Einstein

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Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in southern Germany, in the city of Ulm, in 1987. About a year after that, he moved to Munich where his father ran a chemical factory.

Albert Einstein did not appear to be a genius at first. Unlike many people, Einstein's father introduced algebra to him. Einstein was so interested in it that when he was fourteen he started his own series of books on natural science. When Einstein got older he became so intensely involved in math that he enrolled in a college in Switzerland. Even though he was enrolled in college, Einstein usually stayed in his room and did studies on his own. Einstein graduated from college in 1900 and from there looked for employment.

Although it was hard to find, he finally got a job in the post in Bern, Switzerland. His duty there was to put applicants for patents in a clear form.

This is probably where he got his remarkable physical insight.

In the year 1905 Einstein released four papers that were terribly important to the journal Annalen der Physik. The achievements in his papers brought widespread attention, but he was not recognized for his work until many years later. A few years after marrying his cousin, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. One of his predictions was how an eclipse was formed. Two British expeditions on the solar eclipse of May, 1919 tested this theory. His prediction was then confirmed and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics.

Einstein lived in Berlin, Germany for the next ten years. He was hardly ever actually in Berlin though, for he was constantly traveling to other countries to give lectures. While Einstein was lecturing in the United States, Adolf Hitler became leader of Germany and introduced the Nazi Party. Since Einstein was Jewish he decided not to return to Germany.

In 1933 Einstein traveled to Princeton, N.J. where he got a position at the Institute for Advanced Study. Einstein liked this University, for there the teachers got to choose their own schedule and were free to teach their own ideas. Einstein turned out to be a good teacher, liked by all his students. Even though he worked at the institute he continued to work on his theories.

Then in 1939 a group of scientists came for Einsteins help. They were afraid that Germany was making an atomic bomb, so they wanted the United States to make one first. The reason they asked Einstein for help was because his studies showed that there was a lot of power in atoms and they needed to use that theory to make the atomic bomb. Although this decision was hard for Einstein to make, he finally realized that the bomb might stop Nazi rule. He agreed and soon the work began and the bomb was made, but as soon as the war ended Einstein insisted that the power was to be put to peaceful use.

Einstein became a citizen of the United States in 1941. He lived in Princeton for over twenty years. He soon faded out of the public world, lived his own life, and died.

Einstein died on April 18, 1955. We still remember him for his great acts toward war, toward the improvement of this world, and for his great sense of compassion to his fellow man. Hopefully, in time to come, Einstein and his theories will not be forgotten.