Albert Einstein is known as one of the world’s geniuses for his many discoveries and logical beliefs. Albert was very timid and shy in his early life and was often discouraged to what he could accomplish. He changed the world with his discoveries and made a mark in history with his brilliant mind. Later in his life he was often attacked through words and ridiculed even through his efforts to save many people. Albert Einstein’s scientific breakthrough of his discoveries and learnings in the 1920’s helped him to reach the top of scientific respect and fame. To begin, Albert was discouraged and insulted by many of what he could become.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, to his parents Hermann and Pauline Einstein. Albert was born abnormal and had a misshapen head and a large body. His family believed he was mentally challenged as he was slow to speak and had extreme temper tantrums. His family was Jewish and lived in Ulm, Germany, but later moved to Munich, Germany by the time his sister Maja was born. Maja became Albert’s only friend because he was a loner and was socially awkward. He disliked all the games that other children would play and disapproved of acting as a soldier.
Even at a young age Albert was fascinated with science because his father had given him a compass and it intrigued him. When Albert attended school, he was only interested in math and science and failed the other classes out of hatred of the subjects. Albert was often called inattentive and a daydreamer by his professors who said he would amount to nothing in life. Albert’s uncle Jakob inspired him to learn algebra in which he excelled.
Max Talmud gave Albert his first science books which made Albert rethink questions in new ways. Eventually, Max had become verwhelmed with Albert’s massive love and intelligence for mathematics and philosophy. The Einstein’s family business collapsed and caused his family to move to Milan, Italy, but they kept Albert in Munich to finish schooling. Albert hated the school, and he couldn’t leave it because he would be forced to join the German army, but instead he convinced his mathematics teacher to write up a note stating Albert had fulfilled all requirements to graduate. Before Albert graduated, he was expelled for false accusations which led him to reunite with his family in Italy.
There he renounced his citizenship of Germany because of his hatred for the country. He began school in Aarau, where he loved the relaxed atmosphere and later passed his Matura exams to join the Swiss Polytechnic School. Albert met his best friend Marcel Grossman at the polytechnic school and also his future wife Mileva Maric. Albert was still called useless and inattentive by his professors, but he still managed to pass his exams and graduate. However, Mileva did not pass the exams and she soon fell into deep depression. After graduating, Albert applied for Swiss citizenship and received a negative review but still gained citizenship.
Albert was also unneeded in the military due to his flat feet and swollen veins in his legs. Albert struggled to get a job and only obtained a temporary job after Marcel Grossman convinced his father to let him teach mathematics at Frederic Haller. After obtaining this temporary job, Albert was informed that Mileva was pregnant and she had failed the Matura exam for the second time. Mileva moved back to her family in Hungary while Albert stayed in Switzerland. Albert’s daughter Lieserl was born in 1902 and his first son Hanz was born two years later. Albert became obsessed with his studies which evolved into discoveries of scientific ideas.
Secondly, Albert Einstein’s discoveries changed the world’s logic and transformed him into a popular icon in science. In 1905, Albert published a paper titled Annalen Der Physik which explained Albert’s belief of light traveling in waves. This paper was not infamously popular due to the historical argument over the matter of light waves. Albert expanded Nobel Prize winner Max Planck’s works of energy and temperature connections with Quantum Theory. Albert believed that getting noticed by famous scientist would help him be able to teach at the University of Bern but, he was declined the job.
Albert studied for two years and announced the equation “E=MC^2”. This equation states that mass and energy are equal, even though they differentiate in form. He also believed they could be converted into each other. Albert calculated energy using the equation while an object’s mass was multiplied by C^ (the speed of light), 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 kilometers per second multiplied by itself. Albert added this equation into his paper Annalen Der Physik. Even though his equation is his most well-known discovery, his happiest thought was gravity and weight when falling.
In 1907, Albert learned gravity and acceleration are equal after studying gravity of weighted objects when falling. Albert called this theory the Equivalence Principle. Albert and his friend Conrad Habicht created an electrical device to measure electric charges. If this was successful the device would be a hit. However, Conrad never got the device to work well enough and the device was a failure. Albert discovered his theory of Relativity soon after world war two had begun. This theory stated that gravity and acceleration affect each other while involved with time in space.
This principle’s main idea was that gravity affected the measurement of time, space, and the gravitational effect of bent sunlight. In 1929, Edwin Hubble proved Albert’s Theory of Expansionism in the galaxy to be true by using the giant telescope built by Edwin himself. Albert’s many discoveries led him to become famous and one if the most popular scientist of his time. Lastly, Albert’s later life was full of hatred and disdain death threats. Albert’s last son Eduard was born in 1910. He was offered a job at the University of Prague, where Mileva moved away from to Zurich to escape the hatred of Jews.
Einstein later asked for a divorce and later married Elsa Loewenthal. His mother began to die of cancer and Eduard was sickly causing Albert’s finances to become severely low. Albert went to New York in 1921 to raise money for a Jewish university in Jerusalem. Albert’s friend Walter Rathenau was gunned down by Germans who disagreed with a treaty between Germany and Russia. Albert’s love for the Jews and his hatred for Germany led to death threats being sent to Einstein and the evacuation of his homes. While evacuating, Albert won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1922 after being nominated four times.
Due to Albert’s busy and stressful lifestyle, he collapsed in Davos, Switzerland and was diagnosed with a heart condition. Albert them hired Helen Dukas as his secretary and caretaker. Even through his heart condition, Albert signed papers to show his hate for Nazis. The Nazis began to ransack his apartments many times a day and taking his possessions. The leader of the Nobel Prize society denounced Albert and all Jews of their scientific ideas and theories. Albert began to be guarded by armed guards and was protected by Queen Elizabeth of Belgium.
In 1939, Albert began to write letters to Franklin Roosevelt warning that Hitler was building nuclear weapons. After the second letter was written, Roosevelt began the Manhattan project. Einstein worked for the Navy’s Bureau of Ordinance where he rated weapons for war. The FBI viewed Albert as a suspicious person and he was not allowed to join the Manhattan project. Albert did not want the nuclear weapons to be used and was appalled when Japan was bombed. He spent the rest of his life fighting for civil rights and writing scientific equations.
On April 12, 1955, Albert collapsed at his home due to a burst aneurysm. Albert Einstein died six days later while his son Hanz visited him. Albert Einstein helped make science as it is today and shaped the world through his actions in later life. Albert overcame his early life of social anxiety and discouragement. He discovered many principles and became scientifically famous. Albert escaped death threats and helped save millions in his late life. Albert’s breakthrough in science led him to shape many aspects of science and the world itself in society today.
