2. “There is nothing new to be
discovered in physics” – Lord Kelvin, 1900
“Everything that can be invented
has been invented.” – Commissioner of
the US Patent office ,1899.
3. * Great theoretical physicist
* Phenomenally changed scientific research
* Profound thinker
4. * Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the German Empire on 14
March 1879.
* Father : Hermann Einstein
* Mother : Pauline Einstein
* Hermann owned Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie.
* Manufactured electrical equipment based on Direct current (DC)
* The Einsteins were non-observant Jews.
* Albert attended a Catholic elementary school from the age of
five for three years.
5. *Max Talmud
* When Einstein was ten years old Max Talmud a poor Jewish
medical student from Poland, was introduced to the
Einstein family by his brother
* During weekly visits over the next five years he gave
Einstein popular books on science, mathematical texts and
philosophical writings
*Pocket Compass
* His father once showed him a pocket compass
* Einstein realized that there must be something causing the
needle to move, despite the apparent "empty space“
* As he grew, Einstein built models and mechanical devices
for fun and began to show a talent for mathematics.
6. * In 1894, his father's company failed
* Direct Current (DC) lost the War of Currents to Alternating Current
(AC)
* The Einstein family moves to Italy.
* When the family moves to Pavia, Einstein stays in Munich to finish
his studies at the Luitpold Gymnasium.
* His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer
* At the end of December 1894 Einstein travelled to Italy to join his
family in Pavia.
* convinced the school to let him go by using a doctor's note.
“ the spirit of learning and creative thought are lost in strict
rote learning”
7. * Wrote a short essay with the title "On the Investigation of the
State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field." in Italy in 1895
* In late summer 1895, at the age of sixteen, Einstein sat the
entrance examinations for the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in
Zurich,
* Passed the Swiss Matura in 1896
* He enrolled in the four year mathematics and physics
teaching diploma program .
* Was frustrated as he could not find a teaching job for 2 years
8. * Job in Bern, at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property, the
patent office, as an assistant examiner.
* He evaluated patent applications for electromagnetic devices.
* Patent review work related to questions about transmission of
electric signals and electrical-mechanical synchronization of
time.
* two technical problems that show up conspicuously in the thought
experiments that eventually led Einstein to his radical conclusions
about the nature of light and the fundamental connection between
space and time.
9. * In 1901, Einstein had a paper on the
capillary forces of a straw published in
the prestigious Annalen der Physik.
* In 30 April 1905, he completed his thesis,
with Alfred Kleiner, Professor of
Experimental Physics, serving as pro-
forma advisor.
* Einstein was awarded a PhD by the
University of Zurich. His dissertation was
entitled "A New Determination of
Molecular Dimensions".
10. Einstein published four ground breaking papers!!!
Photoelectric effect
Brownian motion
Special Relativity
The Equivalence of Matter and Energy
• Recognized as a leading scientist
• Appointed lecturer at the University of Bern
11. * Physics docent at the University of Zurich
* Professor at Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague
* Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics
* Professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin
* Becomes a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
12. * Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921
* But .. for what?
* Not for relativity
* But, For Photoelectric Effect !!
* Because relativity was still considered somewhat
controversial, it was officially bestowed for his
explanation of the photoelectric effect.
15. * It was known that some types of light can eject electrons
from metals.
* Einstein`s theory
* Blue light has more energy than Red light.
* Photons- tiny packets of light energy
* Red light can't dislodge electrons-
* its individual photons don't have enough energy
* The impact is just not large enough to shift the electrons.
* Blue light can dislodge electrons
* Each individual photon has more energy than the red photon. And
photons of ultraviolet light, which have yet more energy, will give
electrons enough energy to whizz away from the metal altogether.
* Precursor to Quantum mechanics
17. * In 1933- the Nazis rose to power under Adolf Hitler.
- Einstein emigrates to the US
* Einstein's works burnt at Nazi book burnings.
* Einstein – An Assassination target
* $5,000 bounty on his head!!
* One German magazine included him in a list of enemies of the
German regime with the phrase, "not yet hanged"
18. * Writes a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Alerts Americans to the possibility that German scientists might
win the race to build an atomic bomb.
* U.S. enters the "race" to develop the bomb.
* Initiates Manhattan project
* Only country to develop an atomic bomb during World War II.
* Einstein becomes an American citizen in 1940.
* Offered the position of President of Israel(1952).
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
19. Einstein refused surgery, saying
:"I want to go when I want. It
is tasteless to prolong life
* On 17 April 1955, Albert artificially. I have done my
Einstein experienced share, it is time to go. I will
do it elegantly."
internal bleeding
* He died in Princeton
Hospital early the next
morning at the age of 76
Editor's Notes
Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie -a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current.