bohr, which interpreted mathematical model quantum mechanics as essentially probabilistic. Einstein said that supporters of this interpretation “make a virtue out of necessity,” and the probabilistic nature only indicates that our knowledge of the physical essence of microprocesses is incomplete. He sarcastically remarked: “God does not play dice” (German: Der Herrgott würfelt nicht), to which Niels Bohr objected: “Einstein, don’t tell God what to do.” Einstein accepted the “Copenhagen interpretation” only as a temporary, unfinished version, which should be replaced as physics progressed complete theory microworld. He himself made attempts to create a deterministic nonlinear theory, an approximate consequence of which would be quantum mechanics.
1927 Solvay Congress on Quantum Mechanics.
1st row (from left to right): Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Curie, Henrik Lorenz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles Guy, Charles Wilson, Owen Richardson.
2nd row (from left to right): Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Bragg, Hendrik Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr.
Standing (from left to right): Auguste Picard, Emile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Eduard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules Emile Verschafelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Fowler, Léon Brillouin.
In 1928, Einstein conducted last way Lorenza, with whom he became very friendly in his last years. It was Lorentz who nominated Einstein for the Nobel Prize in 1920 and supported it the following year.
Albert Einstein and Hendrik Anton Lorenz in Leiden in 1921.
In 1929, the world noisily celebrated Einstein's 50th birthday. The hero of the day did not take part in the celebrations and hid in his villa near Potsdam, where he enthusiastically grew roses. Here he received friends - scientists, Tagore, Emmanuel Lasker, Charlie Chaplin and others.
Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore
Albert Einstein received an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne University in Paris in November 1929.
Albert Einstein plays the violin during a benefit concert at the New Synagogue in Berlin, January 29, 1930.
Portrait of Albert Einstein taken by clairvoyant Madame Silvia in Berlin in 1930. For a long time it hung in the visitors' area of her office.
Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein at the 1930 Solvay Congress in Brussels
Einstein opens a radio show. Berlin, August 1930
Einstein on a radio show Berlin, August 1930
In 1931, Einstein visited the USA again.
Einstein's departure to America. December 1930
Albert Einstein in 1931 was amazed by the enthusiasm of journalists in the United States who wanted him to explain his theory of relativity. Einstein said that this would take at least three days
In Pasadena he was very warmly received by Michelson, who had four months to live.
Albert Einstein, Albert Abraham Michelson, Robert Andrews Millikan.1931
Returning to Berlin in the summer, Einstein, in a speech to the Physical Society, paid tribute to the memory of the remarkable experimenter who laid the first stone of the foundation of the theory of relativity.
Until about 1926, Einstein worked in many areas of physics, from cosmological models to research into the causes of river meanders. Further, with rare exceptions, he focuses his efforts on quantum problems and the Unified Field Theory.
Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. December 1925
As the economic crisis in Weimar Germany grew, political instability intensified, contributing to the strengthening of radical nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments. Insults and threats against Einstein became more frequent; one of the leaflets even offered a large reward (50,000 marks) for his head. After the Nazis came to power, all of Einstein’s works were either attributed to “Aryan” physicists or declared a distortion of true science. Lenard, who headed the German Physics group, proclaimed: “The most important example dangerous influence Einstein represents Jewish circles for the study of nature with his theories and mathematical chatter, composed of old information and arbitrary additions... We must understand that it is unworthy for a German to be the spiritual follower of a Jew.” An uncompromising racial cleansing unfolded in all scientific circles in Germany.
In 1933, Einstein had to leave Germany, to which he was very attached, forever.
Albert Einstein and his wife after exile in Belgium, where they lived at the Villa Savoyarde in Haan. 1933
Villa Savoyarde in Haan (Belgium), where Einstein lived briefly after his expulsion from Germany. 1933
Einstein gives an interview to journalists at the Villa Savoyarde in Belgium. 1933
Albert Einstein with his wife in 1933 at a villa in Savoyarde.
He and his family traveled to the United States of America with visitor visas.
