Einstein: A Biography (The Crown World Famous Biography Series)

Author: Yi Jie-Xiong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Einstein is one of the greatest physicists of the modern era. He loved physics and dedicated his life to theoretical research in the field. He is known as the Copernicus of the 20th century, the Newton of the 20th century. Einstein grew up during a period of rapid change in physics. Through the efforts of physicists like him, the development of physics entered a new historical era. The classical physics theory system established by Galileo and Newton underwent nearly 200 years of development. By the mid-19th century, due to the discovery of the law of conservation and transformation of energy, the establishment of thermodynamics and statistical physics, and especially the discoveries of Faraday and Maxwell in electromagnetism, it achieved remarkable accomplishments. These achievements led many physicists at the time to believe that the fundamental theoretical problems in the field of physics had been solved, leaving only details for future generations to supplement and develop. However, history took a different course, with a series of new phenomena that classical physics could not explain following in quick succession: the ether drift experiment, the radioactivity of elements, the motion of electrons, blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, and so on. In the face of this new situation, physicists generally attempted to resolve contradictions by patching up the old theory framework. However, the young Einstein was not bound by the old traditions. Building on the work of Lorentz and others, he made fundamental changes to such basic concepts as space and time. This theoretical breakthrough opened a new era in physics. The most important contribution of Einstein's life was the theory of relativity. In 1905, he published a paper titled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," proposing the principle of special relativity and the principle of the constancy of the speed of light, establishing special relativity. This theory included Newtonian mechanics as a special case of low-speed motion. It revealed the essential unity of space and time as forms of material existence, profoundly disclosed the kinematic unity of mechanical and electromagnetic motion, and further revealed the unity of matter and motion (the equivalence of mass and energy). It developed the principle that matter and motion are inseparable and laid the theoretical foundation for the use of atomic energy. After years of arduous effort, in 1915, he established general relativity, further revealing the relationship between four-dimensional spacetime and matter. He pointed out that spacetime could not exist independently of matter, and that the structure and properties of space depended on the distribution of matter. It was not flat Euclidean space but curved Riemannian space. According to the theory of gravity in general relativity, he inferred that light would propagate along curved paths rather than straight lines in a gravitational field. This theoretical prediction was confirmed by British astronomers during a solar eclipse in 1919, causing a sensation around the world. In 1938, he made significant progress in the movement problem of general relativity, deriving the equations of motion from the field equations, thereby further revealing the unity of spacetime, matter, motion, and gravity. The study of general relativity and the theory of gravity has gained attention since the 1960s, thanks to the great advancements in experimental technology and astronomy. In addition, Einstein's contributions to cosmology, the unified field theory using gravity and electromagnetism, and quantum theory also played a role in the development of physics.
Einstein was not only a great scientist but also an outstanding thinker with a deep philosophical spirit. He was also a person with a high sense of social responsibility. He lived in the political whirlpools of Western Europe, first in Germany and then in the United States, and experienced two world wars. He deeply understood the impact that the work of a scientist could have on society and the responsibilities that intellectuals owed to society. Einstein was deeply committed to using science to benefit humanity, but he witnessed the immense destruction caused by science and technology in the two world wars. Therefore, he believed that the issue of war and peace was the most pressing problem of the modern era, and he devoted much of his life to speaking out on this issue. His most frequent public statements were on political issues. His first public statement was a declaration in 1914 opposing World War I. His last public statement was the "Russell–Einstein Manifesto" signed in April 1955, which still called for people to unite to prevent a new world war from breaking out. In the gallery of 20th-century thinkers, Einstein embodies justice, kindness, and truth. His character shines as brightly as the sun, moon, and stars, and his scientific contributions will be revered by humanity for all generations.
