Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. He studied math and physics in Switzerland and earned PhD at the University of Zurich in 1901. Einstein worked at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland from 1902 to 1909.
During this period he completed an astonishing range of theoretical physics publications, written in his spare time, without the benefit of close contact with scientific literature or colleagues.
In 1905 Einstein caused a stir by publishing five major research papers. These papers forever changed the way people thought about the universe.
One of these papers is the proposing "the special theory of relativity." He based his new theory on the principle that the laws of physics are in the same form in any frame of reference. As a second fundamental hypothesis, Einstein assumed that the speed of light remained constant in all frames of reference.
Later in 1905 Einstein showed how mass and energy were equivalent expressing it in the famous equation: E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared). This equation became a cornerstone in the development of nuclear energy.
By 1916 Einstein had completed a general theory of relativity; his theories would profoundly alter the way in which scientists viewed the structure of the universe and made possible the development of the atom bomb.
Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921 but not for relativity, rather for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect.
Einstein fled the Nazi regime in 1934 for the United States and worked at the Institute for Advanced Study Princeton University until his death.
Brief biography of Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
