Albert+Einstein

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning,” said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds in all of history (BrainyQuote). Einstein’s accomplishments didn’t only affect the scientific community, but it also altered the way regular people saw the world (Simon). During his extraordinary life, Einstein created a new field of science called cosmology, he discovered the theory of relativity, and published various papers that changed the field of modern day physics (Kaku). However, the most interesting thing about him was that he spent most of his career isolated from the scientific community and created some of his most notable work before he received his doctorate degree (Khoon). He wasn’t a straight A student who knew everything. He had flaws, but those flaws didn’t hold him back, but rather made his accomplishments even more incredible. Einstein wasn’t only a genius. He was also a socialite, a womanizer, and he had a great sense of humor (Khoon). **Personal Background** “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein (BrainyQuote). Albert Einstein was born March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany**.** His parents were Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch. They were married only three years before Albert was born. The family moved to Munich in order for Hermann to pursue an electrical engineering and plumbing enterprise with his younger brother Jakob (Pyenson). Unfortunately, even with the extra financial help from Pauline’s parents, their electro technical business fell through due to the highly competitive environment in the mid-1890s. In order to reestablish himself, Hermann moved to Milan then to Pavia but had to leave young Albert behind because he failed to complete secondary school (Pyenson).
 * Introduction**

During Einstein’s childhood in Munich, he did not display any indication that he was going to have a bright future especially as a physicist. His teachers never thought much of him. They considered him a dreamy chid with no promising future (Bernstein). In his autobiography, Einstein wrote that two “wonders” peeked his interest in science. The first was his encounter with a compass at age five. He was mystified by the magnetism that controlled the needle. The second was his discovery of a book of geometry (Kaku). Another major force that drove him in the direction of science was his uncle Jakob. He was the one that gave Albert many science textbooks that further sparked his interest in science. The most noteworthy book he gave to Albert was an exposition of Euclidean geometry (Pyenson). Yet another influence would be Max Talmund. He often had dinner at the Einstein home and became a tutor to Albert teaching him higher mathematics and philosophy. At the age of 12, Albert was deeply religious. However, his beliefs shifted after reading science books that contradicted his existing beliefs (Kaku).

Later in life, Albert developed a complicated relationship with women. He met his first wife Mileva Maric while studying at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich. Their relationship deepened, however, Albert’s parents strongly opposed the relationship especially his mother because of Maric’s Serbian backgr ound. In 1902, Albert could not marry Maric or even support a family without getting a job. So, later on that year, he started working at a patent office. Then, Albert finally got permission from him father to marry Maric. The two got married on January 6, 1903 then had two sons, Hans Albert and Eduard, born in Bern in 1904 and 1910. It is said that they had another child, Lieserl, but she died of disease as an infant. Between 1909 and 1913, Albert taught at higher learning institutes in Zurich and Prague, which skyrocketed him to fame. His fame, however, only made things more complicated with his wife. He was rarely at home with his family because he was always speaking at conferences, which led to very heated arguments with his wife. It wasn’t the only thing that ended their marriage. Convinced his marriage was over with Maric, he started an affair with his cousin Elsa Lowenthal and inevitably divorced. After his divorce, Albert ended up marrying Lowenthal (Kaku). “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”- Albert Einstein (BrainyQuote). Einstein’s younger sister, Maria, once wrote a short biographical article on his childhood. In it, she wrote that he had occasional temper tantrums, like most children at that age, and would lose control of himself. Later in life, Einstein would recall that at age two or three he had the aspiration to speak in complete sentences and actually practiced them quietly to himself until he was certain he had it correct before speaking them out loud. While in school, Einstein often studied advanced subjects on his own. He often ditched classes in order to continue his research, which would earn him strong hostility from some of his professors (Bernstein).
 * Personality Traits**

Einstein went on to become a hardcore pacifist and showed this trait at a relatively young age. He never played with soldiers and when he watched the military parades, he only felt pity and contempt for them (Bernstein). During the 1920s to 1930s, he lectured for a long time on the evils of armed struggled and even went so far as to urge young men to flat out refuse military service (Pyenson).

Later in Einstein’s life, he clarified his religious views stating that there was an ultimate lawgiver who he liked to refer to as the “old one.” He wrote that he believed in the Gold of a 17th century Dutch Jewish philosopher named Benedict de Spinoza, the God of harmony and beauty, instead of a God that intervened in human affairs (Kaku).

When it came to being social, Einstein was mysterious and difficult to understand. He always kept his distance at social gathering and often went off into a hazy, dreamy mood in the company of others and was oblivious of what was going on around him. Social events were clearly not his element. In one particular picture taken at a social event, Einstein stuck out his tongue, which was not like him at all (Khoon).

Einstein’s view on women is not what most people would expect. He urged for female companionship, but mainly for sexual desire and domestic satisfaction (Pyenson). However, he could also be very thoughtful when it came to women. He once wrote a letter to a fellow scientist, Madam Curie, offering his moral support after the whole scientific community found out about a supposed romance between her and another scientist following her husband’s death (Khoon).

“ Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” – Albert Einstein (BrainyQuotes). Throughout his life, Einstein faced many obstacles and challenges that both held him back and made him into the man we know. Hermann Einstein’s business was starting to decline while in Munich so he decided to move the business and his family to Italy. However, Einstein was left behind so he could finish his gymnasium education. He was not at all a bad student. In fact he received very good grades, but he was just not a very respectful student especially to his teachers. After six months, he couldn’t take it anymore and decided to escape Munich, which came as a surprise to his parents when he showed up in Italy (Bernstein). One of the first things he said to his parents when he got there was that he had renounced his German citizenship in order to avoid militar y duty (Simon).
 * Obstacles**

Once in Italy, Albert continued his studies. Luckily, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich was the best place to study science in Europe and it didn’t require a high school diploma. At age 16 ½ Einstein took the entrance exam, but unfortunately, he failed the part of the exam that involved languages due to him not even bothering to prepare. Thankfully, the principle of the institute recognized Albert as a mathematical genius and offered him a plan. Einstein was to spend a year studying language and science at a high school in Aarau in order to be accepted into the institute (Bernstein).

During his time in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, he was saving a portion of his money to purchase Swiss citizenship and because of this he was constantly on the brink of poverty. In the class, Einstein was quite an independent student that didn’t go over big with his professors and actually failed to be na med assistant by any of his professors ,which was the usual post for someone working to get a doctorate (Pyenson).

In 1902, Einstein reached what he considered the lowest point in his life. He fell in love with Mileva Maric, a fellow student physics student from Serbia, but could not marry and start a family with her because he was poor, unemployed, and his father’s business went bankrupt. Even if he could have had the finances to support a family with Maric, Einstein’s parents strongly opposed his relationship with her due to her Serbian background. Feeling completely desperate, he took low paying jobs tutoring kids, but unfortunately for him was even fired from those (Kaku).

Once Einstein was ready to start his career, he couldn’t find a science job and instead ended up working at a Swiss patent office. Surprisingly, most of Einstein’s scientific accomplishments happened before he received his doctorate. What makes his achievements greater is that he was totally isolated from the scientific community and even rejected from the most lowly academic positions (Khoon). Inevitably, his fame and success with his game-changing theories created much backlash, especially with the Nazis. They saw his theories as “Jewish physics” and held conferences and even book burnings to condemn his theories. In December 1932, Einstein decided to permanently leave Germany. It was apparent to him his life was in great danger when a Nazi organization published a magazine cover with his picture and the words “Not Yet Hanged” and even put a bounty on his head (Kaku).

“The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive” – Albert Einstein (BrainyQuotes). Einstein, most people remember him as the really smart scientist that solved a lot of problems. He didn’t just solve incredibly sophisticated physics problems he also changed everyday life for everyone. His influence extended from everyday household items to understanding the universe. It goes into solar-powered devices, GPS units, digital cameras, and lasers in DVD players. Even at his lowest point in life he still managed to bounce back and change the course of history. Einstein went from failing entrance exams to helping the president (Khoon). He even created a new field of science called cosmology (Kaku).
 * Historical Significance**

During 1900 and 1909 Einstein published 400 pages that drastically transformed huge areas of physics. His best year was 1905 during which he developed a direct measure of molecular diffusion. This demonstrated the existence of an invisible world denied by some philosophically disposed scientists who believed thermodynamics was completely unrelated to molecular reality. Einstein used the energy quantum to explain the photoelectric effect. Little did he know that this solution would lay the practical foundation for quantum physics and the electronic atom. His reorganization of basic physics became known as the theory of relativity, which later became known as a function of velocity (Pyenson).

One of the factors that made Einstein such a world-renowned physicist is his introduction into //The Times// of London, which headlined “Revolution in Science – New Theory of the Universe – Newton’s Ideas Overthrown – Momentous Pronouncement – Space ‘Warped.’” Almost immediately, he became a super star, and known as the successor of Isaac Newton. Einstein started the first of several worldwide tours during 1921. On the way to Japan for one of his tours, he received a message that he had won the Nobel Prize for physics. To his surprise, the award was for the photoelectric effect not for his theories on relativity. So, during his acceptance speech he surprised the audience by talking about relativity not the photoelectric effect (Pyenson).

Einstein also launched the new field of science called cosmology. His work provided predictions that the universe is dynamic rather than static, and expanding or contracting. In 1921, an astronomer by the name of Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is indeed expanding thereby proving Einstein’s predictions (Kaku).

In 1939, Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt, insisting that research be subsided for an atomic bomb seeing as the U.S had to possess it before Germany did. He warned the president about German advances in science and nuclear research. The letter managed to cause the U.S to create an atomic bomb. Unfortunately, Einstein’s reluctance and the government’s fear of his radicalism kept him away from the Manhattan Project (Simon).

Bernstein, Jeremy. "Einstein When Young." //Oxford University Press//, 1996. //eLibrary.// Web. 03 Oct. 2014. **SE#3** Gordin, D, Michael. "Einstein: His Life and Universe." // Journal of American History // 3(2007):964. // eLibrary //. Web. 26. Sep. 2014. **SE#1** Kaku, Michio. "Albert Einstein | Biography - German-American Physicist." //Encyclopedia Britannica Online//. 18 Sep. 2014. //Encyclopedia Britannica//. Web. 20 Dec. 2014. **SE#5** Khoon, Aik, Koh. "EXAMINING THE ENIGMATIC EINSTEIN." //College Student Journal// 1(2007):9. //eLibrary//. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. **SE#4** Pyenson, Lewis. "American National Biography Online: Einstein, Albert." //American National Biography Online: Einstein, Albert.// Feb. 2000. //Oxford University Press//. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. Simon, J, John. "Albert Einstein, Radical: Political Profile." //Monthly Review// 1(2005):1. //eLibrary.// Web. 03 Oct. 2014. **SE#2** [|Albert Einstein]. //BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web.6 Feb. 2015//
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