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Albert Einstein

by Nik from Cupertino High School

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein
<a href=http://home.pacbell.net/kidwell5/aepic.html>Einstein</a>
Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany. When he was a boy, his father gave him a compass. Albert was fascinated with the compass. He said that the magnetism proved that there must be other unexplained forces in the universe. He was inquisitive as a child, and that never changed. He went to high school at the age of ten! His first scientific paper was published when he was just a teenager. Even when he worked in the U.S. patent office, he was thinking. When Einstein was on his deathbed, his only last request was a pen and paper. With his last breath, on April 18, 1955, he was thinking. He had left only an unfinished equation, and instructions to donate his brain to science, and cremate his body, throwing the ashes in some unknown place. Albert Einstein was an amazing, though eccentric, person.

Einstein offered the formula E=MC², which, simply put, stated that there is energy in all matter. When he heard that there were European scientists using his theories to work on an atomic bomb in Germany, he wrote a letter to the president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advising him to immediately start work on a bomb in the United States (Visit the links section to read the letter). This was very hard for Einstein because all his life he had abhorred violence and for him to advise the president to potentially build the most dangerous bomb in existence, took a lot of courage. He went against all of his moral standards because he knew that if he didn’t do it, the Nazis would have the A-bomb first. And that would truly have been a disaster. Albert Einstein is a hero for writing that letter to tell them to build that bomb, and even more of a hero for feeling remorse.

Albert Einstein is my hero because he was always inquisitive. He inspired me to take an interest in science and mathematics. He never stopped thinking. Up until his last moment, he was always writing. Even after he died, he donated his brain to science so others could learn. He never gave up on his dream of peace. Albert Einstein is my hero for just being who he was.

Page created on 12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

FDR letter - Albert Einstein's letter to FDR.
Albert Einstein - Biography