Einstein's biography. Cheerful scientist albert einstein

Albert Einstein (German: Albert Einstein 1879-1955) is a brilliant theoretical physicist, one of the founders of modern theoretical physics, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. He is the author of over 300 scientific papers in which he described the developed physical theories, including general and special theories of relativity, quantum theory, the theory of light scattering and a number of others. Einstein predicted gravitational waves and "quantum teleportation" and studied the problem of a unified field theory.

His discoveries underlie most of modern technologies: lasers, solar cells, fiber optics, astronautics, nuclear energy and much more owe their appearance to the great physicist. Einstein has consistently advocated as a pacifist against the use of nuclear weapons and for peace on earth.

Childhood and youth

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the German city of Ulm in the family of Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch. The genealogy of both parents goes back to Jewish merchants who lived in the Swabian lands for two centuries. The father of the future physicist was engaged in business, but soon after the birth of his son he went bankrupt. This forced the family to move to Munich with Hermann's younger brother Jakob. Here, in 1881, Albert will have a younger sister, Maria, who was always called Maya in the family.

In early childhood, Albert avoided noisy games with his peers, preferring solitary activities to them - building houses of cards, solving puzzles, moving a toy steam engine. So he made for himself the first discoveries that will forever remain in his life. One of the key moments of Einstein's childhood was, at first glance, an ordinary gift from his father - a compass. But this device made the boy indescribable thrill at the realization of what unknown force controls the arrows of the compass.

For food, the son received one symbolic gift from his mother, who had a musical education. She taught him to play the violin, which will be a real inspiration for a physicist. It is the violin that will help Albert in solving the mysteries of the theory of relativity. As his son Hans Albert later recalled: "When it seemed to him that he was at a dead end, he went into music and there he solved his problems."... Einstein especially liked Mozart's sonatas, which he himself performed with pleasure.

At the age of six, his parents sent Albert to study at the Catholic school Petersschule, where he was often laughed at because of his nationality. “I felt like an outsider,” Einstein would say. When he was 9 years old, he was transferred to Luitpold Gymnasium. Contrary to popular belief, he was the best student in the class and was well versed in mathematics, mastering the school textbooks of the older grades over the summer holidays. The only thing that hated him was the mechanical memorization of foreign languages.

First steps into science

In 1894, due to financial problems, the Einstein family moved to Northern Italy. Here he gained experience in dealing with electric generators, magnets and coils, having written at the age of 16 the first article "On the study of the state of the ether in a magnetic field." The brilliant physicist failed his attempt to enter the Zurich Multidisciplinary Technical School, having passed mathematics perfectly and failed the main exam, which included biology, literature, and languages. As a result, I managed to enter only the second time after graduating from school in Aarau.

After receiving his diploma as a teacher of mathematical and physical sciences, Einstein at one time could not even get a job as an ordinary teacher. Only with the help of a friend did he get a job at the Swiss Federal Patent Office, which did not prevent him from doing science. In 1905, which will be called "the year of miracles", in the journal Annals of Physics, Albert published three articles on quantum physics, the theory of relativity and static physics, which made a splash in the scientific world. For example, in the article "On one heuristic point of view on the emergence and cessation of light," he suggested that homogeneous light consists of quanta that are carried in space at the speed of light. In 1906, Einstein deservedly became a doctor of sciences.

Professorship

In 1909, Einstein was elected professor at the University of Zurich, and then at the German university in Prague. At this time, the scientist is working on the theory of gravitation, seeking to develop a relativistic theory of gravity. Together with M. Grossman, Albert finishes work on the theory of relativity, in which he concluded that any large body creates a curvature of space, so any other body will experience the influence of the first in such space. In fact, space-time acts as a material carrier of gravity. To mathematically substantiate the hypothesis put forward, Einstein had to master tensor analysis and work on a four-dimensional pseudo-Marian generalization.

In 1911, at the First Solvay Congress, Einstein met Poincaré, who met with hostility the theory of relativity. After the outbreak of the First World War, Einstein, in co-authorship with G. Nicolai, wrote the "Appeal to the Europeans", in which he condemned "nationalist madness."

Berlin period

After some deliberation, Albert moved to the University of Berlin, at the same time heading the Institute of Physics. After the end of the war, he focused on old research topics and took up new developments. In particular, he was greatly interested in relativistic cosmology. In 1917, the article "Cosmological considerations for the general theory of relativity" was published. Soon, the scientist becomes seriously ill - in addition to chronic liver problems, he suffered from stomach ulcers and jaundice.

After recovering, Einstein begins to work actively. In the 1920s, he was in great demand as a scientist; he was invited to give lectures by the best universities in Europe. In addition, the physicist visited Japan, India, where he met with R. Tagore. In the United States, Congress passed a special resolution to honor him.

After much deliberation, at the end of 1922, Einstein was finally awarded the Nobel Prize for 1921 officially for the theory of the photoelectric effect, rather than other more famous works. Still, the scientific revolutionary nature of his ideas made itself felt.

After 70 years, their colleagues at the University of Colorado received such condensates. In addition, the scientist became interested in politics and spoke many times about general internationalism, the disarmament of the Old World and the abolition of universal military service. In 1929, the world community widely celebrated the 50th anniversary of Einstein, who hid from everyone in his villa, where he received only close friends.

American period

The growing crisis of the Weimar Republic, which resulted in the coming to power of the Nazis, forced Albert to leave Germany. Moreover, open threats were poured in his address. Together with his family, he moves to the United States, deliberately renouncing German citizenship in connection with Nazi crimes. Overseas, Einstein will be appointed professor of physics at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Here he had great recognition and was awarded an audience with US President F. Roosevelt.

Success in the scientific field alternated with troubles in his personal life. In 1936, an old friend and colleague of M. Grossman died, and his wife Elsa died soon after. Einstein stayed with his beloved sister, stepdaughter Margot and secretary E. Ducas. He lived very modestly and did not even have a TV or a car, which amazed many Americans.

On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the scientist put his signature on the appeal to the American President F. Roosevelt, initiated by the physicist L. Szilard. In it, representatives of the scientific community sounded the alarm about the likely creation of nuclear weapons by the Third Reich. The head of state shared this concern and launched his own project. Subsequently, Einstein will reproach himself for his involvement in the creation of the atomic bomb and will utter the famous words: "We won the war, but not the peace".

During the war years, the scientist consulted the US Navy, and after its graduation, together with B. Russell, M. Bourne, L. Pauling and others, he became one of the founders of the Pugwash movement of scientists advocating scientific cooperation and disarmament. To prevent a new war, Albert even proposed to form a world government. Until the end of his days, Einstein studied the problems of cosmology and the unified field theory.

In 1955, Einstein's health condition deteriorated markedly, and heart problems arose. This prompted him to tell his loved ones that he fulfilled his destiny and is ready to die. He met his death with dignity, without unnecessary sentimentality. On April 18, 1955, the heart of the great scientist stopped. He did not like unnecessary pathos and did not allow this to be done in relation to himself after death. Albert Einstein's funeral was very modest, attended only by close friends. After the requiem, his body was burned, and the ashes were scattered in the wind.

Personal life

The first wife of the scientist was the Serbian Mileva Maric, who was a teacher of physics and mathematics by education. They married in 1903, but by that time they had a daughter, Lieserl, who died in infancy. Then two sons were born - Hans Albert and Edward. The first will eventually become a professor at the University of California and will become famous as a hydraulic scientist. The fate of the younger Edward is more tragic - in the early 30s he will fall ill with schizophrenia and will spend the rest of his days in a mental hospital.

Albert and Mileva agreed that in the event of a divorce, Einstein would give the money due for the Nobel Prize to his wife. So he did in the end. They were used to purchase three houses in Zurich.

In 1919, Albert married a second time to his maternal cousin Elsa Leventhal, adopting her two children, Ilza and Margot. They did not have joint offspring, but Einstein treated his adopted daughters as his own, surrounding them with care and attention. This marriage will last until Elsa's death in 1936.

The great humanist, the author of the famous and confusing theory of relativity, the founder of the foundations of the development of modern physics and the famous scientist Albert Einstein always knew what value he was. Despite dozens of published materials, personal letters, photographs and memoirs, he remains one of the most mysterious persons in the scientific world to this day. The truth of many facts of his difficult biography can be easily questioned, but there is still a rational kernel in hundreds and even thousands of documents. Let's figure out together what he was and how his life turned out.

The Amazing Einstein: Biography of a Peculiar Man

As a child, no one would have thought that young Albert, who began to talk at the age of seven, had a great scientific future. He was considered a lazy bumpkin, always distracted by something outside the window. He became interested in physics and mathematics only after he came across a volume of the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant, who stood on the verge of the era of Enlightenment and romanticism. His works so shocked the young man that he decided to understand the ideas of the philosopher using the universal language of mathematics.

In early childhood, Albert Einstein was trained in a strict Catholic school in his native Munich. According to his personal memoirs, he experienced deep religious awe during this period and positioned himself as a believer. All this lost all meaning for him at the age of twelve, when popular science literature forced him to take a critical look at the plausibility of the facts described in the Bible.

Characteristics of a historical person

He was a cheerful person, confident that any problem will "resolve" by itself if ridiculed long enough. Close friends and acquaintances described him as a friendly, outgoing and never discouraged shirt-guy. He was quite tall (1.75 m), broad-shouldered and stooped, with a shock of completely unruly hair and huge dark brown eyes. Einstein spent years of his life in reflection, but he found time for other aspects of being. He literally adored music, especially Mozart and Bach, knew how to play the violin and often practiced it. Albert smoked a pipe and even was in the company of her fans. They say he had many mistresses, as well as several illegitimate children.

The Nobel Committee found more than five dozen Einstein nominations for his newest revolutionary theory. His name has consistently popped up on the list of nominees for the award for twelve years. However, it was possible to get what was owed only in 1922, and even then on the topic of the theory of the photoelectric effect. During his life, he managed to collect many titles and awards from prestigious universities in different cities. But from an outstanding scientist, he also turned into a hero of various novels, films and theatrical performances. In adulthood, the appearance of a professor with disheveled hair and a half-mad gaze became the basis for inspiration of many figures of popular culture.

Albert's birth and childhood

Hermann Einstein, the father of the future luminary of science, was a poor Jew in the town of Ulm. He prepared feathers and down for the production of pillows and mattresses. He married Paulina Koch, whose father was engaged in the cultivation of corn. On March 14, 1879, the wife gave birth to a tiny boy with a large head, who was named Albert. Paulina's parents were wealthy enough to help Hermann move from the provincial province to Munich in a year. There they managed to open a very small company and start selling electrical equipment. A year later, the sister of the future genius, Maria, was born.

The boy grew up calm, almost never cried, but his mother was worried about his excessively large head, and she even assumed hydrocephalus. In addition, the child stubbornly refused to speak. At the age of six, his mother gave him violin lessons. This liberated the boy, he literally blossomed and carried his love for music throughout his life.

While attending a parish school where he was sent at the age of seven, Einstein's name made teachers frown in disgust. They considered him lazy and often punished him, which made him withdrawn and withdrawn into himself. The religiosity inculcated at this time crumbled to dust when Albert fell into the hands of Euclid's Beginning and the works of Kant.

At the age of twelve, he entered the gymnasium, which now bears his name, but did not achieve great success. Excellent marks in the boy's diary were only in Latin, which he knew very well from school. Mathematics was also easy for Albert, he understood it, felt it intuitively. Subsequently, he will say that the education system, based on the authoritarianism of teachers and the mechanical memorization of material, has exhausted itself and only harms the very spirit of learning, killing creative thinking at the root. In 94, the family moved to Italy, but the young man stayed in Munich with his relatives to finish his studies. However, it was not possible to obtain a certificate of education at that time.

Becoming a scientist

After spending a little time with his family, he got ready to go to Zurich, where he hoped to enter the Higher Technical School (Polytechnic). Having passed mathematics brilliantly, he flunked French, which he did not know at all, and botany, which he simply had no interest in. The director of the school, himself a professor of mathematics, already then understanding who Albert Einstein was for science, gave good advice. He recommended that he enroll in a senior year at a school in the north of Switzerland and come again the following year. In September of the ninety-sixth, he still passed all the necessary subjects, and by October he had already enrolled in the Polytechnic, which he successfully graduated at the dawn of the new century.

Interesting

In 1986, the idea came to renounce German citizenship. Albert wanted to receive Swiss citizenship, but for this it was necessary to pay a huge amount - a thousand francs of duty. The future great physicist Einstein did not have such money, and by that time his father was completely ruined. Therefore, it was possible to do this only after five long years.

Despite the fact that Swiss citizenship was obtained, he could not find a place for himself. He had to starve, from which a serious liver disease began, which passed with him until his death. Domestic difficulties did not become a reason to quit the science, which he became interested in at the technical school. Already in 1901, he published and published an article in the Annals of Physics Bulletin.

A fellow practitioner named Marcel Grossman helped cope with the plight. He gave excellent advice and the physicist was accepted into the FBP (Federal Patent Office) as a third class expert. The salary was three and a half thousand, which seemed to the impoverished scientist just a fabulous sum.

"Year of Miracles" of the beginning of the scientific revolution

In the history of world science, 1905 turned out to be special, for which it received the figurative name Annus Mirabilis. Einstein's three original articles marked the beginning of the real revolution itself. They were also published in the aforementioned Annals in Berlin.

• "To the electrodynamics of moving bodies", with which the notorious TO actually began.
• "On the motion of particles suspended in a fluid at rest", which was entirely devoted to the Brownian motion of particles. She made a revolution in statics.
• "On one heuristic point of view concerning the appearance and transformation of light", which laid the foundation for all quantum mechanics.

During this period, Albert was often asked the question: how did he manage to create his own more than strange theory? Half in jest, and maybe half seriously, he replied that the fault was slow development, which allowed him to remain a child with sufficient education.

The heyday of the career of a genius physicist and scientific discoveries that turned the world upside down

Albeit not at one moment, but the physicist Einstein became famous precisely after the publication of the works of one thousand nine hundred and five years. In April, he submitted his own dissertation to the University of Zurich, which he successfully defended in January. So a simple Jew from a German province became a real doctor of science in physics. Renowned scientists, with whom Albert actively corresponded, called him a professor, but he officially received the title only four years later at the same educational institution.

To our great regret, the salary for the professor's position was scanty, even in comparison with the Patent Office. Therefore, when he was offered a chair at the German University in Prague, he agreed without hesitation. Here he could already freely engage in science and came close to excluding Newtonian long-range action from the theory of gravitation, over which his colleagues were struggling for a long time. In the eleventh year, he attended a congress, where he met Poincaré for the only time. Three years later, he became a real professor at the University of Berlin, and in the fourteenth he was invited to St. Petersburg. Fearing Jewish pogroms, the scientist refused to go to Russia.

Beginning with the 10th work, Einstein was nominated for the Nobel Prize annually. The theory of relativity (TO) turned out to be so difficult and revolutionary that the members of the committee could not dare to recognize its validity. Albert still received the award, but only in 1922 and not at all for what he expected. She was awarded for the photo effect, the work is experimental and excellently tested. The scientist did not argue, he took the money (32 thousand dollars) and immediately gave it to his ex-wife.

Scientific discoveries that turned the world upside down

The scientist Einstein was not in vain considered in the world of science a real ascetic, a revolutionary, which turned the worldview of mankind as a whole. He strove for maximum "logical simplicity" and managed to see the new in the familiar.

• The general theory of relativity is the main brainchild of a physicist. It is based on the denial of the ether and is based on the experiments carried out. This work has long become a working tool for astronomers and physicists. On its basis, time corrections in the GLONASS and GPS systems are based, it is used to calculate the acceleration parameters of elementary particles. To obtain nuclear energy and space flights, TO also turned out to be indispensable. Within the framework of this theory, the law of interaction of energy and mass was discovered (E = mc2).
• Einstein made a huge contribution to the development of quantum mechanics. Even Schrödinger wrote that Albert's thoughts had a strong influence on him. Man has not yet learned to fully apply this discovery, but the development of a new quantum computer is in full swing, the speed of data processing in which will be beyond all our ideas.
• Albert Einstein found that there are four types of particle interactions. By combining them, he created a unified field theory. He admitted that in addition to four dimensions (length, width, height, time), there is also a fifth, but due to its small size it is invisible. It was from these considerations that the notorious TO subsequently grew.

In one thousand nine hundred and five, the scientist found out that the photoelectric effect, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize, is possible when the substance (medium) consists of individual particles (photons). Striking the electrons, they pull them out of the atoms. Thanks to the knowledge of this principle, it was possible to build an atomic bomb, but most importantly - numerous power plants of this type.

Physicist's move to the USA

Beginning in the thirties of the twentieth century, an economic crisis began to brew in Weimar Germany, and with it, like mushrooms after a rain, more and more frequent reports of unrest and anti-Semitism appeared. Radical nationalist sentiments in society led to serious threats and direct insults to Einstein as a Jew. The Nazis who came to power quickly attributed to themselves all the discoveries of the physicist, and even offered fifty thousand awards for his life and head. Racial cleansing could affect anyone, because in the thirty-third year, the scientist finally left Germany with its progressive Nazism, and went to the United States.

In the town of Princeton, he took the place of professor in the department of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study. A year later, he was summoned and honored with a personal meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt. During World War II, it was Einstein who was entrusted with the responsible task of advising the US Navy. The renowned scientist also signed the petition written by Leo Siladra. It spoke of the danger of the Nazis creating an atomic bomb. Roosevelt took the paper seriously and created his own agency to develop such weapons.

The personal life of a genius: what Einstein did

The great physicist was not handsome, but he had a special approach to women. Contemporaries considered Albert a real "womanizer, dragging behind every skirt." Fleeting novels did not always end calmly, without tears, hysterics and other accompanying "charms" that Einstein himself could not stand.

Wives and children

The first passion of the physicist was Maria Winteler, whom he met at the Zurich Polytechnic. It didn’t go further than violent passions, although the parents were already preparing the dowry. In 1998, while working on the theory of gravitation, he met a Serbian woman named Mileva Maric and fell in love again. What he found in this rude woman, limping on one leg and completely devoid of charm, so no one understood. Albert's mother, Paulina, opposed this marriage and for several years the couple lived just like that. Out of wedlock, their first-born was born - daughter Liesel or Lieserl, but the young father was in no hurry to recognize paternity. Nobody knows what happened to the baby afterwards, her trace is lost, and her fate is unknown.

After that, he agreed to marry Mileva, but set a number of conditions that clearly infringed upon the woman's rights (not to enter the room when he was working and leave it on demand, to take care of her husband, not to discuss his decisions, and so on). But if you want to get married, then you will not dance like that, and she agreed. They got married, and a year later (May 14, 1904), a son, Hans Albert, was born in marriage, who later became a hydraulic engineer. The second son, Edward, was born (1910) mentally handicapped, and in the thirtieth year he was finally diagnosed with a terrible diagnosis - schizophrenia. He died in a mental hospital in 65, never leaving there after twenty years.

After marriage, it was very difficult to persuade Mileva to divorce, but Albert succeeded. He promised to give her all the money after receiving the Nobel Prize, which there was no doubt about the award, and it worked. He kept his word and handed over the funds to his ex-wife. The second wife was the second cousin Elsa Lowenthal, who turned a blind eye to all his adventures and oddities. She was previously married and had two lovely daughters, whom Albert not only adopted, but also considered the closest people in the world.

This was followed by a series of mistresses, starting with the secretary Betty Neiman. The man offered her to live in three, but for such a young girl, twenty years younger than the professor, she could not agree. Cute Tony Mendel was next in line and lived next door. Ethel Mikhanovskaya, a friend of her adopted daughter, turned out to be too young, naive and romantic. She had to be abandoned because of Elsa's howls and tears. Margaret Lebach almost took him out of the family, but his wife survived. He did not want to change her for anyone: she was his wife, mother and even more. They say that in his declining years, Einstein had an affair with Margarita Konenkova, the wife of a famous Soviet sculptor.

Scientist's Political Beliefs and Einstein's Philosophy

Albert learned early on the injustice of the social order. Therefore, he remained forever a convinced pacifist, socialist, humanist and anti-fascist. He vehemently condemned the alienation of man, opposing himself to those around him under capitalism.

He considered the building of a socialist system to be a high goal, but without signs of totalitarianism in the management of society. For him, coercion, violence, and even more so the murder of a person was extremely unacceptable due to pacifist thinking. In the twenty-seventh year, he even actively participated in the Brussels Congress of the Anti-Imperialist League. During the beginning of anti-Semitic pogroms in Germany, he actively supported Zionist groups.

The scientist Einstein was always keenly interested in the philosophical aspect of science. The main authority, in his own words, was Spinoza, whose ideas were so close to physics. He did not accept the clearly positivist positions of Poincaré and Mach. Regarding religion, Albert's position was also not unambiguous, at different periods of his life he expressed himself differently. As a result, agnosticism turned out to be closest to him. That is, he did not deny the possibility of the existence of deities, but he did not take on faith what was not (could not be) proven experimentally.

Public recognition of scientific discoveries: in memory of the genius Einstein

Einstein received public recognition during his lifetime, which was expressed in many titles and awards. Doctoral degrees from various universities, not to mention the notorious "Nobel prize", which he still waited for, despite the skepticism of colleagues - all this can be safely credited to his incredible intelligence.

• In the 21st year of the twentieth century, he became an honorary citizen of New York, and two years later, Tel Aviv.
• In thirty-first he was awarded the Jules Jansen Prize from the French Society of Astronomers.
• In 1923, in Germany, Einstein was awarded the Order of Merit, which he himself refused ten years later due to the rampant Nazism in the country.
• For his, incomprehensible to many, the theory of relativity and a powerful contribution to quantum theory, he was awarded the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London.

This is only a small fraction of those titles, titles and awards that this amazing scientist has earned and received. Many monuments have been erected in his honor, and avenues, squares and streets in different cities of the world are named after him. There is an asteroid named after him, and in Philadelphia even the medical center is called Einstein's. Played his image in a number of computer games (Civilization IV, Command & Conquer: Red Alert), as well as feature films and documentaries (Einstein's Great Idea, IQ, Genius). Thanks to his unusual appearance and habits, he became the hero of many novels, stories and short stories.

Death of a Scientist: Myths and Legends Around the Person of a Theoretical Researcher

In the fifty-fifth year, the state of health of the great physicist deteriorated markedly. Then he wrote a will and even told his friends that he had already completed his mission on Earth. On April 18, 1955, the world famous scientist Albert Einstein died of aortic aneurysm at Princeton Hospital. The nurse testified that he tried to speak German, but did not have time to identify what he said. They did not bury him - he forbade to do it. The body was burned in the crematorium, and the ash was scattered in the wind.

The versatile personality of the physicist, who did not fit into the standard framework, caused the appearance after his death of many myths and legends, which he did not want during his lifetime. First, they said that the first wife "had a hand" in THAT, but there was no evidence of this. Secondly, many doubt that the ideas of this theory came to his head, and were not actually "suggested" by Poincaré or Hilbert. In addition, he is today positioned as a vegetarian. However, the truth is that it was only in the last year before his death that he began to adhere to such views.

Interesting facts about the unusual life of the smartest person

As a child, Albert was considered inferior due to the fact that he did not differ in the usual childish talkativeness. In addition, he had a large head, which even his mother worried about.

Einstein never liked sports and perceived any physical activity as violence against a person. He liked to repeat that, returning from work, "he wants to do nothing."

The scientist didn't like science fiction. He believed that all sorts of assumptions can significantly distort the results of real research, affect them.

Einstein allowed his own brain to be examined after death.

Like the famous literary character Sherlock Holmes, Albert loved to smoke his pipe and play the violin in the kitchen.

It is believed that it was this physicist, together with his friend Leo Szilard, who invented a refrigerator that could work without consuming electricity.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation considered him a Soviet spy. From thirty-third until his death, he was followed.

Einstein's apt and witty quotes

How much we know, but how little we understand.

Nationalism is a common childhood disease. This is a kind of measles of humanity.

God doesn't play dice.

I managed to survive two wars, two wives and even Hitler.

It is not my nature to think about the future. It will come too soon.

Albert Einstein (German Albert Einstein; March 14, 1879, Ulm, Württemberg, Germany - April 18, 1955, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) - theoretical physicist, one of the founders of modern theoretical physics, Nobel Prize laureate in physics in 1921 , a public figure-humanist. He lived in Germany (1879-1893, 1914-1933), Switzerland (1893-1914) and the USA (1933-1955). Honorary Doctor of about 20 leading universities in the world, a member of many Academies of Sciences, including a foreign honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1926).
Albert Einstein 1920

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the southern German city of Ulm, into a poor Jewish family. His parents were married three years before the birth of their son, on August 8, 1876. Father, Hermann Einstein (1847-1902), was at this time co-owner of a small business for the production of feather padding for mattresses and featherbeds.
Hermann Einstein

Mother, Pauline Einstein (nee Koch, 1858-1920), came from the family of a wealthy corn merchant Julius Derzbacher (in 1842 changed his last name to Koch) and Jetta Bernheimer.
Paulina Einstein

In the summer of 1880, the family moved to Munich, where Hermann Einstein, together with his brother Jacob, founded a small electrical equipment trading company.
Albert Einstein at the age of three. 1882

Albert's younger sister Maria (Maya, 1881-1951) was born in Munich.
Albert Einstein with his sister

Albert Einstein received his primary education at a local Catholic school. For about 12 years he experienced a state of deep religiosity, but soon reading popular science books made him a freethinker and forever gave rise to a skeptical attitude towards authorities. From childhood impressions, Einstein later recalled as the most powerful: the compass, Euclid's "Beginnings" and (about 1889) "Critique of Pure Reason" by Immanuel Kant. In addition, at the initiative of his mother, he began playing the violin at the age of six. Einstein's passion for music continued throughout his life. While already in the United States in Princeton, in 1934, Albert Einstein gave a charity concert, where he performed the works of Mozart on the violin for the benefit of scientists and cultural figures who had emigrated from Nazi Germany.
Albert Einstein is 14 years old. 1893

In the gymnasium, he was not among the first students (with the exception of mathematics and Latin). The entrenched system of mechanical memorization of material by students (which, he believed, harms the very spirit of learning and creative thinking), as well as the authoritarian attitude of teachers towards students, aroused Albert Einstein's rejection, so he often entered into disputes with his teachers.
In 1894, the Einsteins moved from Munich to the Italian city of Pavia, near Milan, where the brothers Hermann and Jacob transferred their firm. Albert himself remained with relatives in Munich for some time to finish all six classes of the gymnasium. Having never received a matriculation certificate, in 1895 he joined his family in Pavia.
In the fall of 1895, Albert Einstein arrived in Switzerland to pass the entrance exams at the Higher Technical School (Polytechnic) in Zurich and become a physics teacher. Brilliantly showing himself in the exam in mathematics, he at the same time failed the exams in botany and French, which did not allow him to enter the Zurich Polytechnic. However, the director of the school advised young man go to the final class of a school in Aarau (Switzerland) to get a certificate and repeat admission.
At the Aarau cantonal school, Albert Einstein devoted his free time to studying Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. In September 1896, he successfully passed all final exams at school, with the exception of the French exam, and received a certificate
A matriculation certificate issued to Albert Einstein in 1896, at the age of 17, after studying at the cantonal high school in Aarau, Switzerland.

In October 1896 he was admitted to the Faculty of Education at the Polytechnic. Here he became friends with a fellow student, mathematician Marcel Grossman (1878-1936), and also met a Serbian student of the Faculty of Medicine Mileva Maric (4 years older than him), who later became his wife. In the same year, Einstein renounced German citizenship. To obtain Swiss citizenship, it was required to pay 1,000 Swiss francs, but the poor financial situation of the family allowed him to do this only 5 years later. The father's enterprise this year finally went bankrupt, Einstein's parents moved to Milan, where Hermann Einstein, already without his brother, opened a company selling electrical equipment.
The style and methodology of teaching at the Polytechnic differed significantly from the ossified and authoritarian Prussian school, so further education was given to the young man more easily. He had first-class teachers, including the wonderful geometer Hermann Minkowski (Einstein often missed his lectures, which he sincerely regretted) and the analyst Adolf Hurwitz.
In 1900, Einstein graduated from the Polytechnic with a diploma in mathematics and physics. He passed the exams successfully, but not brilliantly. Many professors highly appreciated the abilities of Einstein's student, but no one wanted to help him continue his scientific career. Einstein himself later recalled: I was bullied by my professors, who did not like me because of my independence and closed my path to science.
Although in the next year, 1901, Einstein received Swiss citizenship, but until the spring of 1902 he could not find a permanent job - not even as a school teacher. Due to the lack of earnings, he literally starved, not eating for several days in a row. This became the cause of liver disease, from which the scientist suffered until the end of his life. Despite the hardships that plagued him in 1900-1902, Einstein found time to further study physics.
Albert Einstein with friends. 1903

In 1901, the Berlin Annals of Physics published his first article "Consequences of the theory of capillarity" (Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen), devoted to the analysis of the forces of attraction between atoms of liquids on the basis of the theory of capillarity. A former classmate, Marcel Grossman, helped to overcome the difficulties, who recommended Einstein for the position of an expert III class in the Federal Bureau of Patent Inventions (Bern) with a salary of 3,500 francs a year (during his student years he lived on 100 francs a month).
Einstein worked at the Patent Office from July 1902 to October 1909, primarily in the peer review of applications for inventions. In 1903 he became a permanent employee of the Bureau. The nature of the work allowed Einstein to devote his free time to research in the field of theoretical physics.
Albert Einstein is 25 years old. 1904

In October 1902, Einstein received news from Italy of his father's illness; Hermann Einstein died a few days after his son's arrival.
On January 6, 1903, Einstein married twenty-seven-year-old Mileva Maric. They had three children.
Mileva Maric

