Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1879-1955), US physicist, of German birth. He studied in Switzerland, becoming a Swiss citizen in 1901. In 1905, while working in the Berne Patent Office, he published four highly original scientific papers: the special theory of relativity, the theory of Brownian motion, the photon theory of light, and a paper on molecular dimensions. These were followed in 1916 by his general theory of relativity (which was verified in 1919). Einstein’s work had a profound effect on science, superseding Newton’s theories and setting the stage for the new era of modern physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921 On Hitler’s rise to power, being Jewish; he left Europe for the US and became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 1939, worried by reports that German scientists were developing nuclear weapons, Einstein was persuaded to write to President Roosevelt. He took no part, however, in the US production of the atom bomb that resulted from his warning, although the bomb itself depends on the principle of the equivalence of mass and energy that forms part of his special theory of relativity.
