Albert Einstein
By: Emily Davis
Early Life and Education
Major Contributions to Physics
Theory of Relativity Explained
Albert Einstein, in his theory of special relativity, determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and he showed that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed at which an observer travels. As a result, he found that space and time were interwoven into a single continuum known as space-time. Events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another. As he worked out the equations for his general theory of relativity, Einstein realized that massive objects caused a distortion in space-time.
Degrees Earned
-1919: University of Rostock - Honorary doctorate
-1919: University of Rostock - Honorary doctorate
-1921: Princeton University - Honorary doctorate
-1922: Nobel Foundation, Stockholm - Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 1921
-1923: University of Madrid - Honorary doctorate
-1923: Order "Pour le mérite" - Admission to the order
-1923: Genootschap ter Bevordering van Natuur-, Genees- en Heelkunde - Genootschaps Medal
-1925: Royal Society of London - Copley Medal
-1926: Royal Astronomical Society - Gold Medal
-1929: German Physical Society - Max-Planck-Medal
-1930: ETH (Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule), Zurich - Honorary doctorate
-1931: Oxford University - Honorary doctorate
-1934: Yeshiva College, New York - Honorary doctorate
-1935: Franklin Institute, Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin Medal
-1935: Harvard University - Honorary doctorate