INVENTORS AND DISCOVERERS OF SCIENCE
THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Hermann Einstein was a businessman but not a very successful one.A few years after Albert was born,Hermann moved to the city of Munich to start a new business with his younger brother Jakob, an engineer.In Munich young Albert received lessons in violin.In later years,the violin became Einstein's favorite musical instrument.
At the age of six,Albert Einstein entered the public school.In Germany it is called the Volksschule to the Luitpold Gymnasium where he studied until he was fifteen.The Gymnasium is the equivalent of our High School.Einstein did well in Latin and Mathematics,but he disliked school.He became easily tired and did not care much for sports.He felt isolated and had few friends at school.
Albert liked Uncle Jakob very much because he would pose interesting mathematical problems.There was a family friend named Max Talmud who was a regular visitor at home.Talmud used to give young Albert books on popular science which the latter very enjoyed.The two also used to discuss philosophy!
Hermann Einstein's business initially prospered but then began to fail.So he moved the factory to Milan in Italy.Albert was now left behind in Munich,and he felt miserable and alone.He managed to get a certificate from the family doctor in Munich,quit the Gymnasium,and headed for Italy! His parents were naturally upset when one day they saw him at their front door in Italy.However Albert assured them that he would study hard at home and prepare for polytechnic in Zurich,Switzerland.In October 1895,Einstein went to Zurich to take the entrance exam.He failed,though he did well in maths and science.He then joined a tutorial school in Switzerland to prepare for the entrance test to the polytechnic Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule , simply called the ETH .This time he was successful in the entrance test,and studied at ETH from 1896 to 1900.Einstein now began to enjoy science very much and resolved to make it his career. His interest in music and literature also grew.
At ETH,Einstein loved working in the lab. As he wrote later, "Most of the time I worked in the physical laboratory, fascinated by the direct contact with observation." However, he had some trouble with his professor. At one time this professor said to Einstein: "You are a smart boy, a very smart boy. But you have one great fault ; you do not let yourself be told anything."
In 1900, Einstein passed the final examination with good grades in science. He was hoping that his professor would offer him an assistant's job, but that did not happen. Meanwhile, he published his first paper in the German journal Annalen der Physik. Job-hunting now started but without any success. For a short while he worked as a school teacher until in June 1902 he was appointed, on a temporary basis, as a technical expert, third class, in the patent office in the city of Berne (in Switzerland).
Einstein did well in the patent office. He took his work seriously, and even enjoyed it. He had a lot of spare time which he put to good use. How? By doing research, and by publishing original, scientific papers. In 1903 and 1904 he published papers on the foundations of statistical mechanics. The year 1905 was a memorable one for Einstein. It is also a memorable year for physics,for in that year he published three papers, each one a gem. People have said that every one of them deserved the Nobel Prize. All of these papers were published in volume 17 of the Annalen der Physik. Starting on page 132 is the paper on the photoelectric effect. Then on page 549 the paper on Brownian motion,and lastly on page 891 starts the paper on the Special Theory of Relativity. One of these papers eventually won for Einstein the Nobel Prize. People often think it work on relativity. Wrong! It is the paper on photoelectric effect. Well, there is a reason why this happened but I shall not go into that. Let me just say that this does not mean that The Theory of Relativity is inferior to, or less important than, The Theory of Photoelectric effect. It is just that the prize committee had to choose one of them and it decided in favour of the photoelectric effect.
At the age of six,Albert Einstein entered the public school.In Germany it is called the Volksschule to the Luitpold Gymnasium where he studied until he was fifteen.The Gymnasium is the equivalent of our High School.Einstein did well in Latin and Mathematics,but he disliked school.He became easily tired and did not care much for sports.He felt isolated and had few friends at school.
Albert liked Uncle Jakob very much because he would pose interesting mathematical problems.There was a family friend named Max Talmud who was a regular visitor at home.Talmud used to give young Albert books on popular science which the latter very enjoyed.The two also used to discuss philosophy!
Hermann Einstein's business initially prospered but then began to fail.So he moved the factory to Milan in Italy.Albert was now left behind in Munich,and he felt miserable and alone.He managed to get a certificate from the family doctor in Munich,quit the Gymnasium,and headed for Italy! His parents were naturally upset when one day they saw him at their front door in Italy.However Albert assured them that he would study hard at home and prepare for polytechnic in Zurich,Switzerland.In October 1895,Einstein went to Zurich to take the entrance exam.He failed,though he did well in maths and science.He then joined a tutorial school in Switzerland to prepare for the entrance test to the polytechnic Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule , simply called the ETH .This time he was successful in the entrance test,and studied at ETH from 1896 to 1900.Einstein now began to enjoy science very much and resolved to make it his career. His interest in music and literature also grew.
At ETH,Einstein loved working in the lab. As he wrote later, "Most of the time I worked in the physical laboratory, fascinated by the direct contact with observation." However, he had some trouble with his professor. At one time this professor said to Einstein: "You are a smart boy, a very smart boy. But you have one great fault ; you do not let yourself be told anything."
In 1900, Einstein passed the final examination with good grades in science. He was hoping that his professor would offer him an assistant's job, but that did not happen. Meanwhile, he published his first paper in the German journal Annalen der Physik. Job-hunting now started but without any success. For a short while he worked as a school teacher until in June 1902 he was appointed, on a temporary basis, as a technical expert, third class, in the patent office in the city of Berne (in Switzerland).
Einstein did well in the patent office. He took his work seriously, and even enjoyed it. He had a lot of spare time which he put to good use. How? By doing research, and by publishing original, scientific papers. In 1903 and 1904 he published papers on the foundations of statistical mechanics. The year 1905 was a memorable one for Einstein. It is also a memorable year for physics,for in that year he published three papers, each one a gem. People have said that every one of them deserved the Nobel Prize. All of these papers were published in volume 17 of the Annalen der Physik. Starting on page 132 is the paper on the photoelectric effect. Then on page 549 the paper on Brownian motion,and lastly on page 891 starts the paper on the Special Theory of Relativity. One of these papers eventually won for Einstein the Nobel Prize. People often think it work on relativity. Wrong! It is the paper on photoelectric effect. Well, there is a reason why this happened but I shall not go into that. Let me just say that this does not mean that The Theory of Relativity is inferior to, or less important than, The Theory of Photoelectric effect. It is just that the prize committee had to choose one of them and it decided in favour of the photoelectric effect.