1905 went down in the history of physics as the "Year of Miracles" (lat. Annus Mirabilis). This year, the Annals of Physics, Germany's leading physics journal, published three outstanding papers by Einstein, initiating a new scientific revolution.
Many prominent physicists have remained faithful to classical mechanics and the concept of aether, among them Lorentz, J.J. Thomson, Lenard, Lodge, Nernst, Vin. At the same time, some of them (for example, Lorentz himself) did not reject the results of the special theory of relativity, but interpreted them in the spirit of Lorentz's theory, preferring to look at the space-time concept of Einstein-Minkowski as a purely mathematical device.
In 1907, Einstein published the quantum theory of heat capacity (the old theory at low temperatures was strongly at variance with experiment. At the same time, Smoluchowski, whose paper was published several months later than Einstein's, came to similar conclusions. molecules ", Einstein submitted to the Polytechnic as a dissertation and in the same 1905 received the title of Doctor of Philosophy (equivalent to a candidate of natural sciences) in physics. The following year, Einstein developed his theory in a new article" On the theory of Brownian motion. "Soon (1908) Perrin's measurements fully confirmed the adequacy of Einstein's model, which became the first experimental proof of the molecular kinetic theory, which was actively attacked by positivists in those years.
The works of 1905 brought Einstein, although not immediately, worldwide fame. On April 30, 1905, he sent to the University of Zurich the text of his doctoral dissertation on "Redefining Molecular Sizes." On January 15, 1906, he received his Ph.D. in physics. He corresponded and met with the world's most famous physicists, and Planck in Berlin included the theory of relativity in his curriculum. In letters he is called "Mr. Professor", but for another four years (until October 1909) Einstein continues to serve in the Patent Office; in 1906 he was promoted (he became a class II expert) and his salary was increased. In October 1908, Einstein was invited to teach an elective at the University of Bern, however, without any payment. In 1909, he attended a convention of naturalists in Salzburg, where the elite of German physics had gathered, and met for the first time with Planck; In 3 years of correspondence, they quickly became close friends and maintained this friendship until the end of their lives. After the congress, Einstein finally received a paid post of extraordinary professor at the University of Zurich (December 1909), where his old friend Marcel Grossmann taught geometry. The pay was small, especially for a family with two children, and in 1911 Einstein did not hesitate to accept an invitation to head the physics department at the German University in Prague. During this period, Einstein continued to publish a series of articles on thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum theory. In Prague, he intensifies research on the theory of gravitation, with the goal of creating a relativistic theory of gravity and fulfilling the old dream of physicists - to exclude Newtonian long-range action from this area.
In 1911, Einstein participated in the First Solvay Congress (Brussels) on quantum physics. There was his only meeting with Poincaré, who continued to reject the theory of relativity, although he personally had great respect for Einstein.
Photos of the participants of the first Solvay Congress in 1911 Brussels, Belgium.
The Solvay Congresses, a series of congresses that began on the visionary initiative of Ernest Solvay and continued under the leadership of the International Institute of Physics he founded, provided a unique opportunity for physicists to discuss fundamental problems that have been at the center of their attention at various times.
Sitting (left to right): Walter Nernst, Marcel Brillouin, Ernest Solvay, Hendrik Lorenz, Emile Warburg, Wilhelm Vin, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Marie Curie, Henri Poincaré.
Standing (from left to right): Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederik Lindmann, Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Gazenorl, Georg Hostlet, Eduard Herzen, James Jeans, Ernest Ruthertford-Heike, Allen Kamensthe , Paul Langevin.

A year later, Einstein returned to Zurich, where he became a professor at his native Polytechnic and lectured there in physics. In 1913, he attended the Congress of Naturalists in Vienna, visited 75-year-old Ernst Mach; Once Mach's criticism of Newtonian mechanics made a huge impression on Einstein and ideologically prepared the theory of relativity for innovations.
Second Solvay Congress (1913)
Seated (left to right): Walter Nernst, Ernest Rutherford, Wilhelm Wien, Joseph John Thomson, Emil Warburg, Hendrik Lorenz, Marcel Brillouin, William Barlow, Heike Kamerling-Onnes, Robert Williams Wood, Louis Georg Gui, Pierre Weiss.
Standing (from left to right): Friedrich Gazenorl, Jules Emile Vershafelt, James Hopwood Jeans, William Henry Bragg, Max von Laue, Heinrich Rubens, Maria Curie, Robert Goldschmidt, Arnold Sommerfeld, Eduard Herzen, Albert Einstein de Frederik Brewern William Pope, Edward Gruneisen, Martin Knudsen, Georg Hostlet, Paul Langevin.

At the end of 1913, on the recommendation of Planck and Nernst, Einstein received an invitation to head the physics research institute being created in Berlin; he is also credited as a professor at the University of Berlin. In addition to being close to Planck's friend, this position had the advantage that it did not oblige him to be distracted by teaching. He accepted the invitation, and in the pre-war 1914 year, a convinced pacifist Einstein arrived in Berlin. Mileva and her children stayed in Zurich, their family broke up. They officially divorced in February 1919.
Albert Einstein with Fritz Haber, 1914

In 1915, in a conversation with the Dutch physicist Vander de Haaz, Einstein proposed a scheme and calculation of the experiment, which after its successful implementation was called the "Einstein-de Haas effect." The result of the experiment inspired Niels Bohr, who two years earlier created a planetary model of the atom, since he confirmed that there are circular electron currents inside atoms, and electrons in their orbits do not emit. It was these propositions that Bohr made the basis of his model. In addition, it was found that the total magnetic moment is twice the expected; the reason for this was clarified when spin was discovered - the proper angular momentum of the electron.
In June 1919, Einstein married his mother's cousin Elsa Leventhal (née Einstein, 1876-1936) and adopted her two children. At the end of the year his seriously ill mother Paulina moved in with them; she died in February 1920. Judging by the letters, Einstein took her death hard.

Albert and Elsa Einsteins meet with reporters

After the end of the war, Einstein continued to work in the former areas of physics, and also engaged in new areas - relativistic cosmology and the "Unified field theory", which, according to his plan, was to unite gravity, electromagnetism and (preferably) the theory of the microworld. The first article on cosmology, "Cosmological Considerations for General Relativity," appeared in 1917. After that, Einstein experienced a mysterious "invasion of diseases" - in addition to serious problems with the liver, a stomach ulcer was found, then jaundice and general weakness. For several months he did not get out of bed, but continued to work actively. Only in 1920 did the diseases recede.
Photo of Albert Einstein in his office at the University of Berlin in 1920.

Einstein at the home of Leiden University physics professor Paul Ehrenfest in 1920.

Einstein visits Amsterdam with experimental physicist Peter Zeman (left) and his friend Paul Ehrenfest. (Around 1920)

In May 1920, Einstein, along with other members of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, was sworn in as a civil servant and was legally considered a German citizen. However, he retained Swiss citizenship until the end of his life. In the 1920s, receiving invitations from everywhere, he traveled extensively in Europe (with a Swiss passport),
Albert Einstein in Barcelona, ​​1923

lectured for scientists, students and for an inquisitive audience.
Albert Einstein giving a lecture in Vienna in 1921

Einstein Performs in Gothenburg, Sweden. 1923

He also visited the USA, where a special welcome resolution of the Congress (1921) was adopted in honor of the eminent guest.
Albert Einstein and observatory staff near the 40-inch refractor of the Yerkes Observatory. 1921

Guided tour of Marconi Station in New Brunswick, NJ. The photo shows famous scientists, including Tesla, 1921

At the end of 1922, he visited India, where he had a long relationship with Tagore, and China. Einstein met winter in Japan.
Albert Einstein's visit to Tohoku University. Left to right: Kotaro Honda, Albert Einstein, Keichi Aichi, Shirouta Kusakabe. 1922

In 1923 he spoke in Jerusalem, where it was planned to open the Hebrew University soon (1925).
Einstein was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics, but the members of the Nobel Committee for a long time did not dare to award the prize to the author of such revolutionary theories. In the end, a diplomatic solution was found: the prize for 1921 was awarded to Einstein (at the very end of 1922) for the theory of the photoelectric effect, that is, for the most indisputable and well-tested work in the experiment; however, the text of the decision contained a neutral addition: "... and for other works in the field of theoretical physics."
On November 10, 1922, the secretary of the Swedish Academy of Sciences Christopher Aurvillius wrote to Einstein:
Albert Einstein in Berlin. 1922

As I already informed you by telegram, the Royal Academy of Sciences at its yesterday's meeting decided to award you a prize in physics for the past (1921) year, thereby celebrating your work in theoretical physics, in particular the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, without taking into account your work on the theory of relativity and the theory of gravity, which will be evaluated after their confirmation in the future.
Naturally, Einstein devoted the traditional Nobel speech (1923) to the theory of relativity.
Albert Einstein. Official photograph of the 1921 Nobel Prize winner in physics.

