Albert Einstein
scientist
Early Life
Albert Einstein was born March 14th, 1879 and died April 18 1955. He was born in Ulm Germany. Albert wasn't a child prodigy, and at age 9 he was unable to fluently speak. He had a wonder about many topics at a young age. He was interested in mathematics and over a six month time period he had self-taught himself calculus and he was 16 years old. His father was an engineer who opened an electric business. The business failed in 1864 and the Einstein family moved to Italy. Although Albert stayed to finish his schooling in Munich. In April 1955 he became ill and peacefully fell asleep and died in Princeton.
"Albert Einstein." World of Scientific Discovery. Gale, 2006. Biography in Context. Web. 4 May 2016
Getting Involved
Albert Einstein revolutionized physics. He wrote papers about the Photoelectric Effect, Brownian Movement, Special theory of Relativity, Relationship of Matter and energy, and Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. He also had made contributions to Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Condensed Matter Physics and Cosmology. Making these contributions of the understanding of light, the Atomic Structure, the concepts of space and time and the equation E=Mc squared all made a big impact on society.
Bederson, Benjamin. "Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham.
Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016.
"Albert Einstein Arrives in New York." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2016. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016.
Choices and Results
Albert Einstein reworked the foundations of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. By doing this, it formed the background of his papers. One of his papers lead to how to construct the atomic bomb. All of his papers advanced what we now know in science. For example, after his published papers about the special relativity we now know that light is both a wave (meaning it has to go through a medium) and a particle. The statue down below was made in Albert Einstein's honor.
Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016.
"Albert Einstein Statue In Washington." UPI Photo Collection. 2009. Web. 6 May 2016.
In His Words
Albert Einstein was curious about how the universe worked. He had always had a deep feeling of wonder. This wonder lead him doing research and experiments. The research and experiments then lead to his astonishing discoveries that revolutionized science.
"Albert Einstein." World of Scientific Discovery. Gale, 2006. Biography in Context. Web. 4 May 2016.
"'EINSTEIN'S INTELLECTUAL FEAT WAS ESPECIALLY astonishing because, unlike the pioneers of quantum theory, he wasn't motivated by any experimental enigma." After I read this comment by Martin J. Rees in his Pathways of Discovery essay "Piecing together the biggest puzzle of all" (8 Dec., p. 1919), I searched and found that, contrary to what Rees says, Einstein was indeed motivated. Einstein wrote that he was "busy working on relativity theory in connection with the law of gravitation, with which I hope to account for the still unexplained secular changes in the perihelion motion of the planet Mercury--so far it doesn't seem to work' (1, p. 3). "
NORTH, JOSEPH ROY D. "Einstein's Motivation." Science 291.5505 (2001): 828. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016.
Aftermath
After Albert's discoveries, one of his papers lead other people to construct the atomic bomb. This atomic bomb was used to destroy an entire country - Hiroshima in 1945. This one event changed the structure of world power. It also lead to the nuclear arms race with all countries.
"Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 5 May 2016.
Albert Einstein knew that we (the United States) had to be one step ahead of the soviet union in the nuclear arms race. Although, Albert also believed that by using a hydrogen bomb, it would poison the worlds atmosphere with a radio active fallout and would kill all life on earth. This is shown on the picture above where the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States in the nuclear arms race hurts the world.
"The H Bomb." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 6: 1950-1959. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 547-549. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016.
Words From Him
One day when I was 8 years old, everyone was talking in hushed tones about a great scientist that had just died. His name was Albert Einstein.
-Michio Kaku
Brainyquote
"You will never amount to anything, Einstein." said one of Albert's teachers.
"Albert Einstein." World of Scientific Discovery. Gale, 2006. Biography in Context. Web. 4 May 2016.
--"I want to know God's thoughts ... the rest are details"; "Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you that mine are still greater"; "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein
Moore, Mike. "Whose Einstein?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 57.1 (2001): 10. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016.
Legacy
ยท " Einstein's vision of a unified field theory that would unite all the known forces of nature into a single theoretical structure drove his research efforts during the last thirty years of his life. Although this incomparable challenge led to only limited success in his own hands, this holy grail of modern physics continues to inspire future generations of theoretical physicists."
Bederson, Benjamin. "Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016.
Annotated Bibliography
1. "Albert Einstein." World of Scientific Discovery. Gale, 2006. Biography in Context. Web. 4 May 2016. This article is about Albert Einstein's early life. It includes his schooling and what his teachers thought about him.
2 "Albert Einstein Arrives in New York." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2016. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016. This is a picture of Albert Einstein. He had just arrived in New York.
3. Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016. This article is about the highlights of Albert Einstein's life. It gives a broad overview of his scientific achievements.
4."Albert Einstein at His New Jersey Home, Circa 1950." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016. I used this picture because the books in the background show that Albert Einstein was very educated about his findings. His education about the topics helped him make his hypothesis's and conclusions.
5. "Albert Einstein Statue In Washington." UPI Photo Collection. 2009. Web. 6 May 2016. I choose this picture because it shows what the United States did in Albert Einstein's honor. We built a statue in Washington D.C.
6. Bederson, Benjamin. "Albert Einstein." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 3 May 2016. This is an article that deeply describes in detail, Albert Einstein's many scientific papers. His papers covered many different areas of science.
7. http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q This is a website that I used to find quotes from other people about Albert Einstein. The quote I chose was from a famous theoretical physicist and Albert influenced his ideas.
8. NORTH, JOSEPH ROY D. "Einstein's Motivation." Science 291.5505 (2001): 828. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016. I choose this journal article because it shows why Albert Einstein was motivated. It also shows how he was different being motivated to other scientist whom made discoveries.
9. Moore, Mike. "Whose Einstein?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 57.1 (2001): 10. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016. I choose this quote from a journal article because the quotes show some of Einstein's trouble in lots of topics. Also, the quotes are from Albert Einstein and only he would know his deepest troubles.
10. "The H Bomb." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 6: 1950-1959. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 547-549. Biography in Context. Web. 10 May 2016. I choose this picture because it shows what Einstein thought the world would become if the Soviet Union and the United States dropped a hydrogen bomb. I thought that it was interesting how the world is being depicted and how it looks like its in pain and needs help.