Albert Einstein
Special and general theories of relativity of German-born American theoretical physicist Albert Einstein revolutionized modern thought on the nature of space and time and formed a base for the exploitation of atomic energy; he won a Nobel Prize of 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
His paper of 1905 formed the basis of electronics. His first paper, also published in 1905, changed the world.
He completed his Philosophiae Doctor at the University of Zurich before 1909.
Einstein, a pacifist during World War I, stayed a firm proponent of social justice and responsibility.
Einstein thought that Newtonion mechanics no longer enough reconciled the laws of classical mechanics with those of the electromagnetic field. This thought led to the development. He recognized, however, that he ably also extended the principle to gravitational fields and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916 published a paper. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light, which laid the foundation of the photon.
Best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, dubbed "the world's most famous equation," he received "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory.
He visited the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and went not back to Germany. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter, alerting Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president, to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" and recommending that the United States begin similar research. This recommendation eventually led to the Manhattan project. Einstein supported defending the Allied forces but largely denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with Bertrand Russell–Einstein manifesto highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons.
After the rise of the Nazi party, Einstein made Princeton his permanent home as a citizen of United States in 1940. He chaired the emergency committee of atomic scientists, which organized to alert the public to the dangers of warfare.
At a symposium, he advised:
"In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests. In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task... "
("Science, Philosophy and Religion, A Symposium," published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941).
In a letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, dated 3 January 1954, Einstein stated:
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
(The Guardian, "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear," by James Randerson, May 13, 2008)
Great intellectual achievements and originality made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.
The institute for advanced study in Princeton, New Jersey, affiliated Einstein until his death in 1955.
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_E...
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“It is better to believe than to disbelieve; in doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility.”
“I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.”
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”
“Nothing happens until something moves.”
“It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom. Without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail.”
“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced”
“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”
“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.”
“It is our American habit if we find the foundations of our educational structure unsatisfactory to add another story or wing.”
“You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.”
“The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. (1945)”
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
“Force always attracts men of low morality.”
“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
“Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.”
“Si buscas resultados distintos, no hagas siempre lo mismo.”
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
“Out of clutter, find simplicity.”
“I thought of that while riding my bicycle.”
“A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?”
“I want to know God's thoughts - the rest are mere details.”
“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth.”
“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.”
“The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer somebody else up.”
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
“It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”
“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.”
“We are all life trying to live, among other life trying to live.”
“Concepts that have proven useful in ordering things easily achieve such authority over us that we forget their earthly origins and accept them as unalterable givens. Thus they come to be stamped as “necessities of thought”, “a priori givens”, etc. The path of scientific advance is often made impassable for a long time through such errors. For that reason, it is by no means an idle game if we become practiced in analyzing the long commonplace concepts and exhibiting those circumstances upon which their justification and usefulness depend, how they have grown up, individually, out of the givens of experience. By this means, their all-too-great authority will be broken. They will be removed if they cannot be properly legitimated, corrected if their correlation with given things be far too superfluous, replaced by others if a new system can be established that we prefer for whatever reason.”
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
“He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.”
“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
“Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.”
“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”
“Even on the most solemn occasions I got away without wearing socks and hid that lack of civilization in high boots”
“God is subtle but he is not malicious.”
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
“If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity.”
“We sleep 1/3 of our lives away.”
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”