In 1924, the young Indian physicist Shatyendranath Bose, in a short letter, asked Einstein for help in publishing an article in which he put forward the assumption underlying modern quantum statistics. Bose proposed to consider light as a gas of photons. Einstein concluded that the same statistics can be used for atoms and molecules in general. In 1925, Einstein published an article by Bose in German translation, and then his own article in which he outlined a generalized Bose model applicable to systems of identical particles with integer spin, called bosons. On the basis of this quantum statistics, now known as the Bose-Einstein statistics, both physicists back in the mid-1920s theoretically substantiated the existence of the fifth state of aggregation of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate.
Portrait of Albert Einstein. 1925

In 1927, at the Fifth Solvay Congress, Einstein strongly opposed the "Copenhagen interpretation" of Max Born and Niels Bohr, who interpreted the mathematical model of quantum mechanics as essentially probabilistic. Einstein stated that the supporters of this interpretation "make virtue out of need," and the probabilistic nature only testifies to the fact that our knowledge of the physical essence of microprocesses is incomplete. He sarcastically remarked: "God does not play dice" (German: Der Herrgott würfelt nicht), to which Niels Bohr objected: "Einstein, do not tell God what to do." Einstein accepted the "Copenhagen interpretation" only as a temporary, unfinished version, which, as physics progresses, should be replaced by a complete theory of the microworld. He himself attempted to create a deterministic nonlinear theory, the approximate consequence of which would be quantum mechanics.
The 1927 Solvay Congress on Quantum Mechanics.
1st row (from left to right): Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Curie, Henrik Lorenz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles Guy, Charles Wilson, Owen Richardson.
2nd row (from left to right): Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Bragg, Hendrik Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr.
Standing (left to right): Auguste Piccard, Emile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Eduard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules Emile Vershafelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Fowler, Leon Brillouin.

In 1928, Einstein saw off Lorentz's last journey, with whom he became very friends in his last years. It was Lorenz who nominated Einstein for the Nobel Prize in 1920 and supported her the following year.
Albert Einstein and Hendrik Anton Lorenz in Leiden in 1921.

In 1929, the world celebrated Einstein's 50th birthday noisily. The hero of the day did not take part in the celebrations and hid in his villa near Potsdam, where he enthusiastically grew roses. Here he received friends - scientists, Tagore, Emmanuel Lasker, Charlie Chaplin and others.
Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore

Albert Einstein received an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne University in Paris in November 1929.

Albert Einstein plays the violin during a benefit concert at the New Synagogue in Berlin on January 29, 1930.

Portrait of Albert Einstein by the clairvoyant Madame Sylvia in Berlin in 1930. For a long time it hung in the visitor's hall in her office.

Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein at the 1930 Solvay Congress in Brussels

Einstein opens a radio show. Berlin, August 1930

Einstein at the Berlin radio show, August 1930

In 1931, Einstein visited the United States again.
Einstein's departure to America. December 1930

Albert Einstein in 1931 was struck by the enthusiasm of journalists in the United States who wanted him to explain his theory of relativity to them. Einstein said it would take at least three days

In Pasadena, he was greeted very warmly by Michelson, who had four months to live.
Albert Einstein, Albert Abraham Michelson, Robert Andrews Milliken. 1931

Returning to Berlin in the summer, Einstein, in a speech before the Physical Society, paid tribute to the memory of the remarkable experimenter who laid the foundation stone of the theory of relativity.
Until about 1926, Einstein worked in so many areas of physics, from cosmological models to investigating the causes of river meanders. Further, with rare exceptions, he focuses his efforts on quantum problems and the Unified Field Theory.
Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. December 1925

As the economic crisis in Weimar Germany grew, political instability intensified, which contributed to the strengthening of radical nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments. Insults and threats against Einstein became more frequent, and one of the leaflets even offered a large reward (50,000 marks) for his head. After the Nazis came to power, all of Einstein's works were either attributed to "Aryan" physicists, or declared a distortion of true science. Lenard, who led the German Physics group, proclaimed: “The most important example of the dangerous influence of Jewish circles on the study of nature is Einstein with his theories and mathematical chatter, composed of old information and arbitrary additions ... We must understand that it is unworthy of a German to be a spiritual follower of a Jew ". An uncompromising racial cleansing unfolded in all scientific circles in Germany.
In 1933, Einstein had to leave Germany, to which he was very attached, forever.
Albert Einstein and his wife after exile in Belgium, where they lived in the Villa Savoyarde in Haan. 1933

Villa Savoyarde in Haan (Belgium), where Einstein lived for a short time after his expulsion from Germany. 1933

Einstein gives interviews to reporters at the Savoyarde Villa in Belgium. 1933

Albert Einstein with his wife in 1933 at a villa in Savoyarde.

Together with his family, he went to the United States of America on guest visas.
Albert Einstein in Santa Barbara, 1933

Soon, in protest against the crimes of Nazism, he renounced German citizenship and membership in the Prussian and Bavarian academies of sciences.
After moving to the United States, Albert Einstein was promoted to professor of physics at the newly established Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ). The eldest son, Hans-Albert (1904-1973), soon followed (1938); he subsequently became a recognized specialist in hydraulics and professor at the University of California (1947). Einstein's youngest son, Edward (1910-1965), fell ill with severe schizophrenia around 1930 and ended his days in a Zurich psychiatric hospital. Einstein's cousin Lina died in Auschwitz, another sister, Bertha Dreyfus, died in Theresienstadt concentration camp
Albert Einstein with his daughter and son. November 1930

In the United States, Einstein instantly became one of the most famous and respected people in the country, gaining a reputation as the most brilliant scientist in history, as well as the personification of the image of the "absent-minded professor" and the intellectual capabilities of man in general. The next January, 1934, he was invited to the White House to President Franklin Roosevelt, had a cordial conversation with him, and even spent the night there. Every day, Einstein received hundreds of letters of various contents, to which (even children) he tried to answer. As a world-renowned natural scientist, he remained an approachable, modest, undemanding and affable person.
Portrait of Albert Einstein. 1934

Elsa died of heart disease in December 1936; Marcel Grossman had died three months earlier in Zurich. Einstein's loneliness was brightened by his sister Maya,
Sister Maya

stepdaughter Margot (daughter of Elsa from her first marriage), secretary Ellen Ducas and cat Tiger. To the surprise of the Americans, Einstein never got a car or TV. Maya was partially paralyzed after a stroke in 1946, and every evening Einstein read books to his beloved sister.
In August 1939, Einstein signed a letter, initiated by the Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, addressed to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The letter drew the president's attention to the possibility that Nazi Germany would acquire an atomic bomb.
Albert Einstein receives a certificate of American citizenship from Judge Philip Foreman. October 1, 1940

After months of deliberation, Roosevelt decided to take this threat seriously and launched his own project to create atomic weapons. Einstein himself did not take part in these works. Later, he regretted the letter he signed, realizing that for the new leader of the United States, Harry Truman, nuclear energy serves as an instrument of intimidation. Later, he criticized the development of nuclear weapons, their use in Japan and the tests on the Bikini Atoll (1954), and considered his involvement in accelerating work on the American nuclear program to be the greatest tragedy of his life. His aphorisms were widely known: “We won the war, but not the peace”; "If the third world war will be fought with atomic bombs, then the fourth - with stones and sticks."
Celebrating the 70th anniversary. 1949

In the postwar years, Einstein became one of the founders of the Pugwash Movement of Scientists for Peace. Although his first conference was held after the death of Einstein (1957), the initiative to create such a movement was expressed in the widely known Russell-Einstein Manifesto (co-written with Bertrand Russell), which also warned of the dangers of creating and using a hydrogen bomb. As part of this movement, Einstein, who was its chairman, together with Albert Schweitzer, Bertrand Russell, Frederic Joliot-Curie and other world famous scientists, fought against the arms race, the creation of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Einstein also called for the creation of a world government in the name of preventing a new war, for which he received harsh criticism in the Soviet press (1947)
Niels Bohr, James Frank, Albert Einstein, October 3, 1954

