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Albert Einstein (14 March 1879-18 April 1955) is a theoretical physicist who is widely regarded as the greatest scientist in the 20th century. He put forward the theory of relativity and also greatly contributed to the development of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and cosmology. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect and “for his services to Theoretical Physics”.

Having formulated the theory of general relativity, Einstein became famous throughout the world, an unusual achievement for a scientist. In his old age, his fame exceeded the fame of all scientists in history, and in popular culture, says Einstein is considered synonymous with intelligence or even genius. His face is one of the most known around the world.

In 1999, Einstein called the “People of the Century” by Time magazine. Popularity also makes the name “Einstein” is widely used in advertisements and other merchandise, and finally “Albert Einstein” registered as trademark. To appreciate them, a unit in the photochemical named einstein, a chemical element named einsteinium, and a named asteroid 2001 Einstein.

1. Early life and university

Einstein was born in Ulm in Württemberg, Germany, about 100 km east of Stuttgart. His father named Hermann Einstein, a salesman feather bed which then undergo electrochemical work, and his mother was Pauline. They were married in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt. Their family was Jewish; Albert schooled in Catholic school and the wishes of his mother he was given violin lessons. At age five, his father showed him a pocket compass, and Einstein realized that something in space that “empty” acted upon the needle; he later described this experience as one of the most evocative moment in his life. Although he made models and mechanical devices as a hobby, he is considered a slow learner, possibly caused by dyslexia, shyness, or because the structure of the rare and unusual in his brain (examined after his death).

He later credited his theory of relativity to this slowness, saying that by pondering space and time than other children, he was able to develop a more developed intelligence. Another opinion, in the news lately, about his mental development is that he suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition associated with autism. Einstein began to study mathematics at the age of twelve. There are rumors that he failed in mathematics in his education, but this is not true; replacement in the assessment to be confused in the following year. Two of his uncles helped develop interest in the intellectual world during the last part of his childhood and early adolescence by providing suggestions and books on science and mathematics. In 1894, due to the failure of his father’s electrochemical business, Einstein moved from Munich to Pavia, Italy (near Milan). Albert stayed behind to finish school, finish a semester before rejoining his family in Pavia. Failure in the liberal arts in the entrance test Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zurich) in the next year is a step backwards; j him by his family sent to Aarau, Switzerland, to finish high school, where he received a diploma in 1896 , Einstein several times to register at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. The following year he took off Württemberg citizenship, and become not bekewarganegaraan.

In 1898, Einstein met and fell in love with Mileva Maric, a Serb who is a classmate (also a friend of Nikola Tesla). In 1900, he was awarded a degree to teach by the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule and Negar accepted as a Swiss citizen in 1901. During this time Einstein discussed his interest in science to his close friends, including Mileva. He and Mileva had a daughter named Lieserl, born in January 1902. Lieserl, at that time, deemed illegal because the parents are not married.

2. Work and Doctoral Degree

At the time of graduation Einstein could not find a teaching job, keterburuannya as a young man who easily made angry professornya. Father of a classmate helped him obtain a job as a technical assistant examiner at the Swiss Patent Office dalah 1902. There, Einstein assess the inventor patent applications for devices that require pengatahuan physics. He also learned to recognize the importance of application compared with a poor explanation, and learning from the director how “to explain himself properly.” He is sometimes correct their design and also evaluate the practicality of their work. Einstein married Mileva on 6 January 1903. Einstein’s marriage to Mileva, a mathematician, is the personal companion and cleverness; On May 14, 1904, the couple’s first child, Hans Albert Einstein, was born. In 1904, Einstein’s position at the Swiss Patent Office to be fixed. He earned his doctorate after submitting the thesis “Neue Bestimmung der eine Moleküldimensionen” (“On a new determination of molecular dimensions”) in 1905 from the University of Zürich.

In the same year he wrote four articles that provide the foundation of modern physics, without much scientific literature that he can appoint or many colleagues in science that he can discuss about the theory. Most physicists agree that three of those papers (on Brownian motion), the photoelectric effect and special relativity) deserved Nobel Prizes. Only the paper on the photoelectric effect would win one. This is ironic, not only because Einstein is far better known for relativity, but also because the photoelectric effect is a quantum phenomenon, and Einstein became free from the street in quantum theory. What makes these papers remarkable is that, in each case, Einstein boldly took an idea from theoretical physics to its logical consequences and managed to explain experimental results that had baffled scientists for decades. He submitted a thesis-thesis to the “Annalen der Physik”. They are usually addressed to “Annus Mirabilis Papers” (from Latin: In excellent). Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) plans to celebrate 100 years of the publication of Einstein’s work in 1905 as the Year of Physics, 2005.

3. Brownian motion

In the first article in 1905 called “On the Motion-Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat-of Small particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid”, includes research on Brownian motion. Using the kinetic theory of fluids at the time was controversial, he determined that the phenomenon, which still lack a satisfactory explanation decades after his after he was first observed, provided empirical evidence (based on observation and experimentation) the reality of atoms. And also lend confidence in statistical mechanics, which at that time also controversial. Prior to this thesis, the atom is known as a berguan concept, but physicists and chemists hotly debated whether atoms really a tangible object. Einstein’s statistical discussion of atomic behavior gave players a way to calculate the experimental atom just by looking through the ordinary microscope. Wilhelm Ostwald, a leader of the anti-atom school, later told Arnold Sommerfeld that he had converted to complete Einstein’s explanation of Brownian motion.