Einstein, Albert

Einstein, Albert (b. 14 Mar. 1879, d. 18 Apr. 1955). Theoretical physicist Born in Ulm (Germany) of Jewish parents, he was educated in Munich and Zurich. In 1905 he formulated his first special theory of relativity and in 1909 became a professor of physics in Zurich. In 1912 he put forward a theory of photochemical equivalence and was made director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, 1914–33. In 1916 he published Die Grundlagen der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie, in which his general theory of relativity revolutionized the previous Newtonian theory of the universe. For his observations, which were confirmed at a total eclipse in 1919, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

In 1933 he fled Hitler's anti-Semitism and became a US citizen, teaching at Princeton. In 1939 he warned President Roosevelt of German research into the possibilities of an atomic bomb, and thus initiated the bureaucratic process which led to the US development of atomic weapons code-named the Manhattan Project. After 1945, he became increasingly alarmed at the potential threat to mankind through atomic warfare. Together with Bertrand Russell, he helped establish the Pugwash conferences of scientists against a nuclear war, which started in 1957. He became an icon of scientific genius for the twentieth century. His public image as a humane scientist was also based on his revulsion at the technology his discoveries led to, and a strong commitment to political and personal liberty.