Albert Einstein in Santa Barbara, 1933
Soon, in protest against the crimes of Nazism, he renounced German citizenship and membership in the Prussian and Bavarian academies of sciences.
After moving to the United States, Albert Einstein received a position as professor of physics at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey). The eldest son, Hans-Albert (1904-1973), soon followed him (1938); he subsequently became a recognized expert in hydraulics and a professor at the University of California (1947). Younger son Einstein, Eduard (1910-1965), around 1930, fell ill with a severe form of schizophrenia and ended his days in a Zurich psychiatric hospital. Einstein's cousin, Lina, died in Auschwitz; another sister, Bertha Dreyfuss, died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Albert Einstein with his daughter and son. November 1930
In the USA, Einstein instantly became one of the most famous and respected people in the country, gaining a reputation as the most brilliant scientist in history, as well as the personification of the image of the “absent-minded professor” and the intellectual capabilities of man in general. The following January, 1934, he was invited to the White House to President Franklin Roosevelt, had a cordial conversation with him and even spent the night there. Every day Einstein received hundreds of letters of various contents, which (even children’s ones) he tried to answer. Being a world-renowned natural scientist, he remained an approachable, modest, undemanding and affable person.
Portrait of Albert Einstein. 1934
In December 1936, Elsa died of heart disease; three months earlier, Marcel Grossmann died in Zurich. Einstein's loneliness was brightened up by his sister Maya,
Sister Maya
stepdaughter Margot (Elsa's daughter from her first marriage), secretary Ellen Dukas and cat Tiger. To the surprise of Americans, Einstein never acquired a car or a television. Maya was partially paralyzed after a stroke in 1946, and every evening Einstein read books to his beloved sister.
In August 1939, Einstein signed a letter written on the initiative of Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard addressed to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The letter alerted the President to the possibility that Nazi Germany will acquire an atomic bomb.
Albert Einstein receives a certificate of American citizenship from Judge Philip Forman. October 1, 1940
After months of deliberation, Roosevelt decided to take this threat seriously and launched his own atomic weapons project. Einstein himself did not take part in this work. He later regretted the letter he signed, realizing that for the new US leader Harry Truman nuclear power serves as a tool of intimidation. Subsequently, he criticized the development of nuclear weapons, their use in Japan and tests at Bikini Atoll (1954), and his involvement in accelerating work on the American nuclear program thought greatest tragedy own life. His aphorisms became widely known: “We won the war, but not the peace”; “If the third world war will be fought with atomic bombs, then the fourth will be fought with stones and sticks.”
Celebrating the 70th anniversary. 1949
IN post-war years Einstein became one of the founders of the Pugwash Peace Scientists' Movement. Although its first conference was held after Einstein’s death (1957), the initiative to create such a movement was expressed in the widely known Russell-Einstein Manifesto (written jointly with Bertrand Russell), which also warned about the dangers of creating and using hydrogen bomb. As part of this movement, Einstein, who was its chairman, together with Albert Schweitzer, Bertrand Russell, Frederic Joliot-Curie and others worldwide famous figures science fought against the arms race and the creation of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Einstein also called for, in the name of preventing new war, to the creation world government, for which he received sharp criticism in the Soviet press (1947)
Niels Bohr, James Frank, Albert Einstein, October 3, 1954
Until the end of his life, Einstein continued to work on the study of cosmological problems, but he directed his main efforts towards creating unified theory fields.
In 1955, Einstein's health deteriorated sharply. He wrote a will and told his friends: “I have fulfilled my task on earth.” His last work was an unfinished appeal calling for the prevention of nuclear war.
His stepdaughter Margot recalled her last meeting with Einstein in the hospital: He spoke with deep calm, even with slight humor about doctors, and awaited his death as an upcoming “natural phenomenon.” As fearless as he was during life, he met death so calmly and peacefully. Without any sentimentality and without regrets, he left this world.
Albert Einstein in the last years of his life (probably 1950)
The scientist who revolutionized mankind's understanding of the Universe, Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 at 1 hour 25 minutes, at the age of 77 in Princeton from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Before his death, he spoke a few words in German, but the American nurse could not reproduce them later.
On April 19, 1955, the funeral of the great scientist took place without wide publicity, attended by only 12 of his closest friends. His body was burned at Ewing Cemetery and his ashes were scattered to the wind.
Newspaper headlines with obituaries. 1955
Einstein was passionate about music, especially the works of the 18th century. Over the years, his favorite composers have included Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Haydn and Schubert, and in recent years, Brahms. He played the violin well, which he never parted with.
Albert Einstein plays the violin. 1921
Violin Concerto by Albert Einstein. 1941
Served on the advisory board of the First Humanist Society of New York with Julian Huxley, Thomas Mann, and John Dewey.
Thomas Mann with Albert Einstein at Princeton, 1938
He strongly condemned the “case of Oppenheimer,” who in 1953 was accused of “communist sympathies” and removed from secret work.
Physicist Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein talk at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. 1940s
Alarmed rapid growth anti-Semitism in Germany, Einstein supported the call of the Zionist movement to create a Jewish national home in Palestine and spoke on this topic with a number of articles and speeches. The idea of opening the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1925) received especially active support on his part.
Upon arrival in New York, the leaders of the World Zionist Organization met with Albert Einstein. In the photograph are Mossinson, Einstein, Chaim Weizmann, Dr. Ussishkin.1921
He explained his position:
Until recently I lived in Switzerland, and while I was there I was not aware of my Jewishness...
When I arrived in Germany, I first learned that I was a Jew, and more non-Jews than Jews helped me make this discovery... Then I realized that only a joint cause, which would be dear to all Jews in the world, could lead to the revival of the people... If If we didn't have to live among intolerant, soulless and cruel people, I would be the first to reject nationalism in favor of universal humanity.
Dr. Albert Einstein and Meyer Weisgal arrived at the Anglo-American Committee on Palestine. 1946
Albert Einstein testifies on behalf of the UN about the illegal restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine.
In 1947, Einstein welcomed the creation of the State of Israel, hoping for a binational Arab-Jewish solution to the Palestinian problem. He wrote to Paul Ehrenfest in 1921: “Zionism represents a truly new Jewish ideal and can restore the joy of existence to the Jewish people.” After the Holocaust, he noted: “Zionism did not protect German Jewry from destruction. But for those who survived, Zionism gave internal forces endure disaster with dignity without losing healthy self-esteem.” In 1952, Einstein even received an offer to become the second president of Israel, which the scientist politely refused, citing a lack of experience in such work. All your letters and manuscripts (and even copyright on commercial use his image and name) Einstein bequeathed to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Albert Einstein with Ben Gurion, 1951
In addition
Albert Einstein on the Portland, December 1931
Albert Einstein arrives at Newark Airport in April 1939.
Albert Einstein lectures at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. 1940s
Albert Einstein 1947
Albert Einstein gave the world the most revolutionary scientific ideas of the 20th century, including famous theory relativity. Einstein is an internationally recognized genius of science.
Albert Einstein was born in the city of Ulm in southern Germany on March 14, 1879. A year after his birth, the Einstein family moved to Munich. Einstein's father, together with his brother, owned a small company selling electrical equipment, but in 1894 the brothers decided to move their company to the small Italian town of Pavia near Milan, hoping that things would improve there. Albert's father and mother moved to Italy, but he himself continued to study for some time in one of the Munich gymnasiums, remaining in the care of relatives.
Nothing in Albert Einstein's childhood predicted that he would become a scientific genius. He did not speak until he was 3 years old, and during his studies he hated strict school discipline. The only thing that gave him pleasure was playing the violin. In 1895, Albert moved to Italy to live with his father and mother.
Einstein completed his education in the Swiss city of Zurich. In 1896, he entered the Higher Technical School - the most prestigious higher education institution in Switzerland. Albert developed his own system training and. Instead of attending lectures, he independently studied the works of great physicists. Because of this, the professors disliked him. In 1900, Einstein received a diploma as a teacher of physics and mathematics, but for a long time he could not find a permanent job - at least school teacher. Finally, in 1902, he was accepted into the Berne Federal Office for Patenting Inventions as a third-class expert.
