EINSTEIN, ALBERT

born March 14, 1879, Ulm, Wrttemberg, Ger. died April 18, 1955, Princeton, N.J., U.S. German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and the photon theory of light. A brief account of the life and works of Albert Einstein follows; for a full biography, see Einstein. Einstein earned a doctorate at the Polytechnic Academy in Zrich in 1905, and in the same year he published four research papers, each containing a great discovery in physics. International fame came to Einstein in 1919 with the announcement that a prediction of his general theory of relativity was verified. Two years later he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his photoelectric law and work in theoretical physics. During the winter of 1933 Einstein joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and became a U.S. citizen in 1940. At the institute Einstein continued his work on general relativity, the unified field theories, and the critical discussion of the interpretation of quantum theory. He also cooperated with charitable and social organizations to help the large number of refugees who were arriving in the United States from Nazi Germany. In 1939 it became known that two German physicists had discovered the fission of uranium. Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist who at that time had arrived in the United States, became aware of the fact that if the fission could be made into a self-perpetuating chain reaction, enormous quantities of energy could be released. Fermi and the Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard decided to point this out to the U.S. government. Szilard and Eugene Wigner, another Hungarian physicist, asked Einstein to appeal directly to Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, pointing out the dangers if Germany succeeded in developing a bomb based on these principles. Einstein's letter to President Roosevelt resulted in the Manhattan Project and in the development of the atom bomb. In 1945 Einstein retired from his position at the institute but continued to work there until his death. born March 14, 1879, Ulm, Wrttemberg, Ger. died April 18, 1955, Princeton, N.J., U.S. Einstein. German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Recognized in his own time as one of the most creative intellects in human history, in the first 15 years of the 20th century Einstein advanced a series of theories that proposed entirely new ways of thinking about space, time, and gravitation. His theories of relativity and gravitation were a profound advance over the old Newtonian physics and revolutionized scientific and philosophic inquiry. Herein lay the unique drama of Einstein's life. He was a self-confessed lone traveler; his mind and heart soared with the cosmos, yet he could not armour himself against the intrusion of the often horrendous events of the human community. Almost reluctantly he admitted that he had a passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility. His celebrity gave him an influential voice that he used to champion such causes as pacifism, liberalism, and Zionism. The irony for this idealistic man was that his famous postulation of an energymass equation, which states that a particle of matter can be converted into an enormous quantity of energy, had its spectacular proof in the creation of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, the most destructive weapons ever known. Additional reading John Stachel et al. (eds.), The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (1987 ), contains all his papers, notes, and letters, with companion translation volumes. Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman (eds.), Albert Einstein, the Human Side: New Glimpses from His Archives (1979), samples the letters of Albert Einstein to provide a good introduction to his personality and thought.Studies of his life and work include Philipp Frank, Einstein: His Life and Times, trans. from German (1947, reprinted 1989), a scientific biography focusing on Einstein's early life and achievement; Antonina Vallentin, The Drama of Albert Einstein (also published as Einstein, a Biography, 1954; originally published in French, 1954), a personal story of Einstein's European years; Peter Michelmore, Einstein: Profile of the Man (1962), a popular, richly anecdotal treatment of Einstein as man and scientist; Ronald W. Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times (1971, reissued 1984), a distinguished, definitive, and well-illustrated work; Banesh Hoffman and Helen Dukas, Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1972, reissued 1986), a significant biography, laced with a thorough but exciting interpretation of Einstein's scientific work; Jeremy Bernstein, Einstein, 2nd ed. (1991), a biography emphasizing the scientific theories; Cornelius Lanczos, The Einstein Decade: 19051915 (1974), a biography that includes detailed synopses of each Einstein paper written during the years covered; A.P. French (ed.), Einstein: A Centenary Volume (1979), a collection of essays, reminiscences, illustrations, and quotationsfor the general audience; Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein (1982), a scientific biography; Lewis Pyenson, The Young Einstein: The Advent of Relativity (1985), setting the development of his ideas in their social and cultural context; Peter A. Bucky and Allen G. Weakland, The Private Albert Einstein (1992), a chronicle of conversations and personal anecdotes as remembered by one of Einstein's friends; Michael White and John Gribbin, Einstein: A Life in Science (1994); and Denis Brian, Einstein: A Life (1996).Studies of Einstein's impact on science and philosophy include Paul Arthur Schilpp (ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, 3rd ed., 2 vol. (1970), a discussion by eminent scholars; Lincoln Barnett, The Universe and Dr. Einstein, 2nd rev. ed. (1957, reissued 1974), a lucid exposition of Einstein's contribution to science; Thomas F. Glick (ed.), The Comparative Reception of Relativity (1987); and David Cassidy, Einstein and Our World (1995). Major Works: Scientific papers ber einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt, in Annalen der Physik (1905); ber die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wrme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen, in Annalen der Physik (1905); Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Krper, in Annalen der Physik (1905), the initial paper on special relativity; Ist die Trgheit eines Krpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhngig? in Annalen der Physik (1905); Zur Theorie der Brownschen Bewegung, in Annalen der Physik (1906), translated separately as Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement (1926); Zur Theorie der Lichterzeugung und Lichtabsorption, in Annalen der Physik (1906); Plancksche Theorie der Strahlung und die Theorie der spezifischen Wrme, in Annalen der Physik (1907); Entwurf einer Verallegemeinerten Relativittstheorie und einer Theorie der Gravitation, in Zeitschrift fr Mathematik und Physik (1913); Grundlagen der allgemeinen Relativittstheorie, in Annalen der Physik (1916), on the general theory of relativity; Strahlungs-emission und -absorption nach der Quantentheorie, in Verhandlungen der Deutschen physikalischen Gesellschaft (1916); Quantentheorie der Strahlung, in Physikalische Zeitschrift (1917); Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen Gases, in Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1924 and 1925). Some of Einstein's important papers were collected in the joint work (with H.A. Lorentz and H. Minkowski), H.A. Lorentz: Das Relativittsprinzip, eine Sammlung von Abhandlungen (1913; trans. as H.A. Lorentz: The Principle of Relativity: A Collection of Original Memoirs on the Special and General Theory of Relativity, 1923). See also The Meaning of Relativity, which includes the generalized theory of gravitation (1953), the first edition of Einstein's unified field theory. Other works About Zionism: Speeches and Letters, Eng. trans. by Sir Leon Simon (1931); Builders of the Universe (1932); with Sigmund Freud, Warum Krieg? (Why War?, Eng. trans. by Stuart Gilbert, 1933); with Leopold Infeld, The Evolution of Physics (1938); The World As I See It (Eng. trans. by Alan Harris, 1949); Out of My Later Years (1950).