Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879 and showed an early fascination with science through observing a compass. In 1905, while working as a patent clerk, he developed his Special Theory of Relativity which established that space and time are relative to the observer's frame of reference. This theory along with others he published that year, including his paper on the photoelectric effect, established him as a leading scientist. He went on to publish his General Theory of Relativity in 1915 which described gravity not as a force but as a curvature of spacetime. This became one of the most important scientific works of the 20th century and helped establish Einstein as a genius who revolutionized people's understanding of science and the universe.