Albert Einstein

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein)

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Württemberg, Germany. His parents were Hermann and Pauline Einstein. When Albert became school-age, his parents sent him to a Catholic elementary school. He showed understanding of complex mathematical skills when he was young by constructing working mechanical devices. He was, however, a slow learner in many areas. Some believe that this may have been due to dyslexia, but there is no absolute proof that he had it. No one suspected he would ever become what he did.

(antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov)

In 1901 Einstein gained his diploma and, unable to find a job in Germany, accquired Swiss citizenship and got a job at the Swiss patent office. Although many people would think his job at the patent office a boring one, he found it very interesting. He could see what inventions people were working on and he himself worked on his own inventions and ideas most in this part of his lifetime. Four years later, in 1905, he created his theory of relativity; a step that would change science forever.

(www.zetema.it)

After creating the theory of relativity he quickly became world-famous. For the next ten years he went thru teaching as a professor at various universities. He finally settled down in Berlin, where he stayed until 1930 when he renounced his German citizenship and moved to Pasadena, California in the United States. He stayed there for three years while trying to find a good job. Then, in 1933, he left California to accept a job as Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton University.

(www.spaceandmotion.com)

In 1939 Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt telling him about the possibility of creating the atomic bomb. "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." Although Einstein was against war, he felt the bomb might be necessary in ending Hitler's reign. After a few years the United States, thanks to Einstein, had created the atomic bomb, which helped to put an end to World War II.

After the war, the state of Israel requested that Einstein become their president. Einstein, though flattered I'm sure, rejected it, as he had no previous experience doing anything like that. For the rest of his years he was very active in the zionist movement. He died in Princeton more than fifteen years after World War II on April 18, 1955. But he died a hero and his fame will not diminish anytime soon.