Born 14 March 1879
Ulm , Kingdom of Württemberg , German
Empire
Died 18 April 1955 (aged 76)
Princeton, New Jersey , U.S.
Residence Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria
(today: Czech Republic), Belgium, United
States
Citizenship Subject of Kingdom of Württemberg
during German Empire (1879–1896) [note
1]
Stateless (1896–1901)
Citizen of Switzerland (1901–1955)
Austrian subject of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire (1911–1912)
Subject of the Kingdom of Prussia
during German Empire (1914–1918), [note
1] German citizen of the Free State of
Prussia (Weimar Republic , 1918–1933)
Citizen of United States (1940–1955)
Fields Physics , philosophy
Institutions Swiss Patent Office ( Bern ) (1902–
1909)
University of Bern (1908–1909)
University of Zurich (1909–1911)
Charles University in Prague (1911–
1912)
ETH Zurich (1912–1914)
Prussian Academy of Sciences (1914–
1933)
Humboldt University of Berlin (1914–
1917)
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (director,
1917–1933)
German Physical Society (president,
1916–1918)
Leiden University (visits, 1920)
Institute for Advanced Study (1933–
1955)
Caltech (visits, 1931–1933)
Education Swiss Federal Polytechnic (1896–
1900; B.A., 1900)
University of Zurich (Ph.D., 1905)
Thesis Eine neue Bestimmung der
Moleküldimensionen (A New
Determination of Molecular
Dimensions) (1905)
Doctoral advisor Alfred Kleiner
Other academic
advisors
Heinrich Friedrich Weber
Known for General relativity and special relativity
Photoelectric effect
E=mc 2
Theory of Brownian motion
Einstein field equations
Bose–Einstein statistics
Bose–Einstein condensate
Gravitational wave
Cosmological constant
Unified field theory
EPR paradox
Influenced Ernst G. Straus
Nathan Rosen
Leó Szilárd
Notable awards Barnard Medal (1920)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
Matteucci Medal (1921)
ForMemRS (1921) [1]
Copley Medal (1925) [1]
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical
Society (1926)
Max Planck Medal (1929)
Time Person of the Century (1999)
Spouse Mileva Marić (1903–1919)
Elsa Löwenthal (1919–1936) [2][3]
Children "Lieserl" (1902–1903?)
Hans Albert (1904–1973)
Eduard "Tete" (1910–1965)..
Albert Einstein (/ ˈaɪnstaɪn/ ; [4] German: [ˈalbɛɐ̯t ˈaɪnʃtaɪn] ; 14
March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical
physicist . He developed the general theory of relativity , one
of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum
mechanics ).[1][5] :274 Einstein's work is also known for its
influence on the philosophy of science .[6][7] Einstein is best
known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence
formula E = mc 2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most
famous equation"). [8] He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his "services to theoretical physics", in
particular his discovery of the law of the photoelectric
effect, a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory.[9]
Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that
Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile
the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the
electromagnetic field . This led to the development of his
special theory of relativity . He realized, however, that the
principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational
fields , and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in
1916, he published a paper on general relativity. He
continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics
and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of
particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also
investigated the thermal properties of light which laid the
foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein
applied the general theory of relativity to model the large-
scale structure of the universe.[10][11]
He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to
power in 1933 and, being Jewish , did not go back to
Germany, where he had been a professor at the Berlin
Academy of Sciences . He settled in the U.S., becoming an
American citizen in 1940. [12] On the eve of World War II, he
endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting
him to the potential development of "extremely powerful
bombs of a new type" and recommending that the U.S.
begin similar research. This eventually led to what would
become the Manhattan Project . Einstein supported
defending the Allied forces, but largely denounced the idea
of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon.
Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein
signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto , which highlighted
the danger of nuclear weapons. Einstein was affiliated with
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey ,
until his death in 1955.
Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along
with over 150 non-scientific works. [10][13] On 5 December
2014, universities and archives announced the release of
Einstein's papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique
documents. [14][15] Einstein's intellectual achievements and
originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous with
" genius ". [16]
Marriages and children
Albert Einstein in 1904 (age 25)
The discovery and publication in 1987 of an early
correspondence between Einstein and Marić revealed that
they had had a daughter, called "Lieserl" in their letters,
born in early 1902 in Novi Sad where Marić was staying with
her parents. Marić returned to Switzerland without the child,
whose real name and fate are unknown. Einstein probably
never saw his daughter. The contents of his letter to Marić
in September 1903 suggest that the girl was either adopted
or died of scarlet fever in infancy. [35][36]
Einstein with his wife Elsa
Einstein and Marić married in January 1903. In May 1904,
their first son, Hans Albert Einstein , was born in Bern ,
Switzerland . Their second son, Eduard , was born in Zürich
in July 1910. In April they moved to Berlin . After a few
months his wife returned to Zürich with their sons, after
learning that Einstein's chief romantic attraction was his
first and second cousin Elsa. [37] They divorced on 14
February 1919, having lived apart for five years. [38] Eduard,
whom his father called "Tete" (for petit ), had a breakdown
at about age 20 and was diagnosed with schizophrenia .[39]
His mother cared for him and he was also committed to
asylums for several periods, finally being committed
permanently after her death. [40]
In letters revealed in 2015, Einstein wrote to his early love,
Marie Winteler, about his marriage and his still-strong
feelings for Marie. In 1910 he wrote to her that "I think of
you in heartfelt love every spare minute and am so unhappy
as only a man can be" while his wife was pregnant with their
second child. Einstein spoke about a "misguided love" and
a "missed life" regarding his love for Marie. [41]
Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal in 1919, [42][43] after having
had a personal relationship with her since 1912. [44] She
was a first cousin maternally and a second cousin
paternally. [44] In 1933, they emigrated to the United States.
In 1935, Elsa Einstein was diagnosed with heart and kidney
problems; she died in December 1936. [45]
Patent office
Olympia Academy founders: Conrad
Habicht, Maurice Solovine and Einstein.
After graduating in 1900, Einstein spent almost two
frustrating years searching for a teaching post. He acquired
Swiss citizenship in February 1901, [46] but was not
conscripted for medical reasons. With the help of Marcel
Grossmann 's father, Einstein secured a job in Bern at the
Federal Office for Intellectual Property, the patent office, [47]
[48] as an assistant examiner – level III. [49][50] He
evaluated patent applications for a variety of devices
including a gravel sorter and an electromechanical
typewriter. [50] In 1903, Einstein's position at the Swiss
Patent Office became permanent, although he was passed
over for promotion until he "fully mastered machine
technology". [51] :370
Much of his work at the patent office related to questions
about transmission of electric signals and electrical-
mechanical synchronization of time, two technical problems
that show up conspicuously in the thought experiments that
eventually led Einstein to his radical conclusions about the
nature of light and the fundamental connection between
space and time.[51] :377
With a few friends he had met in Bern, Einstein started a
small discussion group in 1902, self-mockingly named " The
Olympia Academy ", which met regularly to discuss science
and philosophy. Their readings included the works of Henri
Poincaré , Ernst Mach , and David Hume , which influenced
his scientific and philosophical outlook. [52]
Academic career
Einstein's official 1921 portrait
after receiving the Nobel Prize in
Physics
In 1900, Einstein's paper "Folgerungen aus den
Capillaritätserscheinungen" ("Conclusions from the
Capillarity Phenomena") was published in the prestigious
Annalen der Physik .[53][54] On 30 April 1905, Einstein
completed his thesis, [55] with Alfred Kleiner , Professor of
Experimental Physics, serving as pro-forma advisor. As a
result, Einstein was awarded a PhD by the University of
Zürich, with his dissertation entitled, "A New Determination
of Molecular Dimensions." [55][56] That same year, which
has been called Einstein's annus mirabilis (miracle year), he
published four groundbreaking papers , on the photoelectric
effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and the
equivalence of mass and energy, which were to bring him to
the notice of the academic world, at the age of 26.