Wonderful year
Working in the patent office did not excite Einstein too much, but it gave him the opportunity to improve his financial situation and marry his ex.
Fellow student Mileva Maric. In addition, Albert had enough free time to engage in his own scientific developments. Nothing, however, foreshadowed what happened in 1905. Then Einstein submitted several articles to the leading German scientific journal “Annals of Physics”, each of which became a turning point in the history of science. One of them was devoted to a phenomenon that later became known as the photoelectric effect. In it, Einstein outlined his own ideas about the phenomenon when exposure to bright light knocks electrons out of atoms, resulting in the production of a small electric charge. Then it remained a mystery why this effect depends only on the color of the light exposure, and not on its intensity. This seemed surprising, since larger waves were expected to have a greater effect.
Particles of light
Young Einstein solved the problem by going against the scientific understanding developed throughout the 19th century. It was believed that light travels in the form of waves.
And Einstein realized that the photoelectric effect can be easily explained if we consider light in the form of particles, since particles of the same size always cause the same effect. The particles of light were later called photons, and they are indeed tiny particles of energy. In 1900, German physicist Max Planck discovered that heat is not emitted in a uniform flow, but comes in portions, which he called quanta. But it was Einstein who realized that In a similar way all electromagnetic radiation propagates, and that pieces of energy are particles, like electrons and photons. In other words, portions of energy and tiny particles are one and the same.
The second paper, written by Einstein in 1905, was devoted to measuring the size of molecules. The third explained in detail Brownian motion - the random movement in water of tiny particles, such as dust grains, that can be seen under a microscope.
Einstein hypothesized that the movement of dust grains was caused by collisions with moving atoms, and presented mathematical calculations that confirmed this. This became an important proof of the reality of atoms and molecules, which was then still disputed by some scientists. But main job Albert Einstein discovered the special theory of relativity in 1905.
Special theory of relativity
In 1887, the famous experiment of Albert Michelson and Edward Morley showed that light always moves with same speed, regardless of the method of measurement, This disappointed scientists because it destroyed one of the theories regarding light waves.
But Einstein had his own opinion on this matter.
Usually speed is measured in relation to something. For example, if you need to determine the speed at which you are running, then you measure it relative to the ground under your feet, which seems stationary, but rotates with the Earth. But light travels at the same speed regardless of anything else. And there is only one speed.
Albert Einstein reasoned this way. Speed is the distance traveled in a certain period of time. If the speed of light is constant, then time and distance must change. This meant that time and distance are relative concepts and may not be constant. This is called Einstein's special theory of relativity.
World of relativity
The significance of this statement by Einstein cannot be overestimated. It upended all previous ideas about space and time, distance and speed and forced scientists to look at them in a completely new way. How important this turned out to be became especially clear when astronomy, which was equipped with radio telescopes, further expanded scientists’ ideas about space.
True, to the events Everyday life Einstein's theory of special relativity is practically inapplicable, but amazing things must happen to objects moving at the speed of light.
Einstein showed, based on Newton's laws of motion, that for objects moving at or near the speed of light, time appears to expand - it stretches out and moves more slowly, and distances shorten. And the objects themselves become heavier. Einstein called this fact relativity.
Miracle Equation
Pushing out special theory relativity. Einstein continued to ponder the problem. He has already shown that as soon as the speed of an object approaches the speed of light, the mass of that object increases. To “gain” this additional mass without reducing speed would require additional energy. Any other change would mean a change in the speed of light, which, according to the evidence presented by Einstein, cannot happen.
Thus. Einstein realized that mass and energy are interchangeable. And he derived a simple but now famous equation that defines these relationships: E = ms2. It shows that E (energy) is equal to mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared. It was an outstanding idea, easily explaining, for example, how radiation works - simply by converting mass into energy. It proved the possibility of generating large amounts of energy from a small amount of radioactive material. Increasing mass with the speed of light implied that the mass of the tiniest atom contained enormous potential energy. This theory was used 40 years later when the first atomic bomb was created.
