Transcript Einstein at the Patent Office 1905

Einstein’s Miraculous Year
Early Life
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Born – March 14, 1879, Ulm, Germany.
Enters Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich, 1888.
Drops out of Luitpold Gymnasium, 1895
Fails entrance examination to Federal Institute of Technology in
Zürich, 1895.
Finishes high school at canton school in Aarau, 1896.
Enters Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, 1896
Graduates from Federal Institute of Technology, 1900
Temporary high school teaching positions, tutoring, 1901.
Appointed as technical expert third class to patent office in Bern,
1902.
Marries Mileva Marič, 1903.
Birth of first son, Hans Albert, 1904.
Einstein’s 1905 Papers
•
March - On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and
Transformation of Light. Annalen der Physik, ser. 4, XVII, 132-148.
•
April - A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions Annalen der Physik,
ser. 4, XVIX, 289-306.
•
May - On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid
Demanded by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat. Annalen der Physik,
ser. 4, XVII, 549-560.
•
June - The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Annalen der Physik, ser. 4,
XVII, 891-921.
•
September - Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on its Energy Content?
Annalen der Physik, ser. 4, XVIII 639-641.
•
December - On the Theory of Brownian Motion. Annalen der Physik, ser. 4,
XIX, 371-381.
A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions
Submitted April 30, 1905; Published, February 8, 1906.
doctorial dissertation
classical hydrodynamics and diffusion theory
effect of solute molecules (spheres) on viscosity of solution.
mathematical error, corrected in 1911
comparison with data on sugar solutions
suggested that water molecules attach to sugar
molecules (later verified)
N = 2.1 X 1023
R = 9.9 X 10-8 cm
Einstein’s most frequently cited paper
On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended
in a Stationary Liquid Demanded by the
Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat.
Received May 11; published July 18, 1905.
Brownian motion
statistical mechanics (fluxuations) and diffusion theory
evidence for reality of atoms
formula for measurement of molecular size
On the Theory of Brownian Motion
Received December 19, 1905; published February 8, 1906.
vertical distribution of suspension with gravity
rotational Brownian motion
The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies
Received June 30; published September 26, 1905.
Special Theory of Relativity
asymmetries in electromagnetism
postulates (invariance of speed of light)
simultaneity
position-time transformation equations
length contraction
time dilation
velocity addition
relativistic mass
applications to electrodynamics and optics
Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on its Energy
Content?
Received September 27; published November 21, 1905.
energy-mass equivalence (E = mc2)
On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the
Production and Transformation of Light
Received March 18; published June 9, 1905.
quantization of light, E  f
statistical mechanics applied to radiation quanta
explain/predict observations
fluorescence: Stoke’s rule (f2  f1)
photoelectric effect
ionization of gas by UV light
Later Life
• General Theory of Relativity, 1916.
• Nobel Prize, 1921 (photoelectric effect).
• Leaves Germany, moves to Institute for Advanced
Study, Princeton, N.J., 1933.
• Dies, April 18, 1955.
References
• Einstein’s Miraculous Year, John Stachel, Princeton
University Press, 1998.
• Subtle is the Lord…, Abraham Pais, Oxford University
Press, 1982.
• Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel, Banesh Hoffmann,
Viking, 1972.
• Einstein: His Life and Times, Phillip Frank, Knopf, 1972.
• The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol 2, John
Stachel, ed., Princeton University Press,1987.
• Center for History of Physics, American Institute of
Physics, www.aip.org/history/einstein/