Albert Einstein
Okay, you all recognise the photo above, don't you? Yes, Albert Einstein is certainly the most famous scientists of the modern era, so let's find out a little more about him.
Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany, and died in America in 1955, at the age of 76. He is the most famous for his discovery of ‘relativity’ – which was a very new way of thinking about the physical world. When Einstein was studying at university, he began to think that the ideas of Newton [see the previous post] could not be used for all situations – such as when things moved very fast, or when gavity is particularly strong. Like Newton, Einstein had to use mathematics to explain his ideas, and this mathematics became very complicated. It said that strange things could happen at high speed, or in extreme conditions – such as the gravity of 'black holes'. Many of these things were later proven to actually happen, and this made Einstein world famous. Thus, Einstein was one of the few scientists (alongside Newton) who changed our way of looking at things.
Einstein eventually had to leave Germany, and he move to America, where he lived, studied, and taught, at Princeton University. Like Newton, Einstein did not have many friends. He married two times, but the marriages did not last. He had three children, but two of them died at a young age. However, unlike Newton, Einstein probably enjoyed his life. He liked music, played the violin, travelled, and worked with other scientists. Einstein let his hair grow long, and believed in fairness for everyone in the world. His face and hair style have been copied, and he is now seen as a typical ‘mad scientist’.
Question Time
What was Einstein’s most important discovery? …………………………………………
What could happen at high speed or extreme conditions? ……………………..……...
Which country did Einstein move to? …………………………………………….……….
Did he have many friends? ……………………………….…………………….………….
Was he a happy man? Why (not)? ……………………………………….………………
Word-Learning Time
Do you know the meaning of the underlined words?
Physical
Situation
Complicated
Speed
Extreme
Typical
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