Einstein's outstanding theories did not attract much attention at first. scientific world, and he continued to work at the Patent and Invention Office. Gradually, however, his fame grew, and in 1909 Einstein was offered the position of assistant professor at the Polytechnic University of Zurich. By that time he was already working on the general theory of relativity.
General theory
When developing the general theory of relativity, Einstein figuratively imagined a beam of light piercing a falling elevator. The beam reaches the far wall of the elevator a little higher than the front because the elevator descends as the beam crosses it, and the light beam bends upward slightly. Based on the special theory of relativity. Einstein suggested that in fact the beam does not bend, but only appears so because space and time are distorted by the force that pulls the elevator down.
Thanks to this assumption, Einstein built the great scientific theory. When Newton derived the law of gravity, he could only show a mathematical reality - that objects of a certain mass accelerate at a certain, predictable speed. But he didn't show how it works. Einstein managed to do this clearly. The scientist showed that gravity is just a distortion in space and time. Mass creates an effect known as gravity by distorting space and time around it.
And what more mass, the greater the distortion. This means that the planets revolve around the Sun not because they are affected by some mysterious force, but simply because space and time around the Sun are distorted, and the planets revolve around it like a ball inside a funnel.
Einstein's theories prove that travel in space is impossible at speeds greater than the speed of light. But science fiction writers suggest that future spaceships will be able to “break” the speed of light record by stretching time and space using imaginary “hyperspace” engines.
Einstein was right
When Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 1915, many did not really understand his evidence. There were those who considered them an absurd invention. Was there a way to prove Einstein's claims in practice? He himself proposed this way to prove his theory.
Astronomers were supposed to detect a slight shift in the true position of a distant star as it passed in front of it relative to the observer of our Sun. Such a shift would show that the light rays from the star were bent due to the distortion of space and time near the Sun. Therefore, in May 1919, special expeditions went to Guinea and Brazil to observe a solar eclipse - this is the only time when stars can be seen close to the Sun. The English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington, who led these expeditions, was a staunch supporter of Einstein’s theories, which were so difficult to understand. One day the scientist Ludwig Silverstein told him: “You must be one of those three people on Earth who understands general relativity,” referring to Einstein, himself and Eddington. To which Eddington replied: “I wonder who the third is?”
During the eclipse, astronomers were actually able to take pictures of the star, which showed how it had apparently moved relative to the Sun - almost as Einstein had predicted. The results of the observations were published all over the world, and Einstein soon became the most famous of the scientists. Even his appearance- unruly tousled hair and drooping mustache.
Einstein himself was very surprised by such attention to his person, but it did not stop him from continuing his work.
Einstein wanted to find a way to combine the nature of electromagnetism and gravity into one big theory, which could explain how absolutely everything works - from stellar galaxies to the smallest subatomic particles. Until the end of his life, the scientist continued to work on such a “unified theory.”
Ironically, Einstein was at the origins of the beginning of quantum theory, which had the same scientific significance, like the theory of relativity. It assumes that at the subatomic level one must operate in terms of portions or quanta of energy. It also proves that particles and waves are interchangeable: every particle can behave like a wave, and every wave can behave like a particle. In addition, quantum theory shows that researchers cannot determine exactly where a particle is, but only predict its possible location. Therefore, sooner or later the particle may end up in an unexpected place.
God doesn't play dice
And although it was thanks to Einstein’s ideas regarding the relationship between light and atoms that quantum theory developed, he himself did not accept it. It wasn't just because, as it turned out. The universe was not subject to one set of laws, but two: one for the subatomic world, and another for everything else. Albert Einstein rejected the very unstable nature of quantum theory as a whole.
Einstein's theories of relativity may seem extraordinary, but they were always based on the assumption that the universe behaves in a certain way. He simply could not accept the idea that the Universe was governed by probability. “God does not play dice” - this famous phrase of Einstein is often quoted. What he actually said was, “It seems difficult to look into God's cards. But the fact that he plays dice and uses “telepathic” methods... I don’t believe for a minute.” Einstein's attempts to refute quantum theory increasingly seemed erroneous to scientists, but in fact they led to the main evidence that... quantum effects are real.
In the 1920s Einstein began to show increasing interest in political problems. In 1933 he moved to the USA, where he began working at Princeton. There he met prominent thinkers such as the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud and the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore. Einstein was horrified that his ideas were used in the development of nuclear weapons, and after World War II he became an ardent supporter of the idea of forming a world government that could end conflicts between states. Albert Einstein died in April 1955 at the age of 76.
Albert Einstein. Biography and discoveries of Albert Einstein
To understand Einstein's theory of general relativity, imagine a rubber "sheet". A heavy object such as the Sun (A) makes a dent in it. This dent figuratively shows how gravity distorts space and time. Then gravity acts in the following way. Any slow-moving body passing nearby (such as the Earth or another planet) rolls into the depression created by (A) and moves along a path (B) within it. Bodies moving faster will follow a more open path around A, while a ray of light (C) passing at a great distance and moving much faster will bend quite slightly.
Einstein Albert (1879-1955)
Outstanding theoretical physicist, one of the creators modern physics, developed the special and general theories of relativity.
Was born in German city Ulm, in the poor Jewish family of Hermann and Paulina Einstein. Attended Catholic primary school in Munich (later, he, who believed in the existence of God, did not distinguish between Christian and Jewish doctrines). The boy grew up withdrawn and uncommunicative and did not demonstrate any significant success at school. At the age of six, at the insistence of his mother, he began playing the violin. Einstein's passion for music continued throughout his life.
After the final ruin of the father of the family in 1894, the Einsteins moved from Munich to Pavia near Milan (Italy). In the fall of 1895, Albert Einstein arrived in Switzerland to take the entrance exams to the Higher Technical School (the so-called Polytechnic) in Zurich. Having shown himself brilliantly in the mathematics exam, he at the same time failed the exams in botany and French. In October 1896, on the second attempt, he was admitted to the Faculty of Education. Here he met the Hungarian-born Serbian student Mileva Maric, who later became his wife.
In 1900, Einstein graduated from the Polytechnic with a diploma in mathematics and physics. In 1901 he received Swiss citizenship, but until the spring of 1902 he could not find a permanent place of work. Despite the hardships that plagued him in 1900-1902, Einstein found time to further study physics. In 1901, the Berlin Annals of Physics published his first article, “Consequences of the Theory of Capillarity,” devoted to the analysis of the forces of attraction between atoms of liquids based on the theory of capillarity. From July 1902 to October 1909 the great physicist worked in the patent office, focusing primarily on patenting inventions related to electromagnetism. The nature of the work allowed Einstein to devote his free time to research in the field of theoretical physics.
On January 6, 1903, Einstein married 27-year-old Mileva Maric. The influence of Mileva Maric, a certified mathematician, on the work of her husband remains to this day. unresolved issue. However, their marriage was more of an intellectual union, and Albert Einstein himself called his wife “a creature equal to me, as strong and independent as I am.” Back in 1904, the Annals of Physics received from Albert Einstein a number of articles devoted to the study of issues of static mechanics and molecular physics. They were published in 1905, ushering in the so-called “Year of Wonders,” when four papers by Einstein revolutionized theoretical physics, giving rise to the theory of relativity. In 1909-1913. he is a professor at the Zurich Polytechnic, 1914-1933. - Professor at the University of Berlin and Director of the Institute of Physics.
In 1915, he completed the creation of the general theory of relativity or the modern relativistic theory of gravity, and established the connection between space, time and matter. He derived an equation describing the gravitational field. In 1921, Einstein became a Nobel Prize laureate, as well as a member of many academies of sciences, in particular a foreign member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
After the Nazis came to power in 1933, the physicist was persecuted and left Germany forever, moving to the United States.
After moving, he received a position as professor of physics at the newly created Institute for Basic Research in Princeton, New Jersey. At Princeton, he continued to work on the study of problems of cosmology and the creation of a unified field theory designed to unify the theory of gravity and electromagnetism. In the USA, Einstein instantly became one of the most famous and respected people in the country, acquired a reputation as the most brilliant scientist in the history of mankind, as well as the personification of the image of the “absent-minded professor” and the intellectual capabilities of man in general.
Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 in Princeton from an aortic aneurysm. His ashes were burned at the Ewing-Symteri Crematorium and the ashes were scattered to the wind.
In 1950, in a letter to M. Berkowitz, Einstein wrote: “In relation to God, I am an agnostic. I am convinced that for a clear understanding of the primary importance of moral principles in the improvement and ennobling of life, the concept of a legislator, especially a legislator working on the principle of reward and punishment, is not required.”
In recent years
Once again Einstein described his religious views, responding to those who attributed his belief in the Judeo-Christian God:
What you read about my religious beliefs is, of course, a lie. A lie that is systematically repeated. I do not believe in God as a person and I have never hidden this, but expressed it very clearly. If there is something in me that can be called religious, then it is undoubtedly an unlimited admiration for the structure of the universe to the extent that science reveals it.
In 1954, a year and a half before his death, Einstein, in a letter to the German philosopher Eric Gutkind, described his attitude towards religion as follows:
“The word “God” is to me only a manifestation and product of human weaknesses, and the Bible is a collection of venerable, but still primitive legends, which, nevertheless, are rather childish. No interpretation, even the most sophisticated, can change this (for me).”
Original text (English)
Einstein was a great scientist.
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Nobel Prize in Physics (1921) |
Einstein, Albert(Einstein, Albert; 1879, Ulm, Germany, - 1955, Princeton, USA) - theoretical physicist, one of the founders of modern physics, creator of the theory of relativity, one of the creators of quantum theory and statistical physics.
early years
Born in the town of Ulm in the state of Württemberg into a non-religious Jewish family. His father, Hermann Einstein, was engaged in trade, then opened a small electrochemical plant, which he ran with with varying success. Mother's name was Polina Kokh. There was a younger sister, Maria.
Since childhood I have been interested natural phenomena; At the age of 12, I read a book on geometry and became interested in mathematics for the rest of my life. At the same time, he became interested in religion, but in those days religion was considered incompatible with the scientific worldview, and Einstein’s religiosity disappeared. IN German school Albert didn't like it, and the teachers didn't like him. His mentor in mathematics and philosophy was a family friend, medical student Max Talmud.
His father moved production to Munich, and the family moved there. In 1894, having failed in Munich, the elder Einstein moved to Milan to work with a relative. Albert stayed at the boarding school until he graduated from school. At the age of 16, he ran away from there to his parents. He applied for admission to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich. Since he did not have a high school diploma, he had to take very tough exams. He failed French, chemistry and biology, but passed mathematics and physics so well that he was allowed to enter on the condition that he first finish school.
He entered a special private school in the Swiss town of Arrau. At the same time, he renounced his German citizenship in order to avoid being registered for military service in Germany.
In 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School, graduating in 1900. At the university he became friends with Marcel Grossmann and met his first wife Mileva Maric, who studied physics there. The only one of the four graduates of 1900 in his specialty, he did not get a job at the Polytechnic (Professor Werber, who had a grudge against him, interfered). He took Swiss citizenship and was engaged in tutoring, but had no funds. His father went bankrupt.
In 1902, on the recommendation of his father, Marcel Grossmann, he entered the service as a technical expert at the patent office (Bern), since no university would hire him. He continued to study theoretical physics in his free time. In 1903, he married Mileva Maric (his father, before his death, agreed to his marriage to a Christian). They had two sons.
First discoveries in physics
The second article - “On one heuristic point of view concerning the emergence and transformation of light” - treats light as a flow of quanta (photons) with corpuscular and wave properties, and introduces the concept of a photon as a formation that has the characteristics of a particle and a field. He founded the photon theory of light (photoelectric effect), for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1921.