By 1908, he was recognized as a leading scientist and was
appointed lecturer at the University of Bern . The following
year, after giving a lecture on electrodynamics and the
relativity principle at the University of Zürich, Alfred Kleiner
recommended him to the faculty for a newly created
professorship in theoretical physics. Einstein was appointed
associate professor in 1909. [57]
Einstein became a full professor at the German Charles-
Ferdinand University in Prague in April 1911, accepting
Austrian citizenship in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to do
so. [58][59] During his Prague stay, Einstein wrote 11
scientific works, five of them on radiation mathematics and
on the quantum theory of solids. In July 1912, he returned
to his alma mater in Zürich. From 1912 until 1914, he was
professor of theoretical physics at the ETH Zurich, where he
taught analytical mechanics and thermodynamics . He also
studied continuum mechanics , the molecular theory of heat,
and the problem of gravitation, on which he worked with
mathematician and friend Marcel Grossmann .[60]
In 1914, he returned to the German Empire after being
appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for
Physics (1914–1932) [61] and a professor at the Humboldt
University of Berlin , but freed from most teaching
obligations. He soon became a member of the Prussian
Academy of Sciences , and in 1916 was appointed president
of the German Physical Society (1916–1918). [62]
Based on calculations Einstein made in 1911, about his new
theory of general relativity, light from another star should be
bent by the Sun's gravity. In 1919, that prediction was
confirmed by Sir Arthur Eddington during the solar eclipse
of 29 May 1919. Those observations were published in the
international media, making Einstein world famous. On 7
November 1919, the leading British newspaper The Times
printed a banner headline that read: "Revolution in
Science – New Theory of the Universe – Newtonian Ideas
Overthrown". [63]
In 1920, he became a Foreign Member of the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences .[64] In 1922,
Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for
his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his
discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". [9] While
the general theory of relativity was still considered
somewhat controversial, the citation also does not treat the
cited work as an explanation but merely as a discovery of
the law , as the idea of photons was considered outlandish
and did not receive universal acceptance until the 1924
derivation of the Planck spectrum by S. N. Bose . Einstein
was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society
(ForMemRS) in 1921 .[1] He also received the Copley Medal
from the Royal Society in 1925.[1]
1921–1922: Travels abroad
Einstein in New York, 1921, his first visit to the
United States
Einstein visited New York City for the first time on 2 April
1921, where he received an official welcome by Mayor John
Francis Hylan , followed by three weeks of lectures and
receptions. He went on to deliver several lectures at
Columbia University and Princeton University, and in
Washington he accompanied representatives of the National
Academy of Science on a visit to the White House. On his
return to Europe he was the guest of the British statesman
and philosopher Viscount Haldane in London, where he met
several renowned scientific, intellectual and political
figures, and delivered a lecture at King's College London .
[65] [66]
He also published an essay, "My First Impression of the
U.S.A.," in July 1921, in which he tried briefly to describe
some characteristics of Americans, much as had Alexis de
Tocqueville , who published his own impressions in
Democracy in America (1835). [67] For some of his
observations, Einstein was clearly surprised: "What strikes a
visitor is the joyous, positive attitude to life . . . The
American is friendly, self-confident, optimistic, and without
envy." [68] :20
In 1922, his travels took him to Asia and later to Palestine,
as part of a six-month excursion and speaking tour, as he
visited Singapore, Ceylon and Japan, where he gave a series
of lectures to thousands of Japanese. After his first public
lecture, he met the emperor and empress at the Imperial
Palace , where thousands came to watch. In a letter to his
sons, Einstein described his impression of the Japanese as
being modest, intelligent, considerate, and having a true
feel for art. [69]
Because of Einstein's travels to the Far East, he was unable
to personally accept the Nobel Prize for Physics at the
Stockholm award ceremony in December 1922. In his place,
the banquet speech was held by a German diplomat, who
praised Einstein not only as a scientist but also as an
international peacemaker and activist. [70]
On his return voyage, he visited Palestine for 12 days in
what would become his only visit to that region. Einstein
was greeted as if he were a head of state, rather than a
physicist, which included a cannon salute upon arriving at
the home of the British high commissioner, Sir Herbert
Samuel . During one reception, the building was stormed by
people who wanted to see and hear him. In Einstein's talk
to the audience, he expressed happiness that the Jewish
people were beginning to be recognized as a force in the
world. [71]
1930–1931: Travel to the U.S.
