- Wikipedia

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\"Einstein\" redirects here. For other uses, see Einstein (disambiguation) and Albert Einstein (disambiguation).

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Albert Einstein
Einstein in 1921
Born	(1879-03-14)14 March 1879 Ulm, Kingdom of W\u00fcrttemberg, German Empire
Died	18 April 1955(1955-04-18) (aged 76) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Citizenship	\n See list \n \n Kingdom of W\u00fcrttemberg, part of the German Empire (until 1896)^{[note 1]} \n Stateless (1896\u20131901) \n Switzerland (1901\u20131955) \n Kingdom of Prussia, part of the German Empire (1914\u20131918)^{[note 1]} \n Free State of Prussia (Weimar Republic, 1918\u20131933)^{[note 1]} \n United States (1940\u20131955) \n \n
Education	\n Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (teaching diploma, 1900) \n University of Zurich (PhD, 1905) \n
Known for	\n General relativity \n Special relativity \n Photoelectric effect \n E=mc² (mass\u2013energy equivalence) \n E=hf (Planck\u2013Einstein relation) \n Theory of Brownian motion \n Einstein field equations \n Bose\u2013Einstein statistics \n Bose\u2013Einstein condensate \n Gravitational wave \n Cosmological constant \n Unified field theory \n EPR paradox \n Ensemble interpretation \n List of other concepts \n
Spouses	\n \n Mileva Mari\u0107 \n (m. 1903; div. 1919) \n \n Elsa L\u00f6wenthal \n (m. 1919; died 1936) \n
Children	3, including Hans
Family	Einstein
Awards	\n See list \n \n Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science (1920) \n Nobel Prize in Physics (1921) \n Matteucci Medal (1921) \n ForMemRS (1921)^[1] \n Copley Medal (1925)^[1] \n Gold Medal of RAS (1926)^[2] \n Max Planck Medal (1929) \n Membership of NAS (1942)^[3] \n Time Person of the Century (1999) \n \n
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	\n See list \n \n University of Bern (1908\u20131909) \n University of Zurich (1909\u20131911) \n Charles University in Prague (1911\u20131912) \n ETH Zurich (1912\u20131914) \n Prussian Academy of Sciences (1914\u20131933) \n Humboldt University of Berlin (1914\u20131933) \n Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (director, 1917\u20131933) \n German Physical Society (president, 1916\u20131918) \n Institute for Advanced Study (1933\u20131955) \n \n
Thesis	Eine neue Bestimmung der Molek\u00fcldimensionen (A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions) (1905)
Doctoral advisor	Alfred Kleiner
Other academic advisors	Heinrich Friedrich Weber
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\n \n \n Albert Einstein's voice \n \n Opening of Einstein's speech (11 April 1943) for the United Jewish Appeal (recording by Radio Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina) \n
Signature

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Personal

Physics

Works

Archives
Scientific publications by Albert Einstein
Annus Mirabilis papers (1905)
\"Investigations on the Theory of Brownian Movement\" (1905)
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (1916)
The World as I See It (1934)
\"Why Socialism?\" (1949)
Russell\u2013Einstein Manifesto (1955)

Legacy

Albert Einstein (/\u02c8a\u026ansta\u026an/, EYEN-styne;^[4] German: [\u02c8alb\u025b\u0281t \u02c8\u0294a\u026an\u0283ta\u026an] ^\u24d8; 14 March 1879 \u2013 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics.^[1]^[5] His mass\u2013energy equivalence formula $E = mc 2$ , which arises from special relativity, has been called \"the world's most famous equation\".^[6] He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.^[7]\n

Born in the German Empire, Einstein moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German citizenship the following year. In 1897, at the age of seventeen, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, graduating in 1900. He acquired Swiss citizenship a year later and afterwards secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905, he submitted a successful PhD dissertation to the University of Zurich. In 1914, he moved to Berlin to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin, becoming director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Horrified by the Nazi persecution of his fellow Jews,^[8] he decided to remain in the US, and was granted American citizenship in 1940.^[9] On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research.\n

In 1905, he published four groundbreaking papers, sometimes described as his annus mirabilis (miracle year).^[10] These papers outlined a theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced his special theory of relativity, and demonstrated that if the special theory is correct, mass and energy are equivalent to each other. In 1915, he proposed a general theory of relativity that extended his system of mechanics to incorporate gravitation. A cosmological paper that he published the following year laid out the implications of general relativity for the modeling of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole.^[11]^[12] In 1917, Einstein wrote a paper which introduced the concepts of spontaneous emission and stimulated emission, the latter of which is the core mechanism behind the laser and maser, and which contained a trove of information that would be beneficial to developments in physics later on, such as quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics.^[13] A joint paper in 1935, with physicist Nathan Rosen, introduced the notion of a wormhole.^[14] Alongside physicist Leo Szilard, he invented a refrigerator that consisted of no moving parts and used only heat as an input.\n

In the middle part of his career, Einstein made important contributions to statistical mechanics and quantum theory. Especially notable was his work on the quantum physics of radiation, in which light consists of particles, subsequently called photons. With physicist Satyendra Nath Bose, he laid the groundwork for Bose-Einstein statistics. For much of the last phase of his academic life, Einstein worked on two endeavors that ultimately proved unsuccessful. First, he advocated against quantum theory's introduction of fundamental randomness into science's picture of the world, objecting that God does not play dice.^[15] Second, he attempted to devise a unified field theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result, he became increasingly isolated from mainstream modern physics.\n

