Biography of Albert Einstein - Essay Example

?Biography of Albert Einstein Birth & Family Background Albert Einstein was born in a very normal middle family in Germany. He was born on Mach14, 1879 at the city of Ulm in Baden- Wurttemberg in Germany. His family inherited a German Jewish tradition. However, soon after his birth, the family along with him moved to Munich in Germany. Thus Einstein spent only six weeks in his place of birth. The image of Albert Einstein as an intellectual giant does not relate to skills as a kid. He could scarcely talk till the age of three. Taking this disadvantage into consideration, it was not expected that he would become a scientist whom the world would remember and respect for ever. Childhood Despite the problem in speaking, Einstein used to be very constructive and creative right from his early childhood. It has been recorded that he was really good in making tall card castles. It was also evident that he was different from his peers and had interests quite varied from that of children of his age. One ideal example of this is that he did not enjoy playing soldier which used to be a very common game amongst children of his age. Interestingly, at the age of twelve he got totally involved in a geometry book (Lewis, 1985). For a boy of this age to get interested in geometry when children of his age played around with toy cars, suggested the extra ordinary scientific aptitude he possessed even early during his childhood. Education The initial days of Albert Einstein’s schooling was done in Munich. He began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium (Lewis, 1985). He was not a bright student at this school. It has also been argued that as a young boy with high aptitude in Science, the school and the syllabus could not be of interest to Einstein. In the autobiography notes of Einstein it has been mentioned that he developed disinterest in the education system and distrust on the educators. However, the fact that Einstein does live up to the academic standards that the school doesn’t mean that he was slow student. It has been recorded in his autobiography that he came up with his own proof for the Pythagoras theory early in the age of 12 (Einstein,1987). Later, in the year 1894, the family business which was run in Munich collapsed. The family was forced to move from Munich. Young Einstein was of fifteen then. He had to drop out of high school. The family moved to Italy. Einstein took a break from his education for a year as the family was still getting adapted to and settled in Italy. The next year he tried getting into Eidgen?ossiche Technische Hochschule which is the Federal Institute of Technology.. However he couldn’t pass the entrance examination. He then studied for a year in Swiss high School. He graduated from this school in the year 1896 (Lewis, 1985). This qualification further helped him get admitted to Eidgen?ossiche Technische Hochschule. He was not a bright student here in the Federal Institute as well. It has been reported by a number of researchers that Einstein’s teachers didn’t even expect him to pass this course. He continuously tried to organize a University scholarship to support his studies and living expenses. Attributing to the poor academic records all these efforts were turned down by the University. He also tried to get into a job of a higher secondary teacher along with his studies so that he could manage his living expenses. He was not successful in getting this as well. He successfully graduated from Eidgen?ossiche Technische Hochschule in the year 1900. An analysis of the schooling and education of Einstein suggests that he never had been a bright student. He studies in three different countries including Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Early Years of Work Albert Einstein’s initial days of professional endeavors were unduly in nature. He had to survive with small scale jobs for many years. He had been relying on temporary tutoring and teaching jobs for his survival. Being a mediocre in terms of academic performance, he couldn’t impress the employers to select him for a job of stable nature. He kept changing jobs for many years. It took him two years after his graduation to find a job of permanent nature. By the time he had attained Swizz citizenship. After continuous efforts resulting in failures, he had to give up the hope of being a teacher. He joined as a patent examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. This job was organized for him by his friend Marcel Grossmann’s father. He worked there for seven years until 1909. During this period, his personal life also went through various ups and downs. He fell in love with Mileva Mari?c, who was his college mate in Eidgen?ossiche Technische Hochschule (Lewis, 1985). She was Serbian origin and was studying mathematics and physics. However, Einstein’s parents turned down the proposal as both the families belong to entirely different cultural backgrounds. The letter written in between them has been retrieved and has been instrumental in revealing the emotional side of Einstein’s character. They had a child in 1902 and later they got married in 1903. Interestingly, there is no record of the development of the child in any of the literature written on Einstein. He later got his doctoral degree in 1905 (Lewis, 1985). Excellence in career The professional tenure in the Patent Office turned to be of remarkable relevance to Einstein and to the scientific community. His excellence in the profession got him the position of Privatdozent in Berne in the year 1908. The next year he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich. Two years later he was appointed as Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague. Later he returned to Zurich to takeover a similar post. He took charge as the Director of Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute, affiliated to the University of Berlin in the year 1914. In the same year he was also appointed as Professor in the University of Berlin. During this period he became a German citizen. His stands on political developments also have been distinguishable. He relinquished German citizenship owing to his stubborn political stand and immigrated to America. There he became Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton University. He received citizenship of America and continued to work in this position till 1945. Achievements The achievements of Einstein came to the light when he published a series of papers in 1905. These papers were published in Annalen der Physik. (Einstein,1987). The findings as presented in these papers became milestones in the history of research developments in physics. It is these findings which gave a new perspective and direction to the researches which followed in the steam of physics. One amongst these papers was the most famous one on special relativity. The other paper on Brownian motion was the first one of its nature to form a scientific framework for the existence of atoms. A revolutionary finding in the field of physics was revealed through one of his papers which suggested the property of light as a particle other than its property as a wave. Einstein himself referred to this finding as revolutionary which later proved to be so (Einstein,1987). The highlight of his scientific achievements is the fact that he could identify the inadequacies in the most prevalent theory of Physics in his period of research which was Newtonian Mechanics. In 1916 he published the paper on general theory of relativity. He also formulated theories on radiation and statistical mechanics. Quantum mechanics remains to be an unmatchable achievement made by Albert Einstein. He didn’t stop contributing to the field of Science even after his retirement. He worked towards the integration of physical theories after his retirement. This turned out to be a unique approach, quite different from all perceptive which existed till then (Einstein,1987). For his invaluable contribution to varied streams of science, he received honorary dictates in a number of disciplines. This included Medicine, Science and Philosophy. The diverse nature of these streams suggests the depth of his contribution. He preached his theories and turned out to be one of the most renowned speakers in his field. He was given honorary fellowships in leading scientific institutions across the world. He was involved and influential in the World Government Movement which followed World War II. A great achievement to his honor was that he was offered the Presidency of Israel which he denied. He was instrumental in establishing the Hebrew University stationed at Jerusalem. Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935 and Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925 are few examples of awards and honors he received. Death Albert Einstein developed a medical condition of heart enlargement and the same was diagnosed in 1928 (NNDB ,2011) He was hospitalized in 1955 and he passed away on 18 April 1955. Einstein himself had instructed that he be cremated in a secret location. It is generally believed that he was cremated in the premises of Institute for Advanced Study. His brain was removed from his remains and it was scientifically analyzed by researchers (NNDB ,2011) Even years after his death, he remains to be the most scholarly in the field of physics and his findings yet remains to be unmatched. Works Cited Albert Einstein,(1987) The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. I, John Stachel, ed. (Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1987). translated by Anna Beck, The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. I, English translation. (Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1987). Lewis Pyenson, (1985) The Young Einstein. Bristol and Boston: Hilger NNDB (2011) Albert Einstein, Retrieved on December 12, 2011 From .. Read More