Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955, American theoretical physicist; b. Germany;
recognized as one of the greatest physicists of all Time.
He became (1914) titular professor of physics and director of theoretical
physics at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. The Nazi government
confiscated (1934) his property and revoked his German citizenship because he was
Jewish, and in 1940 Einstein became an American citizen, holding a post at the
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton from 1933 until his death. Although an
ardent pacifist, he urged President Franklin Roosevelt to investigate the possible
use of atomic energy in bombs (see Atomic Bomb).
In one of three important 1905 papers, he explained Brownian Movement on
the basis of his study of the Motion of atoms. His
special theory of Relativity (1905) dealt with
systems or observers in uniform (unaccelerated) motion with
respect to one another. He asserted (1911) the equality of
Gravitation and Inertia and formulated (c.1916) a
general theory of relativity that included gravitation as a determiner of the curvature of
a Space-Time continuum. Einstein contributed to the
development of Quantum Theory, postulating (1905)
Light quanta (Photon(s)), on
which he based his explanation of the Photoelectric
Effect, and developing the Quantum Theory of
specific heat. Working on a unified Field theory, he attempted
to explain gravitation and electromagnetism with one set of laws. For his work in
theoretical physics, notably on the photoelectric
effect, he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics.