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Albert Einstein

by Itamar from San Diego

Amazing Einstein

            "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited" (www.einstein-quotes.com). As a physicist, Einstein was one of the greatest men to ever live. As a political figure, not so much. Albert Einstein was a person who loved to help people whenever he could, with a 10-foot list of achievements to boot. He has done many things to revolutionize the field of physics and science in general. Wining a Nobel Prize is an honor only few and deserving win, and he was one of those few. Albert Einstein was a selfless person who is heroic because he revolutionized the scientific field of physics, he used his fame to advocate peace in both public and political areas, and he left a giant legacy that still impacts our world to this day.

Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 and was a poor student. Although he got high marks in mathematics and science, he basically failed all other classes. His mom suggested he try the fine arts, this led to him becoming an accomplished violinist and pianist. When he was 15 he dropped out of high school to go to the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich, where he graduated in 1900 with a degree in physics. In 1905 he published a thesis that won him a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. In that same year Einstein published four more papers that forever changed mass view of the world. While continuing his research he slowly built fame (which he resented) and in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. In the 1930's Einstein worked hard to promote peace, establishing the Einstein War Resisters International Fund to bring public pressure on the World Disarmament Conference, scheduled to meet in Geneva in 1932. After the failure of the conference, Einstein visited Geneva to stress the need of lowering the world's firepower amount. When Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, Einstein cautioned that Germany was going into war and renounced his German citizenship to move to America, where e accepted a full time position at the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey. His life remained unchanged for 20 years, he continued his research and played violin, until he died in his sleep in April 18, 1955.

Probably one of Einstein's greatest accomplishments and achievements to better the human race were his contributions toward the field of physics. In 1905, at the age of twenty-six, Einstein published a paper outlining his special theory of relativity, which demonstrates mathematically that the speed of light is constant (roughly 186,000 miles per second) and not relative to its source or to the speed of an observer. This was the first of many papers that shocked the scientific community. Like many great thinkers, at first his ideas were rejected and labeled as nonsense. But once this paper earned him his doctorate people began to take him seriously and consider his ideas as more than just a 26 year old's blather. After he published his thesis, he produced 4 more papers in the same year. All these papers were highly important in shaping today's view on light, time, space, and gravity. The 4 papers he published were Brownian movement, the quantum theory of light, the special theory of relativity, and The link between mass and energy (which included the famous E=mc2 equation). These four papers are also what earned him his Nobel Prize, and boosted his fame to great lengths. As well as helping him, these theses also created a whole new outlook on the universe. In short Einstein changed the way we think and created a whole new way to see the world.

Albert Einstein ((http://hebrewyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/albert-einstein.jpg))
Albert Einstein ((http://hebrewyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/albert-einstein.jpg))

Einstein was a smart man, but he was also peace loving and wanted to avoid war at all costs. Einstein was appalled at World War I, and so went on to create the Einstein War Resisters International Fund to bring public pressure on the World Disarmament Conference. Einstein hated war and was completely against it. He was also smart enough to realize that history repeats itself. So Einstein jumped at the chance to stop any further wars from breaking out. When his plan didn't work he came down there himself to try and persuade them to see things from his point of view and lower the world's firepower amount. Before World War II even happened, Einstein warned of the coming tragedy. Sadly, his warnings fell largely on deaf ears so he did what he could to make sure the right people won. When war did break out Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt urging him to start an atomic weapons project before the Germans, (but he was so against war that he also followed up his letter with another, stating that it shouldn't be used on people). This letter was key to funding the "Manhattan Project" and creating the first atomic bomb. Although Einstein was not directly involved in the making of the bomb, his general theory of relativity provided the theoretical explanation for the research. Einstein was a peaceful man that did all he could to avoid war, and prevent destruction.

As smart and kind Einstein was, he wasn't immortal. But his ideas, his inventions, his legacies are. And it's these legacies that will live on forever and stay with us through the future. Arguably one of the most famous equations in science, E=mc2, is now an integral part in nuclear physics. It is the basic equations used to calculate for example the energy produced by the fuel in a nuclear power station. It also helped create nuclear reactors, which are what create nuclear energy. Einstein's research is also the fuel for another great mind of our time. Stephen Hawking's research is based off of Einstein's'. Einstein's research was timeless and is still being used to this day. Even as you read this researchers are looking into using an old patent Einstein worked on for a refrigerator that uses less energy and toxic chemicals. Just goes to show that Einstein is helping people even beyond the grave.


Einstein was a man of a higher intelligence than most and put his smarts to good use. He tried to change the world for the better and still continues to do so beyond the grave. If it wasn't for him we still might not know what we know because of him, we might have never figured out that E=mc2, or that the speed of light is constant. This is why Albert Einstein was heroic, he did things no other man could and he did them to help us all out.

 

Works Consulted

"Albert Einstein." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 2. Gale, 1992. Gale Biography In      Context. web. 7 May 2012.

 

"Albert Einstein." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom 

Pendergast. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 9 May 2012.

 

Einstein, Albert. The World as I See It. New York: Philosophical Library, 1949. Print.

Isaacson, Walter. Einstein. London: Andre Deutsch, 2009. Print.

 

"Imagination Is More Important than Knowledge. Knowledge Is Limited. Imagination Encircles the World. by Albert Einstein." Imagination Is More Important than Knowledge. Knowledge Is Limited. Imagination Encircles the World. by Albert Einstein. QuoteWorld. Web. 25 May 2012. .

 

Page created on 5/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 5/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

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