In December 1930, Einstein visited America for the second
time, originally intended as a two-month working visit as a
research fellow at the California Institute of Technology .
After the national attention he received during his first trip
to the U.S., he and his arrangers aimed to protect his
privacy. Although swamped with telegrams and invitations
to receive awards or speak publicly, he declined them all.
[72]
After arriving in New York City, Einstein was taken to
various places and events, including Chinatown , a lunch
with the editors of the New York Times, and a performance
of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera , where he was
cheered by the audience on his arrival. During the days
following, he was given the keys to the city by Mayor Jimmy
Walker and met the president of Columbia University, who
described Einstein as "the ruling monarch of the mind." [73]
Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor at New York's Riverside
Church , gave Einstein a tour of the church and showed him
a full-size statue that the church made of Einstein, standing
at the entrance. [73] Also during his stay in New York, he
joined a crowd of 15,000 people at Madison Square Garden
during a Hanukkah celebration. [73]
Einstein next traveled to California where he met Caltech
president and Nobel laureate, Robert A. Millikan . His
friendship with Millikan was "awkward", as Millikan "had a
penchant for patriotic militarism," where Einstein was a
pronounced pacifist. [74] During an address to Caltech's
students, Einstein noted that science was often inclined to
do more harm than good. [75]
Charlie Chaplin and Einstein at the
Hollywood premiere of City Lights, January
1931
This aversion to war also led Einstein to befriend author
Upton Sinclair and film star Charlie Chaplin , both noted for
their pacifism. Carl Laemmle , head of Universal Studios ,
gave Einstein a tour of his studio and introduced him to
Chaplin. They had an instant rapport, with Chaplin inviting
Einstein and his wife, Elsa, to his home for dinner. Chaplin
said Einstein's outward persona, calm and gentle, seemed
to conceal a "highly emotional temperament," from which
came his "extraordinary intellectual energy." [76] :320
Chaplin also remembers Elsa telling him about the time
Einstein conceived his theory of relativity . During breakfast
one morning, he seemed lost in thought and ignored his
food. She asked him if something was bothering him. He
sat down at his piano and started playing. He continued
playing and writing notes for half an hour, then went
upstairs to his study, where he remained for two weeks,
with Elsa bringing up his food. At the end of the two weeks,
he came downstairs with two sheets of paper bearing his
theory. [76] :320
Chaplin's film, City Lights, was to premiere a few days later
in Hollywood, and Chaplin invited Einstein and Elsa to join
him as his special guests. Walter Isaacson , Einstein's
biographer, described this as "one of the most memorable
scenes in the new era of celebrity." Einstein and Chaplin
arrived together, in black tie, with Elsa joining them,
"beaming." The audience applauded as they entered the
theater. [75] Chaplin visited Einstein at his home on a later
trip to Berlin, and recalled his "modest little flat" and the
piano at which he had begun writing his theory. Chaplin
speculated that it was "possibly used as kindling wood by
the Nazis." [76] :322
1933: Emigration to the U.S.
Cartoon of Einstein, who has shed his
"Pacifism" wings, standing next to a pillar
labeled "World Peace." He is rolling up his
sleeves and holding a sword labeled
"Preparedness" (by Charles R. Macauley, c.
1933).
