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.
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“Locura es hacer la misma cosa una y otra vez esperando obtener diferentes resultados”
“Keep fighting until the last buzzer sounds.”
“You can believe nothing or everything is a miracle. I believe everything is a miracle.”
“live as if you were to die tommorow.dream as if you were to live forever”
“I have reached an age where if someone tells me to wear socks, I dont have to”
“I received your letter of June 10th. I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.”
“For any one who is pervaded with the sense of causal law in all that happens, who accepts in real earnest the assumption of causality, the idea of a Being who interferes with the sequence of events in the world is absolutely impossible. Neither the religion of fear nor the social-moral religion can have any hold on him.”
“There is far too great a disproportion between what one is and what others think one is, or at least what they say they think one is.”
“True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist.”
“This is a question too difficult for a mathematician. It should be asked of a philosopher"(when asked about completing his income tax form)”
“The most amazing thing about the world is that we understand it.”
“Man is here for the sake of other men - above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.”
“Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what relation this has with freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing? Schopenhauer once said: Der Mensch kann was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will (Man can do what he will but he cannot will what he wills).”
“Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them.”
“Is it not better for a man to die for a cause in which he believes, such as peace, than to suffer for a cause in which he does not believe, such as war?”
“Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think.”
“The laws of gravity cannot be held responcible for people falling in love.”
“On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 70th birthday. "Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.”
“You are right in speaking of the moral foundations of science, but you cannot turn around and speak of the scientific foundations of morality.”
“Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count.”
“Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act.”
“Politics is for the moment and equation is for eternity.”
“In scientific thinking are always present elements of poetry. Science and music requires a thought homogeneous.”
“Curiosity is more important than knowledge.”
“If something is in me which can be called religious, then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.”
“To invent something, all you need is imagination and a big pile of junk.”
“Due cose sono infinite: l'universo e la stupidità umana, ma riguardo l'universo ho ancora dei dubbi.”
“A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.”
“Once a day allow yourself the freedom to dream...”
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shpwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”
“A problem can't be solved with the same level of thinking that created it.”
“Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot”
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.”
“Don't do anything that goes against your conscience, even if your country says so.”
“Growth comes through analogy; through seeing how things connect, rather than only seeing how they might be different.”
“God always takes the simplest way.”
“A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made it. An experiment is something everybody believes, except the person who made it.”
“Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -how passionately I hate them!”
“A man's ethical behaviour 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.”
“It is humankind's duty to respect all life, not only animals have feelings but even also trees and plants.”
“If tomorrow were never to come, it would not be worth living today.”
“Philosophers play with the word, like a child with a doll. It does not mean that everything in life is relative.”
“The future is not a gift-it is an achievement.”
“I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.”
“Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations. All this is put in your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children.”
“I would not think that philosophy and reason themselves will be man's guide in the foreseeable future; however, they will remain the most beautiful sanctuary they have always been for the select few.”
“Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.”
“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.”
“Il est plus facile de désintégrer un atome qu'un préjugé”
“It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry.”