By Liam McAlister (7th grade) Albert Einstein Author: Jeremy Bernstein By Liam McAlister (7th grade)

Albert Einstein has a modest upbringing with many personal highs and lows throughout his long life. Albert Einstein was born on March 15, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. He had a sister Maria, his father, Herman, was an unsuccessful businessman, and his mother Pauline. In 1894, his family moved to Italy. In 1903, he married Mileva Maric. Their two sons were Hans and Eduard. In 1919, they divorced and Albert married his cousin Elsa. In 1932, Einstein leaves Europe and moves to Princeton, New Jersey. In 1936, Elsa died and in 1951 his sister died. Einstein died April 15, 1955.

Despite his early lack of interest in school and unknowing mathematical and scientific ability, Einstein went on to be a world renowned scholar. As a young child, he went to a Christian military type school, despite being Jewish, because of his reckless behavior. When he was 16, he left his German school for Italy. In 1895, he took the entrance exam for the E.T.H. in Switzerland. Many famous scientific figures during that time taught at the school. He obtained his PHD at the University of Zurich in physics, so he could become a professor.

Albert Einstein’s scientific life began with early experiences and continued until his death in 1955. Einstein’s first scientific experience was when his father gave him a compass. Einstein became very interested in magnetism. In 1905, the Miracle Year, Einstein creates the foundation of modern physics. In 1908, Einstein takes his first teaching position at Bern. 1916, Einstein publishes a paper on general relativity and gravitation. In 1919, general relativity is proven. In 1932, Einstein wins his Nobel Prize for his work on relativity. 1933, he becomes a professor at the University of Princeton. In 1933, he warns the president about dangers of nuclear energy.

Einstein’s scientific discoveries impacted scientific research from the early 1900’s until today. In 1916, he published the theory of relativity which proposed revolutionary changes in understanding time, space, and gravity (E=mc2). Later on in his life, he discovered the quantum theory in which which stated that the movement of a single particle could never be accurately measured because speed and position could not be simultaneously assessed with any degree of assurance. Einstein also discovered how nuclear energy could be used as a weapon during war. 1. Definition of Relativity 1. Nothing travels faster than light. 2. Light is always measured at the same speed (roughly 186,000 mph) no matter how fast you are traveling or the direction you are going. 3. The faster you travel, the slower time moves, the heavier you get and longer things become shorter. However, the hardest part to grasp is the fact that as you move, nothing to you is different. Your clock will still tick away at the same rate. An observer, however, would notice your clock running slower. You would notice the observer's clock running slower while they would be seeing things perfectly normal It's all relative to the observer. General relativity incorporates gravity into the equation and shows how gravity effects time, bends light and thus effects time. A clock for instance on the ground next to the Empire State building will run faster than a clock on the top of the building because the pull of the earth causes clocks to run slightly slower then a clock that is further away from the center of the planet.

How has this helped me understand class topics? The book helped and did not help me understand class topics from several points of view. One, the main reason why I did not was because of the way the book was written. It skipped around a lot which made it confusing. Two, a reason why the book helped me was because it talked about the ways gravity affected light’s creation in the sun to ways light is used in our world. Last, a reason why it helped me was because it helped me understand the concept of molecules and atoms in theories such as Einstein’s. As you can see, the book gave me a pretty good understanding of class topics despite how it was written.