Transcript Slide 1

The Life of Albert Einstein
Liz Hofreiter
ETE 100 03
August 29, 2005
Birth and Childhood


Albert was born on March
14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany.
Parents Hermann and
Pauline were non
observant Jews whose
family business consisted of
the manufacturing of
electrical parts.
The house where
Einstein was born.
Early Schooling
 Albert
received good grades
but found his schooling
restricting as it depended on
memorization and obedience.
His real studies were done at
home while reading science
and math textbooks.
 He left his school in Munich
at age 15, to join his parents
who had moved to Italy.
Einstein’s class
in Munich in
1889. Einstein
is in the front
row, second
from the right.
"It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for
what this delicate little plant needs more than anything,
besides stimulation, is freedom." - Einstein
 Albert
graduated from the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in 1900 as a
secondary math and physics teacher.
 He
obtained his Ph.D. from University of
Zurich. He later became professor at the
Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft in Berlin.
Scientific Works
The 1905 papers:
Three seminal papers
researched and written by
Einstein.
 The first concerning
electromagnetic energy
 The second proposing the
special theory of relativity
 The third concerning
statistical mechanics
Scientific Works
E=mc²
 This equation
expresses the deep
connection between
energy and mass.
 E represents energy, m
represents mass, and
c² is a very large
number, the square of
the speed of light.
Click to hear Einstein
explain his formula
Fame
•
"I have become
rather like
King Midas,
•
except that
everything
turns not into
gold but into a
circus."
•
- Einstein
When British eclipse expeditions
in 1919 confirmed his predictions
about the general theory of
relativity, Einstein was
bombarded by the popular press.
Einstein became the world's
symbol of pure genius, and of the
new physics.
Einstein was awarded the Nobel
Prize for physics in 1921.
WWII and Einstein’s Concerns


With the rise of fascism in Germany, Einstein
moved, in 1933 to the United States,
abandoning his pacifistic views he held during
WWI.
Einstein wrote a letter to FDR in 1939 that urged
the U.S. to develop an atomic bomb before
Germany did. This letter contributed to
Roosevelt’s decision to fund the Manhattan
Project.
The Nuclear Age
o
In May 1946, Einstein
became chairman of the
new Emergency
Committee of Atomic
Scientists, which strove
for international control of
nuclear energy.
o
In 1952 Einstein was
offered the position of
President of Israel, but
turned down the
opportunity. His interest in
public affairs, however,
continued.
o
Einstein continued until
his death in 1955 as an
avid political activist.
"The most beautiful experience we can
have is the mysterious. It is the
fundamental emotion that stands at the
cradle of true art and true science.”
Einstein died in the spring of 1955 from heart failure,
six years after his wife. However, his
accomplishments in the field of physics are still
remembered and taught today.