Einstein's life

Einstein was born in March 1879 in Ulm, the kingdom of Wü rttemberg in the German Empire (Germany). Father Herman Einstein was a businessman. Mother Pauline Kirk received a good education from an early age and made great achievements in piano playing. 1880, the family moved to Munich, where Einstein's father and uncle ran an electrical appliance company, specializing in the design and manufacture of electrical appliances.

Einstein's family are Ashkenazi Jews who don't obey Jewish rules. Einstein learned to speak slowly, so his parents were very worried and even went to see a doctor. He didn't learn to use words until he was 2 years old, and formed a strange habit, that is, whenever he wanted to talk, he would talk to himself several times before saying it out loud until he was satisfied. His family is worried that he will have learning disabilities in the future.

When he was four or five years old, one day, his father sent a compass to Einstein who was ill in bed. He was fascinated by the strange behavior of the magnetic needle, which became one of the reasons why he became interested in physics in the future. About that time, he began to learn to play the violin. Einstein entered a Catholic primary school at the age of five. At the age of eight, he transferred to Lute Bodwenke Middle School, which attached great importance to mathematics, science, Latin and Greek. Here, he received seven years of good education.

The electrical appliance company run by Einstein's father was forced to close in 1894 because it could not compete with big companies. Then the whole family moved to pavia, and only Einstein stayed in Munich to finish his studies. Although living in a distant relative's house, I still feel abandoned.

The strict and autocratic school spirit and mechanical learning style made him unbearable. At the end of that year, he left school on the pretext of being unwell and moved to pavia to meet his family. In this way, he can also avoid joining the army. Later, he gave up his German nationality and became stateless. During his stay in Italy, at the age of 16, he wrote his first theoretical physics paper, entitled "Study on Ether State in Magnetic Field".

Einstein, who was only 16 years old, took the entrance examination of 1895 at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. At this time, he is at least two years younger than most candidates. Although he got high marks in math and science, he failed in the liberal arts part of the exam. The dean of the Institute of Technology suggested that he finish high school first, so he entered the Arau State Middle School in Arau, and lived in the home of Professor yost Wintler.

A few months later, he fell in love with Wintler's daughter Mary. In September of the following year, he successfully passed the Swiss high school graduation examination, and achieved excellent results in most subjects, especially physics and mathematics, with a maximum score of 6.

Einstein's father wanted Einstein to inherit his career in electrical engineering, but Einstein was not interested in it. He thinks it is overqualified for him. 1896, Einstein, who was only 17 years old, was allowed to study physics in the normal science department of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. There, he met his future wife, Mileva Malic acid.

Among the six students in her class, mileva is the only woman. She is three years older than Einstein. Einstein and mileva shared the same interests and goals in physics, and over time, the spark of love gradually struck.

1900, Einstein got the teacher qualification certificate, with an average score of 4.9, ranking fourth among the five students in the class. Mileva came last with an average score of 4.0. She was not allowed to graduate and had to repeat a year. Some people think that mileva co-authored the famous paper 1905 with Einstein, but after careful study by physical historians, no evidence can be found to prove that she made a substantial contribution.

Second, marriage and family.

The early correspondence between Einstein and mileva was discovered and published in 1987, which revealed that they had a daughter named Lise before they got married. . At the beginning of 1902, Liselle was born in Novi Samileva, Serbia. Mileva didn't take Richie back to Switzerland, and Richie's fate is still unknown. Einstein may have never met Lizzy. In a letter written to mileva in September 1903, Einstein mentioned her for the last time, suggesting that the baby girl might be adopted or die of scarlet fever.

Einstein and mileva got married in June 1903. Two sons were born after marriage. Hans einstein, the eldest son, was born in Bern, Switzerland on May 1904. The second son, edward einstein, was born in Zurich in July of 19 10. Four years later, Einstein was appointed as a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and the family moved back to Berlin, Germany. Due to the bad relationship between husband and wife, mileva took his two sons to live in Zurich, while Einstein stayed in Berlin.

Shortly after the end of World War I, they had been separated for five years, but their marriage was irreparable. They officially divorced on February 4, 2009. Although it is reported that he gave all the Nobel Prize for Photoelectric Effect to mileva for divorce, letters between Einstein and his wife and children show that most of the prize money was invested by him in the United States, and many of them became bubbles during the Great Depression.

The second son Edward was interested in sigmund freud's psychoanalysis [29]. At the age of 20, he had a nervous breakdown. The doctor diagnosed thinking disorder and the mother took care of it for a long time. One hundred years after his mother, he was sent to a mental hospital until his death in 1965.

Einstein and mileva were not happily married. Einstein once wrote a letter to his high school girlfriend Mary Wintler at 19 10. In this 20 15 letter made public, Einstein described his marital status like this: "I think of you with sincere love in every spare minute;" I feel unhappy now that only men can feel. " At that time, mileva was pregnant with her second son Edward.