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Title (translated)	Area of focus	Received	Published	Significance\n
\"On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light\"^[223]	Photoelectric effect	18 March	9 June	Resolved an unsolved puzzle by suggesting that energy is exchanged only in discrete amounts (quanta).^[224] This idea was pivotal to the early development of quantum theory.^[225]\n
\"On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid, as Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat\"^[226]	Brownian motion	11 May	18 July	Explained empirical evidence for the atomic theory, supporting the application of statistical physics.\n
\"On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies\"^[227]	Special relativity	30 June	26 September	Reconciled Maxwell's equations for electricity and magnetism with the laws of mechanics by introducing changes to mechanics, resulting from analysis based on empirical evidence that the speed of light is independent of the motion of the observer.^[228]^[specify] Discredited the concept of a \"luminiferous ether\".^[229]\n
\"Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?\"^[230]	Matter\u2013energy equivalence	27 September	21 November	Equivalence of matter and energy, E = mc², the existence of \"rest energy\", and the basis of nuclear energy.\n

v t e Albert Einstein
Physics	\n Theory of relativity\n Special relativity \n General relativity \n Mass\u2013energy equivalence (E=mc²) \n Brownian motion \n Photoelectric effect \n Einstein coefficients \n Einstein solid \n Equivalence principle \n Einstein field equations \n Einstein radius \n Einstein relation (kinetic theory) \n Cosmological constant \n Bose\u2013Einstein condensate \n Bose\u2013Einstein statistics \n Bose\u2013Einstein correlations \n Einstein\u2013Cartan theory \n Einstein\u2013Infeld\u2013Hoffmann equations \n Einstein\u2013de Haas effect \n EPR paradox \n Bohr\u2013Einstein debates \n Teleparallelism \n Thought experiments \n Unsuccessful investigations \n Wave\u2013particle duality \n Gravitational wave \n Tea leaf paradox \n
Works	\n Annus mirabilis papers (1905) \n \"Investigations on the Theory of Brownian Movement\" (1905) \n Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (1916) \n The Meaning of Relativity (1922) \n The World as I See It (1934) \n The Evolution of Physics (1938) \n \"Why Socialism?\" (1949) \n Russell\u2013Einstein Manifesto (1955) \n
In popular culture	\n Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Relativit\u00e4ts-Theorie (1922 documentary) \n The Einstein Theory of Relativity (1923 documentary) \n Relics: Einstein's Brain (1994 documentary) \n Insignificance (1985 film) \n Young Einstein (1988 film) \n Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993 play) \n I.Q. (1994 film) \n Einstein's Gift (2003 play) \n Einstein and Eddington (2008 TV film) \n Genius (2017 series) \n Oppenheimer (2023 film) \n
Prizes	\n Albert Einstein Award \n Albert Einstein Medal \n Kalinga Prize \n Albert Einstein Peace Prize \n Albert Einstein World Award of Science \n Einstein Prize for Laser Science \n Einstein Prize (APS) \n
Books about Einstein	\n Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel \n Einstein and Religion \n Einstein for Beginners \n Einstein: His Life and Universe \n Einstein in Oxford \n Einstein on the Run \n Einstein's Cosmos \n I Am Albert Einstein \n Introducing Relativity \n Subtle is the Lord \n
Family	\n Mileva Mari\u0107 (first wife) \n Elsa Einstein (second wife; cousin) \n Lieserl Einstein (daughter) \n Hans Albert Einstein (son) \n Pauline Koch (mother) \n Hermann Einstein (father) \n Maja Einstein (sister) \n Eduard Einstein (son) \n Robert Einstein (cousin) \n Bernhard Caesar Einstein (grandson) \n Evelyn Einstein (granddaughter) \n Thomas Martin Einstein (great-grandson) \n Siegbert Einstein (distant cousin) \n
Related	\n Awards and honors \n Brain \n House \n Memorial \n Political views \n Religious views \n Things named after \n Einstein\u2013Oppenheimer relationship \n Albert Einstein Archives \n Einstein's Blackboard \n Einstein Papers Project \n Einstein refrigerator \n Einsteinhaus \n Einsteinium \n Max Talmey \n Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists \n
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Life and career

Childhood, youth and education

Marriages, relationships and children

1902\u20131909: Assistant at the Swiss Patent Office

1900\u20131905: First scientific papers

1908\u20131933: Academic career in Europe

1919: Putting general relativity to the test

1921\u20131923: Coming to terms with fame

1922\u20131932: Serving the League of Nations

1925: Touring South America

1930\u20131931: Touring the US

1933: Emigration to the US

Refugee status

Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study

World War II and the Manhattan Project

US citizenship

Personal views

Political views

Relationship with Zionism

Religious and philosophical views

Love of music

Death

Scientific career

Statistical mechanics

Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics

Theory of critical opalescence

1905 \u2013 Annus Mirabilis papers

Special relativity

General relativity

General relativity and the equivalence principle

Gravitational waves

Hole argument and Entwurf theory

Physical cosmology

Energy momentum pseudotensor

Wormholes

Einstein\u2013Cartan theory

Equations of motion

Old quantum theory

Photons and energy quanta

Quantized atomic vibrations

Bose\u2013Einstein statistics

Wave\u2013particle duality

Zero-point energy

Stimulated emission

Matter waves

Quantum mechanics

Einstein's objections to quantum mechanics

Bohr versus Einstein

Einstein\u2013Podolsky\u2013Rosen paradox

Unified field theory

Other investigations

Collaboration with other scientists

Einstein\u2013de Haas experiment

Einstein as an inventor

Legacy

Non-scientific

Scientific

In popular culture

Awards and honors

Publications

Scientific

Others

See also

Notes

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links

Archival materials collections

Digital collections

Albert Einstein

Media collections