Albert Einstein

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Born March 14, 1879
Ulm, Württemberg, Germany
Died April 18, 1955
Princeton, New Jersey
Residence Germany, Italy, Switzerland, USA
Nationality German (1879-96, 1914-33)
Swiss (1901-55)
American (1940-55)
Field Physics
Institution Swiss Patent Office (Berne)
Univ. of Zürich
Charles Univ.
Kaiser Wilhelm Inst.
Univ. of Leiden
Inst. for Advanced Study
Alma Mater ETH Zürich
Known for General relativity, Special relativity
Brownian motion, Photoelectric effect
Notable Prizes Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
Copley Medal (1925)
Max Planck medal (1929)

Albert Einstein (German pronunciation (help·info)) (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely considered one of the greatest physicists of all time.[1][2] While best known for the theory of relativity (and specifically mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2), he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his 1905 (Annus Mirabilis) explanation of the photoelectric effect and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". In popular culture, the name "Einstein" has become synonymous with great intelligence and genius. Einstein was named Time magazine's "Man of the Century."

He was known for many scientific investigations, among which were: his special theory of relativity which stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field, his general theory of relativity which extended the principle of relativity to include gravitation, relativistic cosmology, capillary action, critical opalescence, classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory, leading to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules; atomic transition probabilities, the probabilistic interpretation of quantum theory, the quantum theory of a monatomic gas, the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light, the theory of radiation, including stimulated emission; the construction of a unified field theory, and the geometrization of physics.

Contents

* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Youth and college
o 1.2 Works and doctorate
+ 1.2.1 Annus Mirabilis Papers
o 1.3 Middle years
+ 1.3.1 General relativity
+ 1.3.2 Copenhagen interpretation
# 1.3.2.1 Determinism
# 1.3.2.2 Incompleteness and Realism
# 1.3.2.3 Summary
+ 1.3.3 Bose-Einstein statistics
+ 1.3.4 Einstein refrigerator
+ 1.3.5 World War II
+ 1.3.6 Unified field theory
o 1.4 Final years
* 2 Beliefs
o 2.1 Religious views
+ 2.1.1 Nature Paper
+ 2.1.2 Other Quotations on religion and God
o 2.2 Scientific philosophy
o 2.3 Political views
* 3 Citizenship
* 4 Popularity and cultural impact
o 4.1 Entertainment
o 4.2 Speculation and controversy
o 4.3 Personal relations
o 4.4 Licensing
o 4.5 Honors
* 5 Works by Einstein
* 6 See also
* 7 Notes
* 8 References
* 9 External links

Biography

Youth and college

Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, to a Jewish family, in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany. His father was Hermann Einstein, a salesman who later ran an electrochemical works, and his mother was Pauline née Koch. They were married in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt.

At his birth, Albert's mother was reputedly frightened that her infant's head was so large and oddly shaped. Though the size of his head appeared to be less remarkable as he grew older, it's evident from photographs of Einstein that his head was disproportionately large for his body throughout his life, a trait regarded as "benign macrocephaly" in large-headed individuals with no related disease or cognitive deficits. His parents also worried about his intellectual development as a child due to his initial language delay (see the Speculation and Controversy section below) and his lack of fluency until the age of nine, though he was one of the top students in his elementary school.

In 1880, shortly after Einstein's birth the family moved to Munich, where his father and his uncle founded a company manufacturing electrical equipment (Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie). This company provided the