Einstein's second wife Elsa Einstein is his relative. On the paternal side, they are all descendants of the same great-grandfather. In matriarchal terms, they are all descendants of the same great-grandfather. They got married on June 2, 919. 1933, in order to escape Nazi Germany, they immigrated to the United States and lived in Princeton.

Two years later, Elsa was diagnosed with heart and kidney diseases and had to stay in bed. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 1936. 1935, his stepdaughter margot introduced him to Margarita Konenkova, and then they fell in love. A Russian spy expert identified Margarita as a Russian spy, but this statement has not been confirmed by historians.

Three. Swiss patent office

Einstein 1900 graduated, but failed to stay as a teaching assistant, and failed to find a teaching post in the next two years. He obtained Swiss nationality in 190 1 [,but was not drafted into the army for health reasons. 1902, with the help of Marcel Grossman's father, he became an assistant appraiser in the Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland, engaged in the technical appraisal of electromagnetic invention patent applications. 1903 became a regular employee.

Much of Einstein's work in the patent office is related to technical problems such as electrical signal transmission and electromechanical time synchronization. These two technical problems often appear obviously in Einstein's thought experiments, which eventually led Einstein to make bold conclusions about the nature of light and the basic relationship between time and space.

He used his spare time to do scientific research, and formed a discussion group with some friends he met in Bern, and named it "Olympia College" in a self-deprecating way. They often get together regularly to discuss science and philosophy, and read the works of Henri Poincare, ernst mach and david hume, which greatly influenced the development of his philosophy of science.

Fourth, academic career.

As early as 1900, Einstein published his paper "Conclusion of Capillary Phenomenon" in the authoritative German Yearbook of Physics. Because the basic conjecture of this paper is not correct, it has not made any substantial contribution to the future development of physics. That year, he decided to continue his doctoral degree. Since the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich does not offer a doctorate in physics, he must obtain a doctorate from the University of Zurich through special arrangements.

The following year, he became a doctoral student of Alfred kleiner, professor of experimental physics at the University of Zurich. In that year1October, 1 1, he finished the first edition of his doctoral thesis, but kleiner was not satisfied, especially Einstein's attack on other scientific authorities in it. After efforts to improve, from 65438 to 0905, his doctoral thesis "A New Method for Determining Molecular Size" was finally accepted, and he could get a doctorate.

In the same year, he published four papers on photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity and mass-energy relationship, and made historic achievements in four different fields of physics. This year was called "Einstein miracle year" by later generations.

By 1908, Einstein had been recognized as a top scholar in the field of physics, and Berne University hired him as a lecturer. However, due to his meager salary, he still needs to continue working in the patent office. The following year, the University of Zurich set up a new associate professor seat in theoretical physics. Kaipeng Huaying wanted Einstein to do this job full-time, but Kaipeng Huaying didn't appreciate Einstein's teaching style. He talked for a long time in a monologue, which was not coherent. Einstein had to propose a lecture at the Physics Society in Zurich, and asked kleiner to reevaluate it.

After careful preparation, Einstein's lecture was well received, so kleiner recommended Einstein to the University of Zurich. He has been one of the most important theoretical physicists since he made achievements in the theory of relativity? Dr Einstein will prove that he is also a teacher, because his wisdom and conscience will urge him to accept advice when necessary. " . Einstein became an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich, and he resigned from the Patent Office.

At that time, Charles University in Prague was trying to recruit young physics talents. Attracted by reputation and salary, Einstein was transferred as a professor in this university on 19 1 1 and was allowed to become a citizen of Austria-Hungary. During his tenure, he wrote 1 1 scientific papers, five of which discussed radiation mathematics and solid-state quantum theory.

19 12 returned to his alma mater in July as a professor of theoretical physics, mainly teaching analytical mechanics and thermodynamics. In academic research, he focused on gravity and tried to find a solution with his mathematician friend Marcel Grossman. The breakthrough seems to be just around the corner, but it will take several years to express it in a real strict sense.

At the invitation of Max Planck and walther nernst, Einstein returned to Germany in 19 14 as the first director of the Royal Institute of Physics (19 14- 1932) and as a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin, and he didn't need to be a teacher in class. Soon, he was elected as an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. 19 16 was elected president of the German Physical Society (1916-18).

Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 19 15. According to this theory, he predicted that light would bend when it passed through the gravitational field of the sun. 19 19. This prediction was confirmed by the solar eclipse observed by British astronomer arthur eddington on May 29th, 2009. Many news media around the world reported this amazing observation on the front page, so Einstein became a famous physicist. On June 7th of the same year, 165438, the headline of The Times of England announced that "the scientific revolution and the new theory of the universe overthrew Newton's painting".

19 17 years, Einstein put forward the theory of stimulated radiation in his article On Quantum of Radiation, which initiated the field of laser science.

Einstein was awarded the 192 1 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research achievements in photoelectric effect. Relativity was not mentioned in the announcement of the Swedish Academy Science Prize, because it is still considered controversial.

Five years, Princeton University.