Until the end of his life, Einstein continued to work on the study of problems of cosmology, but he directed his main efforts towards creating a unified field theory.
In 1955, Einstein's health deteriorated sharply. He wrote a will and said to his friends: "I have completed my task on earth." His last work was an unfinished appeal calling for the prevention of nuclear war.
His stepdaughter Margot recalled the last meeting with Einstein at the hospital: He spoke with deep calmness, about doctors even with a slight humor, and waited for his death as an upcoming "phenomenon of nature." How fearless he was during his lifetime, so quiet and peaceful he met death. Without any sentimentality and without regret, he left this world.
Albert Einstein in the last years of his life (probably 1950)

The scientist who turned mankind's ideas about the Universe, Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 at 1:25 am, at the 77th year of his life in Princeton from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Before his death, he uttered a few words in German, but the American nurse could not reproduce them later.
On April 19, 1955, the funeral of the great scientist was held without wide publicity, which was attended by only 12 of his closest friends. His body was burned at the Ewing Cemetery crematorium, and his ashes were scattered in the wind.
Newspaper headlines with obituaries. 1955

Einstein was passionate about music, especially compositions from the 18th century. Over the years, among his preferred composers were Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Haydn and Schubert, and in recent years - Brahms. He played well the violin, which he never parted with.
Albert Einstein plays the violin. 1921

Albert Einstein's Violin Concerto. 1941

Along with Julian Huxley, Thomas Mann and John Dewey, he served on the advisory board of the First Humanist Society of New York
Thomas Mann with Albert Einstein at Princeton, 1938

He strongly condemned the "Oppenheimer case", which in 1953 was accused of "communist sympathies" and was removed from secret work.
Physicist Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein talk at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. 1940s

Alarmed by the rapid rise of anti-Semitism in Germany, Einstein supported the Zionist movement's call for a Jewish national home in Palestine and delivered a number of articles and speeches on the topic. The idea to open the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1925) received especially active assistance from him.
Upon arrival in New York, the leaders of the World Zionist Organization met with Albert Einstein. In the photo Mossinson, Einstein, Chaim Weizmann, Dr. Ussyshkin. 1921

He explained his position:
Until recently, I lived in Switzerland, and while I was there, I was not aware of my Jewishness ...
When I arrived in Germany, I first learned that I was a Jew, and more non-Jews helped me to make this discovery than Jews ... Then I realized that only a joint business, which would be dear to all Jews in the world, could lead to the revival of the people ... If if we did not have to live among intolerant, soulless and cruel people, I would be the first to reject nationalism in favor of universal humanity.
Dr. Albert Einstein and Meyer Weisgal arrived at the Anglo-American Committee on Palestine. 1946

Albert Einstein testifies on behalf of the UN about the illegal restriction of Jewish immigration to Palestine.

In 1947, Einstein welcomed the creation of the State of Israel, hoping for a binational Arab-Jewish solution to the Palestinian problem. He wrote to Paul Ehrenfest in 1921: "Zionism is a truly new Jewish ideal and can restore the joy of existence to the Jewish people." After the Holocaust, he remarked: “Zionism did not protect German Jewry from destruction. But for those who survived, Zionism gave the inner strength to endure the disaster with dignity, without losing healthy self-esteem. " In 1952, Einstein even received an offer to become the second president of Israel, which the scientist politely refused, citing his lack of experience in such work. All his letters and manuscripts (and even the copyright for the commercial use of his image and name) Einstein bequeathed to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Albert Einstein with Ben Gurion, 1951

In addition
Albert Einstein on the ship Portland, December 1931

Albert Einstein arrives at Newark Airport in April 1939.

Albert Einstein lectures at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. 1940s

Albert Einstein 1947

Albert Einstein is a legendary physicist, a beacon of science of the 20th century. Creation belongs to him
general theory of relativity and special theory of relativity, as well as powerful contributions to
development of other areas of physics. It was GRT that formed the basis of modern physics, combining
space over time and describing almost all visible cosmological phenomena, including
and admitting the possibility of the existence of wormholes, black holes, fabric of space-time, and
also other phenomena of a gravitational scale.

Any theory, no matter how clear and generally accepted it may be, always requires verification. Even if its author was widely known. As reported by the editors of the journal Nature, recently an international group of scientists tested the statement of the great scientist about the quantum entanglement of particles. Moreover, thanks to a specially created computer game, Einstein's statement was called into question.

Albert einstein

The genius of the first half of the 20th century. Scientist - who began to be recognized all over the world. Interesting personality, interesting life. Today we will tell you about the life of Albert Einstein in facts.

Theoretical physicist, one of the founders of modern theoretical physics, Nobel Prize laureate in physics in 1921, public figure-humanist. He lived in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. Honorary Doctor of about 20 leading universities in the world, a member of many Academies of Sciences, including a foreign honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Einstein was born into a poor Jewish family. His father, Herman, worked at a feather bed and mattress stuffing company. Mother Paulina (nee Koch) was the daughter of a corn merchant.

Albert had a younger sister, Maria.

In his hometown, the future scientist did not live even a year, since the family left to live in Munich in 1880.

In Munich, where Hermann Einstein, together with his brother Jacob, founded a small electrical equipment trading company.

His mother taught little Albert to play the violin, and he left musical studies for the rest of his life.

While already in the United States in Princeton, in 1934, Albert Einstein gave a charity concert, where he performed the works of Mozart on the violin for the benefit of scientists and cultural figures who had emigrated from Nazi Germany.

In the gymnasium (now the Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Munich), he was not among the first students.

Albert Einstein received his primary education at a local Catholic school. According to his own recollections, as a child, he experienced a state of deep religiosity, which ended at the age of 12.

Through reading popular science books, he came to the conviction that much of what is stated in the Bible cannot be true, and the state is deliberately engaged in deceiving the younger generation.

In 1895 he entered the Aarau school in Switzerland and successfully completed it.

In Zurich in 1896, Einstein entered the Higher Technical School. After graduating in 1900, the future scientist received a diploma in physics and mathematics.

During World War II, Einstein was a technical consultant for the United States Navy. It is known for certain that Russian intelligence more than once sent their agents to him for secret information.

In 1894, the Einsteins moved from Munich to the Italian city of Pavia, near Milan, where the brothers Hermann and Jacob transferred their firm. Albert himself remained with relatives in Munich for some time to finish all six classes of the gymnasium.

In the fall of 1895, Albert Einstein arrived in Switzerland to take the entrance exams to the Higher Technical School (Polytechnic) in Zurich.

After graduating from the Polytechnic, Einstein, in need of money, began looking for work in Zurich, but could not even get a job as an ordinary school teacher.

The famous photograph of Einstein showing his tongue was taken for annoying journalists who asked the great scientist to just smile at the camera.

After graduating from the Polytechnic, Einstein, in need of money, began to look for work in Zurich, but could not even get a job as an ordinary school teacher. This literally hungry period in the life of the great scientist affected his health: hunger became the cause of serious liver disease.

After Einstein's death, they managed to find his notebook, which was completely covered with calculus.

Albert was helped with employment by his former classmate, Marcel Grossman. According to his recommendations, in 1902, Albert got a job as a class III expert in the Burne Federal Bureau of Patent Inventions. Until 1909, the scientist evaluated applications for inventions.

In 1902, Einstein loses his father.

Einstein worked at the Patent Office from July 1902 to October 1909, primarily in the peer review of applications for inventions. In 1903 he became a permanent employee of the Bureau. The nature of the work allowed Einstein to devote his free time to research in the field of theoretical physics.

