Birth:
March 14, 1879, Ulm, Germany
Death:
April 18, 1955, Princeton, N.J.
Early Influences:
- Family fell upon hard times financially causing them to move
- At a very young age was amazed by the behavior of a magnet compass needle
- Did most of his studying outside of school
- Unable to find a job as a teacher, he worked as a clerk in a Patent Office exposing himself to many ideas
Education:
- Attended the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich
- Entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School to be trained as a teacher
- Received his doctoral degree in 1905
Major Accomplishments:
- Published Special Theory of Relativity, 1905
- Appointed Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute in 1914
- Published General Theory of Relativity, 1916
- Nobel Prize, 1921
- Awarded Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London, 1925
- Awarded Franklin Medal in 1935
- Offered the Presidency of the State of Israel
Significance:
- Pointed out problems with Newton's theories which ended the reign of classical physics
- Devised the Theory of Relativity
- Proved that space and time are curved
- Postulated that it is impossible to travel at the speed of light
- Made important contributions to Quantum Theory
- Continuously argued for World Peace
Contemporaries:
