Chaim Weizmann in establishing the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. He had a strategy of his own and was able to visualize the main stages on the way to his goal. He regarded his major achievements as mere stepping-stones for the next advance.
At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules.
He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In his early days in Berlin, Einstein postulated that the correct interpretation of the special theory of relativity must also furnish a theory of gravitation and in he published his paper on the general theory of relativity. During this time he also contributed to the problems of the theory of radiation and statistical mechanics.
After making his name with four scientific articles published in , he went on to win worldwide fame for his general theory of relativity and a Nobel Prize in for his explanation of the phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect. He lived and worked in Princeton, New Jersey, for the remainder of his life. As a child, Einstein became fascinated by music he played the violin , mathematics and science.
He dropped out of school in and moved to Switzerland, where he resumed his schooling and later gained admission to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich. In , he renounced his German citizenship, and remained officially stateless before becoming a Swiss citizen in While at Zurich Polytechnic, Einstein fell in love with his fellow student Mileva Maric, but his parents opposed the match and he lacked the money to marry.
The couple had an illegitimate daughter, Lieserl, born in early , of whom little is known. After finding a position as a clerk at the Swiss patent office in Bern, Einstein married Maric in ; they would have two more children, Hans Albert born and Eduard born 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 until , when he finally found a full-time academic post at the University of Zurich.
In , he arrived at the University of Berlin, where he was made director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. In , Einstein 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. In , two 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. In , he won the Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, as his work on relativity remained controversial at the time.
Einstein soon began building on his theories to form a new science of cosmology, which held that the universe was dynamic instead of static, and was capable of expanding and contracting. I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly. Einstein's body — most of it, anyway — was cremated; his ashes were spread in an undisclosed location, according to the AMNH. However, a doctor at Princeton Hospital, Thomas Harvey, had performed an autopsy, apparently without permission, and removed Einstein's brain and eyeballs, according to Matt Blitz, who wrote about Einstein's brain in a column for Today I Found Out.
Harvey sliced hundreds of thin sections of brain tissue to place on microscope slides, and snapped 14 photos of the brain from several angles. He took the brain tissue, slides and images with him when he moved to Wichita, Kansas, where he was a medical supervisor in a biological testing lab. Over the next 30 years, Harvey sent a few slides to other researchers who requested them, but kept the rest of the brain in two glass jars, sometimes in a cider box under a beer cooler.
The story of Einstein's brain was largely forgotten until , when Harvey and his colleagues published their study results in the journal Experimental Neurology.. Harvey failed a competency exam in , and his medical license was revoked, Blitz wrote. Harvey eventually donated the brain to Princeton Hospital, where the brain's journey had begun. Harvey died in Harvey's study authors reported that Einstein's brain had a higher number of glial cells those that support and insulate the nervous system per neurons nerve cells than other brains they examined.
They concluded that it might indicate the neurons had a higher metabolic need — in other words, Einstein's brain cells needed and used more energy, which could have been why he had such advanced thinking abilities and conceptual skills. However, other researchers have pointed out a few problems with that study, according to Eric H. Chudler , a neuroscientist at the University of Washington. First, for example, the other brains used in the study were all younger than Einstein's brain.
Second, the "experimental group" had only one subject — Einstein. Additional studies are needed to see if these anatomical differences are found in other people.
And third, only a small part of Einstein's brain was studied. Another study, published in in the journal Neuroscience Letters , found that Einstein's brain weighed only 1, grams, which is less than the average adult male brain about 1, g.
Also, the scientist's cerebral cortex was thinner than that of five control brains, but the density of neurons was higher.
A study published in in the journal Brain revealed that Einstein's brain had extra folding in the gray matter , the site of conscious thinking. In particular, the frontal lobes, regions tied to abstract thought and planning, had unusually elaborate folding. Einstein's legacy in physics is significant. Here are some of the key scientific principles that he pioneered:.
Theory of special relativity : Einstein showed that physical laws are identical for all observers, as long as they are not under acceleration. However, the speed of light in a vacuum is always the same, no matter at what speed the observer is travelling. This work led to his realization that space and time are linked into what we now call space-time.
So, an event seen by one observer may also be seen at a different time by another observer. Theory of general relativity : This was a reformulation of the law of gravity. In the s, Newton formulated three laws of motion, among them outlining how gravity works between two bodies. The force between them depends on how massive each object is, and how far apart the objects are.
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