Since 1905, the name of Einstein has been recognized by all physicists of the world. The journal "Annals of Physics" published three of his articles at once, which marked the beginning of the scientific revolution. They were devoted to the theory of relativity, quantum theory, statistical physics.

Einstein had to work as an electrician.

“Why exactly did I create the theory of relativity? When I ask myself this question, it seems to me that the reason is the following. A normal adult does not think about the problem of space and time at all. In his opinion, he had already thought about this problem in childhood. I developed intellectually so slowly that space and time occupied my thoughts when I became an adult. Naturally, I could penetrate deeper into the problem than a child with normal inclinations. "

However, many scientists considered the "new physics" too revolutionary. It canceled ether, absolute space and absolute time, revised Newton's mechanics, which for 200 years served as the support of physics and was invariably confirmed by observations.

Einstein could not pay alimony to his wife. He suggested that if she received the Nobel Prize, she should give all the money.

Charlie Chaplin was among the closest friends of the great scientist.

Using the incredible popularity of his own person, the scientist took one dollar for each autograph for some time. He donated the proceeds to charity.

On January 6, 1903, Einstein married twenty-seven-year-old Mileva Maric. They had three children. The first, even before marriage, was the daughter of Lieserl (1902), but the biographers failed to find out her fate.

Einstein spoke 2 languages.

Hans-Albert, the eldest son of Einstein, became a great specialist in hydraulics, a professor at the University of California.

Einstein's favorite hobby was sailing. He could not swim on water.

In 1914, the family breaks up: Einstein leaves for Berlin, leaving his wife and children in Zurich. In 1919, an official divorce took place.

More often than not, the genius did not put on socks, because he did not like to wear them.

After his death in 1955, pathologist Thomas Harvey removed the scientist's brain and photographed it from different angles. Then, having cut the brain into many small pieces, for 40 years he sent them to various laboratories for research by the best neurologists in the world.

Edward, the youngest son of the great scientist, was ill with a severe form of schizophrenia and died in a psychiatric hospital in Zurich.

In 1919, after receiving a divorce, Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal (nee Einstein), his maternal cousin. He adopts her two children. In 1936, Elsa died of heart disease.

Einstein's last words remained a mystery. An American woman was sitting next to him, and he spoke his words in German.

In 1906, Einstein received his Ph.D. By this time, he was already gaining worldwide fame: physicists from all over the world write letters to him, come to meet him. Einstein meets Planck, with whom they have a long and strong friendship.

Albert Einstein was very fond of the "Maxims" of the outstanding French thinker and politician François de La Rochefoucauld. He read them constantly.

In 1909 he was offered to work at the University of Zurich as an extraordinary professor. However, due to the small salary, Einstein soon agreed to a better offer. He was invited to head the Department of Physics at the German University of Prague.

The great genius was always mocked in elementary school.

During the First World War, the scientist openly expresses his pacifist views and continues scientific discoveries. After 1917, liver disease worsens, stomach ulcers appear and jaundice begins. Without even getting out of bed, Einstein continued his scientific research.

On the eve of his death, Einstein was offered an operation, but he refused, saying that "artificial life extension does not make sense."

In 1920, after a serious illness, Einstein's mother dies.

In literature, the genius of physics preferred Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Bertold Brecht.

In 1921, Einstein finally became a Nobel laureate.

In 1923, Einstein spoke in Jerusalem, where it was planned to open the Hebrew University soon (1925).

In 1827, Robert Brown observed under a microscope and subsequently described the chaotic movement of pollen floating in the water. Einstein, based on molecular theory, developed a statistical and mathematical model of such a movement.

Albert Einstein's last work was burned.

In 1924, the young Indian physicist Shatyendranath Bose, in a short letter, asked Einstein for help in publishing an article in which he put forward the assumption underlying modern quantum statistics. Bose proposed to consider light as a gas of photons. Einstein concluded that the same statistics can be used for atoms and molecules in general.

In 1925, Einstein published an article by Bose in German translation, and then his own article, in which he outlined a generalized Bose model applicable to systems of identical particles with integer spin, called bosons. On the basis of this quantum statistics, now known as the Bose-Einstein statistics, both physicists back in the mid-1920s theoretically substantiated the existence of the fifth aggregate state of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate.

In 1928, Einstein saw off Lorentz's last journey, with whom he became very friends in his last years. It was Lorenz who nominated Einstein for the Nobel Prize in 1920 and supported her the following year.

My pacifism is an instinctive feeling that possesses me because killing a person is disgusting. My attitude does not come from any speculative theory, but is based on the deepest antipathy to any kind of cruelty and hatred.

In 1929, the world celebrated Einstein's 50th birthday noisily. The hero of the day did not take part in the celebrations and hid in his villa near Potsdam, where he enthusiastically grew roses. Here he received friends - scientists, Rabindranath Tagore, Emmanuel Lasker, Charlie Chaplin and others.

In 1952, when the state of Israel had just begun to form into a full-fledged power, the great scientist was offered to become president. Of course, the physicist flatly refused such a high post, citing the fact that he is a scientist and lacks the experience to govern the country.

In 1931, Einstein visited the United States again. In Pasadena, he was greeted very warmly by Michelson, who had four months to live. Returning to Berlin in the summer, Einstein, in a speech before the Physical Society, paid tribute to the memory of the remarkable experimenter who laid the foundation stone of the theory of relativity.

In 1955, Einstein's health deteriorated sharply. He wrote a will and said to his friends: "I have completed my task on Earth." His last work was an unfinished appeal calling for the prevention of nuclear war.

Albert Einstein died on the night of April 18, 1955 in Princeton. The cause of death was a ruptured aortic aneurysm. According to his personal will, the funeral took place without wide publicity; only 12 people close and dear to him attended them. The body was burned in the Ewing Semetery crematorium, the ashes were scattered in the wind.

In 1933, Einstein had to leave Germany, to which he was very attached, forever.

In the United States, Einstein instantly became one of the most famous and respected people in the country, gaining a reputation as the most brilliant scientist in history, as well as the personification of the image of the "absent-minded professor" and the intellectual capabilities of man in general.

Albert Einstein was a staunch democratic socialist, humanist, pacifist and anti-fascist. Einstein's authority, achieved thanks to his revolutionary discoveries in physics, allowed the scientist to actively influence the socio-political transformations in the world.

Einstein's religious views have been the subject of long-standing controversy. Some argue that Einstein believed in the existence of God, others call him an atheist. Both of them used the words of the great scientist to confirm their point of view.

In 1921, Einstein received a telegram from New York rabbi Herbert Goldstein: "Do you believe in God, pt 50 words paid answer." Einstein fit into 24 words: "I believe in the God of Spinoza, who manifests himself in the natural harmony of being, but not at all in God, who cares about the fate and deeds of people." Even more harshly he put it in an interview with The New York Times (November 1930): “I do not believe in a God who rewards and punishes, in a God whose goals are molded from our human goals. I do not believe in the immortality of the soul, although weak minds, possessed by fear or ridiculous selfishness, find refuge in such a belief. "

Einstein was awarded honorary doctorates from numerous universities, including: Geneva, Zurich, Rostock, Madrid, Brussels, Buenos Aires, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Harvard, Princeton, New York (Albany) , Sorbonne.

In 2015, in Jerusalem, on the territory of the Hebrew University, a monument to Einstein was erected by the Moscow sculptor Georgy Frangulyan.

Einstein's popularity in the modern world is so great that controversial points arise in the widespread use of the scientist's name and appearance in advertising and trademarks. Since Einstein bequeathed some of his property, including the use of his images, to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Albert Einstein brand was registered as a trademark.

Signing one of the photographs with his tongue hanging out, the genius said that his gesture was addressed to all of humanity. How can it be without metaphysics! By the way, contemporaries have always emphasized the scientist's subtle humor and the ability to joke wittily.

Internet source