Albert Einstein

When people think of heroes, they usually picture someone of great strength, leadership, charisma, or someone who put their lives in danger. While Albert Einstein did not possess any of these distinctions, he did help the world with his great mind, his perseverance, his willingness to stand by his beliefs, and his questioning of authority. He not only applied these attributes to his now legendary scientific work, but also to his political ideology and general philosophy which helped countless of lives. Albert Einstein is a perfect example of how intelligence is a priceless attribute that can greatly help the world.

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in the city of Ulm in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Einstein (née Koch). Throughout his childhood he was always curious and learning math and science way beyond his years. Einstein attended the Zurich Polytechnic and eventually graduated, only to not be able to find a job because of his Jewish heritage. After he received a modest job at the patent office, Einstein had his so called annus mirabilis or “miracle year”. During this year he published four revolutionary papers that started the new era of relativistic mechanics instead of the centuries old classical mechanics which he had just disproven in his most famous paper that year, The Special Theory of Relativity.

The annus mirabilis was not just possible because of Einstein’s immense logic and creativity. They were possible because of Einstein’s willingness to challenge authority even after hundreds of years of previous accepted fundamentals. This trait is also present outside of Einstein’s scientific work. For example “In 1914, at the outset of the First World War, ninety-three academics signed a petition expressing support for Germany’s acts of belligerence. Einstein, together with three colleagues, signed a counter-petition directed against the war. Though he received much criticism for his stance, his pacifist ideals never diminished.” (Heckman) What this shows is that Einstein was independent and opposed war against the rest of the western world, while most of Germany was pleading for a war. He received heavy criticism and threats because of his pacifist position, yet he stuck to his beliefs. He also was a very adamant deist (believes in an impersonal creator god that is closer to atheism than theism), socialist, and Zionist, for which he faced adversities which he stood up to. He was once offered the presidency of Israel but responded "I have never in my life undertaken a task that I could not fulfill to the satisfaction of my own conscience” in reference to his disdain of authority.

Another heroic act Einstein made was that he was a spokesperson for pacifism and the rights of Jews. He opposed both World Wars because of his pacifist beliefs. In 1939 Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt informing him that the Germans might have a nuclear bomb. The letter stated “in the course of the last four months it has been made probable…that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.” This letter and another one Einstein sent were what convinced Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project and probably changing the course of World War II. With this letter he probably saved millions of lives, although he also experienced regret as the weapons he helped create also killed hundreds of thousands.

Albert Einstein is one of the most recognizable and idolized person, with genius, being voted the man of the 20th century by TIME Magazine, winning a Nobel prize in physics, and being called the father of modern physics. Few people have impacted the world as much as him and in as many different ways. His efforts to help humanity often get forgotten among his scientific achievements. His scientific achievements coupled with his effort to stop Nazi Germany make him a hero to be admired by future generations.