Albert Einstein
Author: Jeremy
Bernstein
By Liam McAlister (7th grade)
Albert Einstein has a modest upbringing with many personal highs and
lows throughout his long life.
Albert Einstein was born on March 15, 1879 in Ulm,
Germany. He had a sister Maria, his father,
Herman, was an unsuccessful businessman, and
his mother Pauline. In 1894, his family moved to
Italy. In 1903, he married Mileva Maric. Their
two sons were Hans and Eduard. In 1919, they
divorced and Albert married his cousin Elsa. In
1932, Einstein leaves Europe and moves to
Princeton, New Jersey. In 1936, Elsa died and in
1951 his sister died. Einstein died April 15, 1955.
Despite his early lack of interest in school and unknowing mathematical
and scientific ability, Einstein went on to be a world renowned scholar.
As a young child, he went to a Christian military
type school, despite being Jewish, because of his
reckless behavior. When he was 16, he left his
German school for Italy. In 1895, he took the
entrance exam for the E.T.H. in Switzerland.
Many famous scientific figures during that time
taught at the school. He obtained his PHD at the
University of Zurich in physics, so he could
become a professor.
Albert Einstein’s scientific life began with early experiences and
continued until his death in 1955.
Einstein’s first scientific experience was when his
father gave him a compass. Einstein became very
interested in magnetism. In 1905, the Miracle
Year, Einstein creates the foundation of modern
physics. In 1908, Einstein takes his first teaching
position at Bern. 1916, Einstein publishes a paper
on general relativity and gravitation. In 1919,
general relativity is proven. In 1932, Einstein
wins his Nobel Prize for his work on relativity.
1933, he becomes a professor at the University of
Princeton. In 1933, he warns the president about
dangers of nuclear energy.
Einstein’s scientific discoveries impacted scientific research from the early
1900’s until today.
In 1916, he published the theory of relativity which proposed revolutionary changes in
understanding time, space, and gravity (E=mc2). Later on in his life, he discovered the
quantum theory in which which stated that the movement of a single particle could never be
accurately measured because speed and position could not be simultaneously assessed with
any degree of assurance. Einstein also discovered how nuclear energy could be used as a
weapon during war. 1.
Definition of Relativity
1. Nothing travels faster than light.
2. Light is always measured at the same speed (roughly 186,000 mph) no matter how fast you
are traveling or the direction you are going.
3. The faster you travel, the slower time moves, the heavier you get and longer things become
shorter.
However, the hardest part to grasp is the fact that as you move, nothing to you is different. Your
clock will still tick away at the same rate. An observer, however, would notice your clock
running slower. You would notice the observer's clock running slower while they would be
seeing things perfectly normal
It's all relative to the observer.
General relativity incorporates gravity into the equation and shows how gravity effects time,
bends light and thus effects time. A clock for instance on the ground next to the Empire
State building will run faster than a clock on the top of the building because the pull of the
earth causes clocks to run slightly slower then a clock that is further away from the center of
the planet.
How has this helped me
understand class topics?
The book helped and did not help me understand class topics
from several points of view. One, the main reason why I
did not was because of the way the book was written. It
skipped around a lot which made it confusing. Two, a
reason why the book helped me was because it talked
about the ways gravity affected light’s creation in the sun
to ways light is used in our world. Last, a reason why it
helped me was because it helped me understand the
concept of molecules and atoms in theories such as
Einstein’s. As you can see, the book gave me a pretty
good understanding of class topics despite how it was
written.