In February 1933 while on a visit to the United States,
Einstein knew he could not return to Germany with the rise
to power of the Nazis under Germany's new chancellor,
Adolf Hitler. [77][78]
While at American universities in early 1933, he undertook
his third two-month visiting professorship at the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He and his wife Elsa
returned to Belgium by ship in March, and during the trip
they learned that their cottage was raided by the Nazis and
his personal sailboat confiscated. Upon landing in Antwerp
on 28 March, he immediately went to the German consulate
and turned in his passport, formally renouncing his German
citizenship. [79] A few years later, the Nazis sold his boat
and turned his cottage into a Hitler Youth camp. [80]
Refugee status
In April 1933, Einstein discovered that the new German
government had passed laws barring Jews from holding any
official positions, including teaching at universities. [79]
Historian Gerald Holton describes how, with "virtually no
audible protest being raised by their colleagues," thousands
of Jewish scientists were suddenly forced to give up their
university positions and their names were removed from the
rolls of institutions where they were employed.[68]
A month later, Einstein's works were among those targeted
by the German Student Union in the Nazi book burnings ,
with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels
proclaiming, "Jewish intellectualism is dead." [79] One
German magazine included him in a list of enemies of the
German regime with the phrase, "not yet hanged", offering a
$5,000 bounty on his head. [79][81] In a subsequent letter to
physicist and friend Max Born, who had already emigrated
from Germany to England, Einstein wrote, "... I must confess
that the degree of their brutality and cowardice came as
something of a surprise." [79] After moving to the U.S., he
described the book burnings as a "spontaneous emotional
outburst" by those who "shun popular enlightenment," and
"more than anything else in the world, fear the influence of
men of intellectual independence." [82]
Einstein surrounded by Oliver Locker-
Lampson (seated) and assistants assigned
to protect him
Einstein was now without a permanent home, unsure where
he would live and work, and equally worried about the fate
of countless other scientists still in Germany. He rented a
house in De Haan, Belgium, where he lived for a few
months. In late July 1933, he went to England for about six
weeks at the personal invitation of British naval officer
Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson , who had become
friends with Einstein in the preceding years. To protect
Einstein, Locker-Lampson had two assistants watch over
him at his secluded cottage outside London, with the press
publishing a photo of them guarding Einstein. [83]
Locker-Lampson took Einstein to meet Winston Churchill at
his home, and later, Austen Chamberlain and former Prime
Minister Lloyd George. [84] Einstein asked them to help bring
Jewish scientists out of Germany. British historian Martin
Gilbert notes that Churchill responded immediately, and
sent his friend, physicist Frederick Lindemann to Germany
to seek out Jewish scientists and place them in British
universities. [85] Churchill later observed that as a result of
Germany having driven the Jews out, they had lowered their
"technical standards" and put the Allies' technology ahead
of theirs. [85]
Einstein later contacted leaders of other nations, including
Turkey 's Prime Minister, İsmet İnönü , to whom he wrote in
September 1933 requesting placement of unemployed
German-Jewish scientists. As a result of Einstein's letter,
Jewish invitees to Turkey eventually totaled over "1,000
saved individuals." [86]
Locker-Lampson also submitted a bill to parliament to
extend British citizenship to Einstein, during which period
Einstein made a number of public appearances describing
the crisis brewing in Europe. The bill failed to become law,
however, and Einstein then accepted an earlier offer from
the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study , in the U.S., to
become a resident scholar. [87]
Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study
Portrait taken in 1935 in Princeton
In October 1933 Einstein returned to the U.S. and took up a
position at the Institute for Advanced Study (in Princeton,
New Jersey ), [87][88] noted for having become a refuge for
scientists fleeing Nazi Germany. [89] At the time, most
American universities, including Harvard, Princeton and
Yale, had minimal or no Jewish faculty or students, as a
result of their Jewish quota which lasted until the late
1940s. [89]
Einstein was still undecided on his future. He had offers
from several European universities, including Christ Church,
Oxford where he stayed for three short periods between
May 1931 and June 1933 and was offered a 5 year
Studentship, [90][91] but in 1935 he arrived at the decision
to remain permanently in the United States and apply for
citizenship. [87][92]
Einstein's affiliation with the Institute for Advanced Study
would last until his death in 1955.[93] He was one of the
four first selected (two of the others being John von
Neumann and Kurt Gödel) at the new Institute, where he
soon developed a close friendship with Gödel. The two
would take long walks together discussing their work. Bruria
Kaufman , his assistant, later became a physicist. During this
period, Einstein tried to develop a unified field theory and to
refute the accepted interpretation of quantum physics , both
unsuccessfully.
