Early Life

Albert Einstein was a great physicist and mathematician born on 14th March 1879 in the
Kingdom of Wrttemberg, Germany. His early education was from the Catholic Elementary
School. Later he transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium where stayed to complete his
studies till he was fifteen. When Einsteins father lost his business of electrical equipment that
worked on direct current to the innovation of the alternating current, the family decided to
move to Milan and then to Pavia a few months later in search of business. As Einstein grew
older so did his mathematical talent. He began to show immense aptitude in the subject and
his technical abilities were no less. Although his father encouraged him for electrical
engineering, Einstein rebelled with the school authorities against its system of rote learning.
Finally unable to understand the way of learning in the Gymnasium, Einstein returned to his
family in Italy where he wrote his very first short essay called On the Investigation if the
State of the Ether in a magnetic Field.
At 16, he gave the entrance exams for the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich. He performed
exceptionally well in mathematics and physics failing all the other subjects. He then went to
Switzerland in 1895 to complete his secondary schooling. He passed the Swiss Matura with
good grades especially in physics and mathematics with achieving a grade 6 on a scale from
1-6 with 6 being the highest grade. Einstein decided to enroll in a diploma teaching program
at the Zurich Polytechnic.

Work
Einstein struggled to get a job after his graduation, finally securing a post as assistant
examiner at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property in Bern. There he initiated a small
group named the Olympia Academy who got together to discuss science and philosophy.
Einstein did his PhD in 1905 with his dissertation being called A New Determination of
Molecular Dimensions. This year was called Einsteins Miracle Year as he not only
achieved a PhD but also published four groundbreaking papers on photoelectric effect,
Brownian motion, special relativity and the equivalence of matter and energy which
brought him fame throughout the scientific world as a leading scientist.
He got the post of lecturer at the University of Bern in 1908 which he gave up for the position
of physics docent at the University of Zurich. In 1911 he became a professor at KarlFerdinand University in Prague. On his return to Germany in 1914, Einstein was appointed
the director of Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics and a professor at the Humboldt
University of Berlin. He was also a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and in
1916 the President of the German Physical Society. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize for
his contribution to Physics and the Copley Medal from the Royal Society in 1925.
Along with his scientific talent he also enjoyed classical music and playing the violin. He was
a man of extraordinary intelligence and brilliant scientific mind. He published hundreds of
books and articles. His work on quantum physics and his Manhattan Project proved to be of
great significance to the US government.

Notable works

It was Einstein's theory of relativity that gave the world the equation E = mc 2. This
equation was used with dangerous consequences as one of the key components to
the building of the bomb in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Manhattan Project. This
atomic bomb would later be used against Japan to help end World War II. Einstein,
however, was not involved in this process as government officials believed that he
was a security risk and might compromise the operation.
Einstein's theory of relativity proposed a radical idea that space must be curved
around huge objects if it was to account for both time and gravity. This idea was
proved in 1919 when astronomers witnessed a solar eclipse and were able to
observe Einstein's theory in action.
Einstein also continued to contribute to mathematics by holding teaching positions at
universities in Berlin, Zurich and Prague. He also started to contribute to nonmathematical topics, such as peace. He also was one of the signers on a 1939 letter
that informed the president that the Germans were capable of creating an atomic
bomb.

Death
Einstein died on 18th April 1955 due to internal bleeding. He refused surgery saying: I want
to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to
go. I will do it elegantly. He died having given numerous important theories and concepts to
the world that are being used to this date.