Brie mattson biography of albert einstein

The appointment came two years after Einstein imagined his most significant thought experiment. Picturing a man falling off a roof, Einstein realised he would not feel his own weight. InEinstein announced his general theory of relativity, the culmination of an eight-year obsession with gravity. With its astonishing implications about the nature of time and space, it displaced Newtonian mechanics and shook the physics world, suggesting that space and time were one and the same and that gravity was not a force as Newton described it but the effect of objects bending space-time.

Watch Brian Cox demonstrate general relativity. In the British physicist Arthur Eddington went to a small African island to observe the total eclipse of the Sun. Einstein had predicted that gravity should bend light. The eclipse of provided the perfect opportunity. As the negatives were measured it became clear. Light was bent. Einstein was right.

Our view of the Universe was changed forever. Just as important were the political implications. In the charged environment of a world returning from war, a British confirmation of a German pacifist Jew's theory had a powerful resonance. His distinctive appearance and surprising demeanour saw him capture the attention of the press pack.

To Americans, he came across not as an aloof intellectual with strange ideas about the nature of reality but as a warm, likeable and humble character, who often smiled and had a talent for providing journalists with quotable lines. The feeling was mutual; in an essay about his impressions of the country he wrote "The American is friendly, self-confident, optimistic, and without envy".

Brie mattson biography of albert einstein: The main scientific activities

In Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the photoelectric effect. This was largely because his better known work on relativity had remained controversial with some influential figures, including ophthalmologist Allvar Gullstrand, who served on the Nobel committee. But he did continue to make substantial contributions to physics.

I wanted to learn what I wanted to know, but they wanted me to learn for the exam. At the age of 12, Einstein picked up a book on geometry and read it cover to cover.

Brie mattson biography of albert einstein: By the s, under their

He became fascinated by maths and taught himself — becoming acquainted with the great scientific discoveries of the age. Eventually, he was asked to leave by the authorities because his indifference was setting a bad example to other students. He applied for admission to the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His first attempt was a failure because he failed exams in botany, zoology and languages.

However, he passed the next year and in became a Swiss citizen. At college, he met a fellow student Mileva Maric, and after a long friendship, they married in ; they had two sons before divorcing several years later. In Einstein renounced his German citizenship to avoid military conscription. For five years he was stateless, before successfully applying for Swiss citizenship in After graduating from Zurich college, he attempted to gain a teaching post but none was forthcoming; instead, he gained a job in the Swiss Patent Office.

While working at the Patent Office, Einstein continued his own scientific discoveries and began radical experiments to consider the nature of light and space. In addition to working on his PhD, Einstein also worked feverishly on other papers.

Brie mattson biography of albert einstein: Three new AMS blogs

Inhe published four pivotal scientific works, which would revolutionise modern physics. He took Austrian-Hungary citizenship to accept the job. Inhe returned to Germany and was appointed a director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. From this Quantum Theory, other inventors were able to develop devices such as television and movies.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in This theory was written in a simple style with no footnotes or academic references. The core of his theory of relativity is that:. Thus there is no fixed absolute standard of comparison for judging the motion of the earth or plants. It was revolutionary because previously people had thought time and distance are absolutes.

But, Einstein proved this not to be true. He also said that if electrons travelled at close to the speed of light, their weight would increase. Working from a basis of special relativity. Einstein sought to express all physical laws using equations based on mathematical equations. While working at the patent office, Einstein did some of the most creative work of his life, producing no fewer than four groundbreaking articles in alone.

In the first paper, he applied the quantum theory developed by German physicist Max Planck to light in order to explain the phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect, by which a material will emit electrically charged particles when hit by light. To do this, Einstein introduced his special theory of relativity, which held that the laws of physics are the same even for objects moving in different inertial frames i.

A fourth paper concerned the fundamental relationship between mass and energy, concepts viewed previously as completely separate. Einstein continued working at the patent office untilwhen he finally found a full-time academic post at the University of Zurich. Inhe arrived at the University of Berlin, where he was made director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics.

InEinstein published the general theory of relativity, which he considered his masterwork. This theory found that gravity, as well as motion, can affect time and space.

Brie mattson biography of albert einstein: Editorial Director: Stewart K.

Intwo expeditions sent to perform experiments during a solar eclipse found that light rays from distant stars were deflected or bent by the gravity of the sun in just the way Einstein had predicted. Inhe won the Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, as his work on relativity remained controversial at the time. Two focused on the photoelectric effect and Brownian motion.

The theory explains that space and time are actually connected, and Einstein called this joint structure space-time. Einstein considered this theory the culmination of his life research. It also offered a more expansive, nuanced explanation of how gravitational forces worked. Today, the theories of relativity underpin the accuracy of GPS technology, among other phenomena.

Even so, Einstein did make one mistake when developing his general theory, which naturally predicted the universe is either expanding or contracting. His later theories directly contracted this idea and asserted that the universe could be in a state of flux. Then, astronomer Edwin Hubble deduced that we indeed inhabit an expanding universe. This equation suggested that tiny particles of matter could be converted into huge amounts of energy, a discovery that heralded atomic power.

Famed quantum theorist Max Planck backed up the assertions of Einstein, who thus became a star of the lecture circuit and academia, taking on various positions before becoming director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics today is known as the Max Planck Institute for Physics from to InEinstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, since his ideas on relativity were still considered questionable.

Einstein married Mileva Maric on January 6, While attending school in Zurich, Einstein met Maric, a Serbian physics student. Einstein continued to grow closer to Maric, but his parents were strongly against the relationship due to her ethnic background. Nonetheless, Einstein continued to see her, with the two developing a correspondence via letters in which he expressed many of his scientific ideas.

Einstein and Mavic had three children. Her ultimate fate and whereabouts remain a mystery. Einstein, as part of a settlement, agreed to give Maric any funds he might receive from possibly winning the Nobel Prize in the future. In his 40s, Einstein traveled extensively and journaled about his experiences. Some of his unfiltered private thoughts are shared two volumes of The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein.

The first volumepublished infocuses on his five-and-a-half month trip to the Far East, Palestine, and Spain. The scientist started a sea journey to Japan in Marseille, France, in autumn ofaccompanied by his second wife, Elsa. The couple returned to Germany via Palestine and Spain in March The second volumereleased incovers three months that he spent lecturing and traveling in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil in The Travel Diaries contain unflattering analyses of the people he came across, including the Chinese, Sri Lankans, and Argentinians, a surprise coming from a man known for vehemently denouncing racism in his later years.

InEinstein took on a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where he would spend the rest of his life. At the time the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitlerwere gaining prominence with violent propaganda and vitriol in an impoverished post-World War I Germany. Meanwhile, other European scientists also left regions threatened by Germany and immigrated to the United States, with concern over Nazi strategies to create an atomic weapon.

Not long after moving and beginning his career at IAS, Einstein expressed an appreciation for American meritocracy and the opportunities people had for free thought, a stark contrast to his own experiences coming of age.