The third article - “On the electrodynamics of moving media” - contained the foundations of the special theory of relativity. Einstein introduced new concepts of space, time and motion into physics, discarding Newton's concept of absolute space and absolute time and the “theory of the world ether.” Space and time acquired the status of a single reality (space-time), associated with the movement of physical bodies and fields.
At the same time, classical mechanics was not rejected, but was included in the new theory as its limiting case. The theory followed the conclusion: all physical laws must be the same in systems moving relative to each other rectilinearly and uniformly. Physical quantities, previously considered absolute (mass, length, time interval), in fact turned out to be relative - dependent on relative speed movements of the object and the observer. At the same time, the speed of light turned out to be constant, independent of the speed of movement of other objects (which was already known from the Michelson-Morley experiment of 1881 and did not fit into the ideas classical physics Newton).
Also in 1905, in the article “Does the inertia of a body depend on the energy content in it,” Einstein first introduced into physics the formula for the relationship between mass (m) and energy (E), and in 1906 he wrote it down in the form E=mc², where (c) represents the speed of light. It underlies the relativistic principle of energy conservation, all nuclear energy.
The theory of relativity had predecessors - fragments of it are contained in the works of Henri Poincaré and Hendrik Lorentz, but Einstein was the first to put together and systematize scientific ideas about it. The theory of relativity was ignored for several years scientific community. The first to understand it was Max Planck, who began to help Einstein and organized invitations for him to scientific conferences and teaching positions.
Transition to professional scientific activity
In 1906, Einstein defended his doctoral dissertation, summarizing his work on Brownian motion. In 1907 he created the quantum theory of heat capacity. Since 1908, Einstein became a privatdozent at the University of Bern, in 1909 - extra full professor University of Zurich, in 1911 - full professor German University in Prague, in 1912 - professor at the Zurich Polytechnic (where he had previously studied).
In 1914, despite the machinations of anti-Semites, at the invitation of Max Planck he was approved as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, professor at the University of Berlin, and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. In 1916, Einstein predicted the phenomenon of induced (stimulated) emission of atoms, which lies at the basis of quantum electronics. Einstein's theory of stimulated, ordered (coherent) radiation led to the discovery of lasers.
In 1917, Einstein completed the creation general relativity, a concept that justifies the extension of the principle of relativity to systems moving with acceleration and curvilinearly relative to each other. For the first time in science, Einstein's theory substantiated the connection between the geometry of space-time and the distribution of mass in the Universe. New theory based on Newton's theory of gravity. His prediction of the deflection of starlight by the Sun's gravitational field was confirmed by a British team of scientists at the time solar eclipse in 1919.
Modern physics has experimentally substantiated the special theory of relativity. On its basis, for example, particle accelerators are created. The general theory of relativity also received a fundamental justification. Her hypothesis about the deflection of light under the influence of the Sun's gravitational force was confirmed back in 1919 by a group of English astronomers. For the discovery of the laws of the photoelectric effect and works on theoretical physics, Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921. In 1924-25 Einstein made major contributions to the development of Bose quantum statistics, now called Bose-Einstein statistics.
Personal problems
Due to constant travel and financial problems family life Einstein has gone bad. In 1919, he divorced his wife (according to the divorce agreement, he ceded to her, in particular, the rights to the Nobel Prize if it was ever received). At the same time, he began dating his cousin Elsa Löwenthal, whom he later married.
In 1915, when Einstein gave a series of lectures in Göttingen, there were unfinished parts in the theory of relativity that required mathematical refinement. Listened to lectures David Gilbert did this work and published his results before Einstein. The two scientists clashed for some time over scientific priority, but then became friends.
Departure for the USA
In the 1920-30s. he was famous, especially abroad. He traveled a lot around the world, contacting colleagues and giving lectures at various universities, and was also engaged in social and political activities, helping socialists, pacifists and Zionists.
In 1930, his eldest son Edward fell ill with schizophrenia and was hospitalized for the rest of his life.