Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity and made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. In 1905, Einstein published four groundbreaking papers outlining the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and mass-energy equivalence. He later developed general relativity and applied it to model the structure of the universe. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his services to theoretical physics, especially his discovery of the photoelectric effect.

1. "Einstein" redirects here. For other uses, see Einstein (disambiguation) and Albert Einstein
(disambiguation).
Albert Einstein
Einstein in 1921, by Ferdinand Schmutzer
Born 14 March 1879
Ulm,Kingdom ofWürttemberg,German
Empire
Died 18 April 1955 (aged 76)
Princeton,New Jersey, U.S.
Citizenship
 Kingdom ofWürttemberg,part of the
German Empire (1879–1896)[note 1]
 Stateless (1896–1901)
 Switzerland (1901–1955)
 Austria, part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire (1911–1912)
 Kingdom ofPrussia,partof the German
Empire (1914–1918)[note 1]

2.  Free State of Prussia (Weimar Republic,
1918–1933)
 United States (1940–1955)
Education  Federal polytechnic
school in Zurich (Federal teaching
diploma,1900)
 University of Zurich (PhD, 1905)
Known for  General relativity
 Special relativity
 Photoelectric effect
 E=mc2
(Mass–energyequivalence)
 E=hf (Planck–Einstein relation)
 Theory of Brownian motion
 Einstein field equations
 Bose–Einstein statistics
 Bose–Einstein condensate
 Gravitational wave
 Cosmological constant
 Unified field theory
 EPR paradox
 Ensemble interpretation
 Listof other concepts
Spouse(s)
Mileva Marić
(m. 1903;div. 1919)
Elsa Löwenthal
(m. 1919;died[1][2]
1936)
Children  Lieserl
 Hans Albert
 Eduard "Tete"

3. Awards  Barnard Medal (1920)
 Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
 Matteucci Medal (1921)
 ForMemRS (1921)[3]
 Copley Medal (1925)[3]
 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical
Society (1926)[4]
 Max Planck Medal (1929)
 Member of the National Academy of
Sciences (1942)[5]
 Time Person of the Century (1999)
Scientific career
Fields Physics,philosophy
Institutions  Swiss PatentOffice (Bern) (1902–1909)
 University of Bern (1908–1909)
 University of Zurich (1909–1911)
 Charles Universityin Prague (1911–1912)
 ETH Zurich (1912–1914)
 Prussian Academyof Sciences (1914–
1933)
 HumboldtUniversityof Berlin (1914–1933)
 Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (director,1917–
1933)
 German Physical Society (president,
1916–1918)
 Leiden University(visits, 1920)
 Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
University (1933–1955)
 California Institute of Technology(visits,
1931–1933)
 University of Oxford (visits,1931–1933)
Thesis Eine neue Bestimmung der
Moleküldimensionen (A New

4. Determination ofMolecular
Dimensions) (1905)
Doctoral advisor Alfred Kleiner
Other academic
advisors
Heinrich Friedrich Weber
Influences  Arthur Schopenhauer
 Baruch Spinoza
 Bernhard Riemann
 David Hume
 ErnstMach
 Hendrik Lorentz
 Hermann Minkowski
 Isaac Newton
 James Clerk Maxwell
 Michele Besso
 Moritz Schlick
 Thomas Young
 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Influenced  Virtually all modern physicists
Signature
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology

5.  Big Bang · Universe
 Age of the universe
 Chronology of the universe
show
Early universe
show
Expansion · Future
show
Components · Structure
show
Experiments
hide
Scientists
 Aaronson
 Alfvén
 Alpher
 Bharadwaj
 Copernicus
 de Sitter
 Dicke
 Ehlers
 Einstein
 Ellis
 Friedmann

6.  Galileo
 Gamow
 Guth
 Hawking
 Hubble
 Kepler
 Lemaître
 Mather
 Newton
 Penrose
 Penzias
 Rubin
 Schmidt
 Smoot
 Suntzeff
 Sunyaev
 Tolman
 Wilson
 Zeldovich
 List of cosmologists
show
Subject history
 Category
 Astronomy portal
 v
 t
 e
Albert Einstein (/ˈaɪnstaɪn/ EYEN-styne;[6]
German:[ˈalbɛʁt ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] ( listen); 14 March 1879 – 18
April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist,[7]
widely acknowledged to be one of the
greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of
relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum
mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern
physics.[3][8]
His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has
been dubbed "the world's most famous equation".[9]
His work is also known for its influence on
the philosophy of science.[10][11]
He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to
theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect",[12]
a pivotal

7. step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in
"Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".[13]
In 1905, a year sometimes described as his annus mirabilis ('miracle year'), Einstein published four
groundbreaking papers.[14]
These outlined the theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian
motion, introduced special relativity, and demonstrated mass-energy equivalence. Einstein thought
that the laws of classical mechanics could no longer be reconciled with those of the electromagnetic
field, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He then extended the theory to
gravitational fields; he published a paper on general relativity in 1916, introducing his theory of
gravitation. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the
universe.[15][16]
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 and the quantum theory of radiation, which laid the foundation of
the photon theory of light.
However, for much of the later part of his career, he worked on two ultimately unsuccessful
endeavors. First, despite his great contributions to quantum mechanics, he opposed what it evolved
into, objecting that nature "does not play dice".[17]
Second, he attempted to devise a unified field
theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result,
he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream of modern physics.
Einstein was born in the German Empire, but moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German
citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg)[note 1]
the following year. In 1897, at the age
of 17, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal
polytechnic school in Zürich, graduating in 1900. In 1901, he acquired Swiss citizenship, which he
kept for the rest of his life, and in 1903 he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent
Office in Bern. In 1905, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. In 1914, Einstein moved
to Berlin in order to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In
1917, Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics; he also became a
German citizen again, this time Prussian.
In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.
Einstein, of Jewish origin, objected to the policies of the newly elected Nazi government;[18]
he settled
in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940.[19]
On the eve of World War II, he
endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear
weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported
the Allies but generally denounced the idea of nuclear weapons.