The Life of Albert Einstein

1
The Life of Albert Einstein

• Liz Hofreiter
• ETE 100 03
• August 29, 2005

2
Birth and Childhood

• Albert was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm,
  Germany.
• Parents Hermann and Pauline were non observant
  Jews whose family business consisted of the
  manufacturing of electrical parts.

The house where Einstein was born.
3
Early Schooling

• Albert received good grades but found his
  schooling restricting as it depended on
  memorization and obedience. His real studies
  were done at home while reading science and math
  textbooks.
• He left his school in Munich at age 15, to join
  his parents who had moved to Italy.

Einsteins class in Munich in 1889. Einstein is
in the front row, second from the right.
4
"It is almost a miracle that modern teaching
methods have not yet entirely strangled the holy
curiosity of inquiry for what this delicate
little plant needs more than anything, besides
stimulation, is freedom." - Einstein

• Albert graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute
  of Technology in 1900 as a secondary math and
  physics teacher.
• He obtained his Ph.D. from University of Zurich.
  He later became professor at the Kaiser-Wilhelm
  Gesellschaft in Berlin.

5
Scientific Works

• The 1905 papers
• Three seminal papers researched and written by
  Einstein.
• The first concerning electromagnetic energy
• The second proposing the special theory of
  relativity
• The third concerning statistical mechanics

6
Scientific Works

• Emc²
• This equation expresses the deep connection
  between energy and mass.
• E represents energy, m represents mass, and c² is
  a very large number, the square of the speed of
  light.

Click to hear Einstein explain his formula
7
Fame

• When British eclipse expeditions in 1919
  confirmed his predictions about the general
  theory of relativity, Einstein was bombarded by
  the popular press.
• Einstein became the world's symbol of pure
  genius, and of the new physics.
• Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics
  in 1921.

"I have become rather like King Midas, except
thateverything turns not into gold but into a
circus." - Einstein
8
WWII and Einsteins Concerns

• With the rise of fascism in Germany, Einstein
  moved, in 1933 to the United States, abandoning
  his pacifistic views he held during WWI.
• Einstein wrote a letter to FDR in 1939 that urged
  the U.S. to develop an atomic bomb before Germany
  did. This letter contributed to Roosevelts
  decision to fund the Manhattan Project.

9
The Nuclear Age

• In May 1946, Einstein became chairman of the new
  Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, which
  strove for international control of nuclear
  energy.
• In 1952 Einstein was offered the position of
  President of Israel, but turned down the
  opportunity. His interest in public affairs,
  however, continued.

• Einstein continued until his death in 1955 as an
  avid political activist.

10
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the
mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that
stands at the cradle of true art and true
science.

• Einstein died in the spring of 1955 from heart
  failure, six years after his wife. However, his
  accomplishments in the field of physics are still
  remembered and taught today.