World War II and the Manhattan Project
See also: Einstein–Szilárd letter
In 1939, a group of Hungarian scientists that included
émigré physicist Leó Szilárd attempted to alert Washington
to ongoing Nazi atomic bomb research. The group's
warnings were discounted. Einstein and Szilárd, along with
other refugees such as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner ,
"regarded it as their responsibility to alert Americans to the
possibility that German scientists might win the race to
build an atomic bomb , and to warn that Hitler would be
more than willing to resort to such a weapon." [94][95] To
make certain the U.S. was aware of the danger, in July
1939, a few months before the beginning of World War II in
Europe, Szilárd and Wigner visited Einstein to explain the
possibility of atomic bombs, which Einstein, a pacifist , said
he had never considered. [96] He was asked to lend his
support by writing a letter, with Szilárd, to President
Roosevelt, recommending the U.S. pay attention and
engage in its own nuclear weapons research.
The letter is believed to be "arguably the key stimulus for
the U.S. adoption of serious investigations into nuclear
weapons on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II". [97]
In addition to the letter, Einstein used his connections with
the Belgian Royal Family [98] and the Belgian queen mother
to get access with a personal envoy to the White House's
Oval Office. President Roosevelt could not take the risk of
allowing Hitler to possess atomic bombs first. As a result of
Einstein's letter and his meetings with Roosevelt, the U.S.
entered the "race" to develop the bomb, drawing on its
"immense material, financial, and scientific resources" to
initiate the Manhattan Project. The U.S. became the only
country to successfully develop nuclear weapons during
World War II and also remains the only country to have used
them in combat, against Hiroshima and Nagasaki on
August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, towards the end of the
war.
For Einstein, "war was a disease ... [and] he called for
resistance to war." By signing the letter to Roosevelt, he
went against his pacifist principles. [99] In 1954, a year
before his death, Einstein said to his old friend, Linus
Pauling , "I made one great mistake in my life—when I
signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that
atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—
the danger that the Germans would make them ..." [100]
U.S. citizenship
Einstein accepting U.S. citizenship
certificate from judge Phillip Forman
Einstein became an American citizen in 1940. Not long after
settling into his career at the Institute for Advanced Study
(in Princeton, New Jersey), he expressed his appreciation of
the meritocracy in American culture when compared to
Europe. He recognized the "right of individuals to say and
think what they pleased", without social barriers, and as a
result, individuals were encouraged, he said, to be more
creative, a trait he valued from his own early education.
[101]
Personal life
Supporter of civil rights
Einstein was a passionate, committed antiracist and joined
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) in Princeton, where he campaigned for the
civil rights of African Americans. He considered racism
America's "worst disease," [81] seeing it as "handed down
from one generation to the next." [102] As part of his
involvement, he corresponded with civil rights activist W. E.
B. Du Bois and was prepared to testify on his behalf during
his trial in 1951.[103] :565 When Einstein offered to be a
character witness for Du Bois, the judge decided to drop
the case. [104]
Einstein in 1947
In 1946 Einstein visited Lincoln University in Pennsylvania
where he was awarded an honorary degree. Lincoln was the
first university in the United States to grant college degrees
to African-Americans , including Langston Hughes and
Thurgood Marshall . To its students, Einstein gave a speech
about racism in America, adding, "I do not intend to be
quiet about it." [105] A resident of Princeton recalls that
Einstein had once paid the college tuition for a black
student, [104] and black physicist Sylvester James Gates
states that Einstein had been one of his early science
heroes, later finding out about Einstein's support for civil
rights. [104]
Assisting Zionist causes
Einstein was a figurehead leader in helping establish the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem , which opened in 1925, and
was among its first Board of Governors. Earlier, in 1921, he
was asked by the biochemist and president of the World
Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann , to help raise funds
for the planned university. [106] He also submitted various
suggestions as to its initial programs.
Among those, he advised first creating an Institute of
Agriculture in order to settle the undeveloped land. That
should be followed, he suggested, by a Chemical Institute
and an Institute of Microbiology, to fight the various
ongoing epidemics such as malaria , which he called an
"evil" that was undermining a third of the country's
development. [107] :161 Establishing an Oriental Studies
Institute, to include language courses given in both Hebrew
and Arabic, for scientific exploration of the country and its
historical monuments, was also important. [107] :158
Chaim Weizmann later became Israel's first president. Upon
his death while in office in November 1952 and at the
urging of Ezriel Carlebach , Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
offered Einstein the position of President of Israel , a mostly
ceremonial post. [108][109] The offer was presented by
Israel's ambassador in Washington, Abba Eban , who
explained that the offer "embodies the deepest respect
which the Jewish people can repose in any of its sons". [110]
Einstein declined, and wrote in his response that he was
"deeply moved", and "at once saddened and ashamed" that
he could not accept it. [110]
Love of music
Albert Einstein playing violin
Einstein with writer, musician and
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore ,
1930
Einstein developed an appreciation of music at an early age,
and later wrote: "If I were not a physicist, I would probably
be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in
music. I see my life in terms of music... I get most joy in life
out of music."[111][112]
His mother played the piano reasonably well and wanted
her son to learn the violin , not only to instill in him a love of
music but also to help him assimilate into German culture .
According to conductor Leon Botstein , Einstein is said to
have begun playing when he was 5, although he did not
enjoy it at that age. [113]
When he turned 13, he discovered the violin sonatas of
Mozart , whereupon "Einstein fell in love" with Mozart's
music and studied music more willingly. He taught himself
to play without "ever practicing systematically", he said,
deciding that "love is a better teacher than a sense of
duty." [113] At age 17, he was heard by a school examiner in
Aarau as he played Beethoven 's violin sonatas , the
examiner stating afterward that his playing was "remarkable
and revealing of 'great insight'." What struck the examiner,
writes Botstein, was that Einstein "displayed a deep love of
the music, a quality that was and remains in short supply.
Music possessed an unusual meaning for this student." [113]
Music took on a pivotal and permanent role in Einstein's life
from that period on. Although the idea of becoming a
professional himself was not on his mind at any time,
among those with whom Einstein played chamber music
were a few professionals, and he performed for private
audiences and friends. Chamber music had also become a
regular part of his social life while living in Bern, Zürich, and
Berlin, where he played with Max Planck and his son,
among others. He is sometimes erroneously credited as the
editor of the 1937 edition of the Köchel catalogue of
Mozart's work; that edition was actually prepared by Alfred
Einstein , [citation needed ] who may have been a distant
relation. [114][115]
In 1931, while engaged in research at the California Institute
of Technology, he visited the Zoellner family conservatory
in Los Angeles, where he played some of Beethoven and
Mozart's works with members of the Zoellner Quartet .[116]
[117] Near the end of his life, when the young Juilliard
Quartet visited him in Princeton, he played his violin with
them, and the quartet was "impressed by Einstein's level of
coordination and intonation." [113]
Political and religious views
Main articles: Albert Einstein's political views and Albert
Einstein's religious views
Albert Einstein with his wife Elsa Einstein
and Zionist leaders, including future
President of Israel Chaim Weizmann , his
wife Vera Weizmann , Menahem Ussishkin ,
and Ben-Zion Mossinson on arrival in New
York City in 1921
Einstein's political view was in favor of socialism and
critical of capitalism, which he detailed in his essays such
as "Why Socialism? ". [118][119] Einstein offered and was
called on to give judgments and opinions on matters often
unrelated to theoretical physics or mathematics. [87] He
strongly advocated the idea of a democratic global
government that would check the power of nation-states in
the framework of a world federation. [120]
Einstein's views about religious belief have been collected
from interviews and original writings. He called himself an
agnostic , while disassociating himself from the label
atheist .[121] He said "I believe in Spinoza’s God, who
reveals himself in the lawful harmony of all that
exists" (New York Times , April 25, 1929). He said he
believed in the "pantheistic" God of Baruch Spinoza , but not
in a personal god , a belief he criticized. [122][123] Einstein
once wrote: "I do not believe in a personal God and I have
never denied this but expressed it clearly". [124]
Death
On 17 April 1955, Albert Einstein experienced internal
bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic
aneurysm , which had previously been reinforced surgically
by Rudolph Nissen in 1948. [125] He took the draft of a
speech he was preparing for a television appearance
commemorating the State of Israel's seventh anniversary
with him to the hospital, but he did not live long enough to
complete it. [126]
Einstein refused surgery, saying: "I want to go when I want.
It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my
share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly." [127] He died in
Princeton Hospital early the next morning at the age of 76,
having continued to work until near the end.
During the autopsy, the pathologist of Princeton Hospital,
Thomas Stoltz Harvey , removed Einstein's brain for
preservation without the permission of his family, in the
hope that the neuroscience of the future would be able to
discover what made Einstein so intelligent.[128] Einstein's
remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at an
undisclosed location. [129][130]
In his lecture at Einstein's memorial, nuclear physicist
Robert Oppenheimer summarized his impression of him as
a person: "He was almost wholly without sophistication and
wholly without worldliness ... There was always with him a
wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly
stubborn." [131]
Scientific career
Throughout his life, Einstein published hundreds of books
and articles. [13][17] He published more than 300 scientific
papers and 150 non-scientific ones. [10][13] On 5 December
2014, universities and archives announced the release of
Einstein's papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique
documents. [14][15] Einstein's intellectual achievements and
originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous with
" genius ". [16] In addition to the work he did by himself he
also collaborated with other scientists on additional
projects including the Bose–Einstein statistics , the Einstein
refrigerator and others. [132]
1905 – Annus Mirabilis papers
Main articles: Annus Mirabilis papers , Photoelectric effect ,
Special theory of relativity , Mass–energy equivalence , and
Brownian motion
The Annus Mirabilis papers are four articles pertaining to
the photoelectric effect (which gave rise to quantum
theory), Brownian motion , the special theory of relativity ,
and E = mc 2 that Albert Einstein published in the Annalen
der Physik scientific journal in 1905. These four works
contributed substantially to the foundation of modern
physics and changed views on space , time, and matter . The
four papers are:
Title
(translated)
Area of
focus Received Published Si
On a Heuristic
Viewpoint
Concerning the
Production and
Transformation
of Light
Photoelectric
effect 18 March 9 June
R
un
pu
su
th
is
on
di
a
(q
[1
id
pi
th
de
of
th
On the Motion
of Small
Particles
Suspended in a
Stationary
Liquid, as
Required by the
Molecular
Kinetic Theory
of Heat
Brownian
motion 11 May 18 July
Ex
e
ev
th
th
su
th
ap
of
ph
On the
Electrodynamics
of Moving
Bodies
Special
relativity 30 June 26
September
R
M
eq
fo
an
m
wi
la
m
by
int
m
ch
m
cl
sp
lig
re
fr
an
ba
e
ev
th
sp
lig
in
of
m
th
[1
Di
th
of
"lu
et
Does the Inertia
of a Body
Depend Upon Its
Energy Content?
Matter–
energy
equivalence
27
September
21
November
E
of
an
E
(a
im
th
gr
"b
th
ex
"r
an
ba
nu
en
Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical
physics
Main articles: Statistical mechanics , thermal fluctuations ,
and statistical physics
Albert Einstein's first paper [137] submitted in 1900 to
Annalen der Physik was on capillary attraction . It was
published in 1901 with the title "Folgerungen aus den
Capillaritätserscheinungen", which translates as
"Conclusions from the capillarity phenomena". Two papers
he published in 1902–1903 (thermodynamics) attempted to
interpret atomic phenomena from a statistical point of view.
These papers were the foundation for the 1905 paper on
Brownian motion, which showed that Brownian movement
can be construed as firm evidence that molecules exist. His
research in 1903 and 1904 was mainly concerned with the
effect of finite atomic size on diffusion phenomena. [137].....
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