Albert Einstein was born on this day in Germany in 1879. He was educated first in Munich, then in Italy and Switzerland. He graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich in 1901 and sought work as a teacher in physics and mathematics but couldn't find a job. So, the man who would go on to make groundbreaking discoveries in physics took up a job at the patent office, using his free time to advance his research.
He got his doctorate in 1905, and that same year published five papers that are still foundational to modern physics. First, he suggested that light was made up by tiny little objects that act as particles following a wave formation—something we now call photons.
Then he figured out a better way of counting and determining the sizes of molecules and atoms, as well as how particles move around while suspended in a fluid. This was apparently a big deal—and evidence that atoms existed.
And then came his special theory of relativity, that time and space are relative to the motion of the observer. If two people travel at incredibly high speeds, goes the theory, they may not have the same understanding of when something occurred or the measurement of space around them. But the speed of light is the limiting factor to anything with mass. In his last major paper of 1905, he published that equation so famous that it entered popular culture, E = mc2.
Oh yeah, and he figured out that gravity is caused by the presence of mass. Big things in space warp the physical area around them as well as the passage of time. It's all pretty trippy stuff. None of this is even to mention his role as a political advocate—we don't have the space for that today!
For his work Einstein received numerous honorary degrees, fellowships or memberships in leading scientific organizations, and awards. He retired in 1945; around then he was offered the presidency of the State of Israel, which he declined. He died in 1955 in Princeton, N.J.
For more on Einstein, check out his biography in the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