1933 65438+ 10 In October, the Nazi Party seized the German regime and Hitler became the German Chancellor. Einstein was in America at that time. Because the Nazi Party preached anti-Semitism, Einstein knew that he could not return to Germany. In March, Einstein and his wife elsa arrived in Belgium by boat. On the way, Einstein learned that the Nazis broke into his summer cottage and confiscated his beloved boat.

Upon his arrival in Antwerp, he immediately returned his passport to the German Embassy and announced that he would give up his German citizenship again. He also submitted his resignation to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In his resignation, he said, "As far as the current situation is concerned, he feels unbearable to rely on the Prussian government."

After returning to the United States, Einstein became a resident professor at Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies in June+10, 5438. He spent almost all his life here, and he never set foot in Europe again. In addition to Einstein, world-class scholars, such as Oswald Van Buren, john von neumann, Kurt G?del and Herman Weil, were also hired to do research here.

Einstein and Godel became friends who forgot the past year. They go to the research room together every day and discuss some scientific problems on the way. Einstein was humorous by nature and liked joking very much, while the serious Godel was suspicious, often worried and depressed. Einstein strongly advocated the incompleteness of quantum mechanics, and Godel's incompleteness theorem is an important milestone in modern logic. In some ways, they are very similar to each other. They all have the habit of "asking questions to the end" and want to find the crux of the problem.

During this period, Einstein tried to develop the unified field theory and refute the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, but he did not make a major breakthrough, and he gradually divorced from the mainstream trend of physics research.

The intransitive verb World War II and Manhattan Project

1939, a group of exiled physicists, including Leo Szilard, edward tylor and eugene wigner, tried to warn the U.S. government and expose the ongoing atomic bomb research in Nazi Germany. They think it is their responsibility to warn the American people that German scientists may win the race to build atomic bombs. Hitler would not hesitate to use this weapon.

In order to alert the United States to the great threat of atomic bombs, they visited Einstein and told him that a super lethal atomic bomb might be made in the near future. Einstein supported pacifism. He focused on the unified field theory. He doesn't know the latest development of nuclear research. It never occurred to him that this technology would progress so fast.

Einstein was persuaded to write to US President franklin roosevelt with the help of his high reputation and szilard. They also suggested that the US government pay attention to and directly intervene in nuclear weapons research. This letter is considered to be the key incentive for the United States to launch large-scale nuclear weapons research on the eve of World War II.

Roosevelt could not risk letting Hitler master the atomic bomb technology first. Because of Einstein's letter, the United States joined the race to develop an atomic bomb and started the Manhattan Project with its huge material, financial and scientific resources, becoming the only country that successfully developed an atomic bomb in World War II.

Seven, Einstein's later years

For Einstein, "War is a disease? He called for resistance to the war. " The letter to Roosevelt violated the pacifism supported by Einstein. One year before his death, Einstein said to his old friend linus pauling, "I made a huge mistake in my life: I signed a letter asking President Roosevelt to make nuclear weapons. But there is a reason for making this mistake: the danger of Germans making nuclear weapons exists. "

Eight, death

Einstein was diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm at the age of 69. Rudolph Nissen, a famous authoritative doctor in gastroenterology, is his surgeon. He tightly wrapped the grapefruit-sized tumor with cellophane, trying to promote vascular fibrosis and reduce the risk of rupture. Einstein may have lived a few more years because of the operation.

1April 3, 955, Einstein's abdominal aortic aneurysm ruptured, resulting in internal bleeding. He was writing a TV speech celebrating the 7th anniversary of the founding of Israel, but he died on 18 at the age of 76.

At that time, the technical success rate of surgical treatment was very high. New york hospital doctor Frank Glenn suggested immediate surgery, but Einstein firmly refused. He said, "When I want to leave, please let me go. It is meaningless to prolong your life blindly. I have finished what I should do. Now is the time to leave, I want to leave gracefully. "

During the autopsy, Dr. thomas harvey, a pathologist, took Einstein's brain without his family's permission and kept it. He hopes that future neuroscience research can find out why Einstein is so smart. According to Einstein's will, the rest of his body was cremated on the day of his death. Only 65,438+02 people, including his son Hans, attended this simple ceremony. After cremation, all the ashes were scattered in the nearby Delaware River.

Extended data:

Einstein and China.

1On July 7, 937, the Japanese army provoked the Lugouqiao Incident, and the Sino-Japanese War broke out in an all-round way. On October 5th, the following year, 65438/kloc-0, Einstein and Russell issued a joint statement in Britain, calling on the whole world to help China. When the leader of the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Movement "Seven Gentlemen" was arrested, he and many American celebrities expressed their solidarity and support on March 1937.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death, the whole world launched the "Physics Illuminates the World" beam relay activity. On April 18, Princeton University in the United States sent out a laser signal, which spread all over the earth through the ocean optical cable, and the signal was transmitted back to the United States 24 hours later. China also started transmitting signals on the evening of April 19, Beijing time. In just two hours, this signal passed through 33 cities in China, and then spread to Indian and Russian.