On March 14, 1879, at 11:30 AM, Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, at 135 Bahnhofstrasse. Both of his parents were Jewish. His father was Hermann Einstein, and his mother was Pauline Koch. In 1880, Einstein's family moved to Munich. His father and his brother Jakob jointly ran a small electrical equipment factory. On November 18, 1881, Einstein's sister Maja was born. In 1884, Einstein became fascinated with a miniature compass. He attended a Catholic elementary school. In 1885, Einstein began learning the violin. In 1886, Einstein attended the public school in Munich. To fulfill the legal requirements of religious instruction, he studied Jewish religious teachings at home. In 1888, Einstein entered the Luitpold Gymnasium. He continued his religious education at school until he prepared for the bar mitzvah ceremony. Friedmann was his teacher. In 1889, under the guidance of a medical student named, Einstein read popular science books and philosophical works. In 1890, Einstein's religious period lasted about a year. In 1891, he self-studied Euclidean geometry and fell in love with it. He began studying higher mathematics on his own. In 1892, he self-studied calculus and graduated from high school early to reunite with his family in Italy. He renounced his German citizenship and applied to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich but was not admitted. In October, he transferred to the cantonal school in Aarau, Switzerland. He wrote several scientific papers. In 1896, he obtained his diploma from the Aarau school and, in October, enrolled in the mathematics department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 1897, Einstein met Besso in Zurich, and their lifelong friendship began. In October 1899, he formally applied for Swiss citizenship. In August 1900, he graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In December, he completed his thesis titled "Inferences from the Capillary Phenomenon," which was published the following year in the "Leipzig Journal of Physics." In March 1901, he obtained Swiss citizenship. In March, he went to Milan to find a job but had no success. In May, he returned to Switzerland and became a substitute teacher at the Winterthur Technical School. In October, he became a private tutor in Schaffhausen. Three months later, he lost his job. In December, he applied for a position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. From May to July, he completed his thesis on the thermodynamic theory of electromotive force. In February 1902, he arrived in Bern to wait for a job. He and Solovin and Habicht founded the "Olympia Academy." In June, he was hired as a trainee technical officer at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In June, he completed his third paper, "On the Kinetic Theory of Thermal Equilibrium and the Second Law of Thermodynamics," proposing the statistical theory of thermodynamics. In October, his father died. In January 1903, he married Mileva Maric. In May 1904, his first son, Hans, was born. In September, he was promoted from a trainee to a regular technical officer at the patent office. In March 1905, he developed quantum theory, proposed the photon hypothesis, and solved the photoelectric effect problem. In April, he submitted his thesis titled "A New Determination of Molecular Size" to the University of Zurich, earning his doctorate. In May, he completed his thesis titled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," independently and comprehensively proposing the principle of special relativity, opening a new era in physics. In September, he proposed the mass-energy equivalence relation. In April 1906, he was promoted to a second-class technical officer at the patent office. In November, he completed his thesis on the specific heat of solids, which was the first paper on the quantum theory of solids. In 1907, he began studying the theory of gravitational fields. In his paper titled "On the Principle of Equivalence and the Consequences Thereof," he proposed the equivalence principle between a uniform gravitational field and uniform acceleration. In June, he applied for a part-time lecturer position at the University of Bern. In October 1908, he became a part-time lecturer at the University of Bern. In March and October 1909, he completed two papers, each containing predictions about the blackbody radiation theory. In July, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva. In September, he attended the 81st meeting of the German Naturalists' Association in Salzburg, meeting Planck and others, and gave a report titled "The Development of Our Views on the Nature and Consequences of Radiation." In October, he left the Swiss Patent Office in Bern and became an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. In July 1910, his second son, Eduard, was born. In October, he completed his thesis on critical opalescence. In February 1911, he was invited to Leiden by Lorentz. In March, he became a professor of theoretical physics at the German University in Prague. In October, he went to Brussels to attend the Solvay Conference. In February 1912, Ehrenfest visited him, and they formed a close friendship. In October, he returned to Switzerland and became a professor of theoretical physics at his alma mater, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He proposed the law of the photochemical equivalent and began collaborating with Grossmann to explore general relativity. In July 1913, Planck and Nernst visited him and invited him to become the director of the in Berlin and a professor at the University of Berlin. On December 7, he accepted the position of a member of the Academy of Sciences. He published a paper co-authored with Grossmann titled "Outline of General Relativity and the Theory of Gravitation," proposing the metric field theory of gravity. On April 6, 1914, he moved from Zurich to Berlin. On July 2, he gave an inaugural speech at the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In October, he signed the declaration titled "To the Civilized World," opposing the defense of war by prominent figures in German culture, and signed the counter-declaration titled "To the Europeans" in opposition. In November, he joined the organization of the anti-war group "New Fatherland League." In 1915, he and De Haas jointly discovered the rotation magnetic effect. In March, he wrote to Roman Rolland, supporting his anti-war activities. From June to July, he gave six academic lectures on general relativity in Ar. In November, he proposed the complete form of the gravitational field equations of general relativity and successfully explained the perihelion precession of Mercury. In March 1916, he completed his summary paper titled "Foundations of General Relativity." In March, he published an article mourning Mach. In May, he proposed the hypothesis of a finite and unbounded universe. In August, he completed his paper titled "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation," summarizing the development of quantum theory and proposing the theory of stimulated emission. He first explored the topic of gravitational waves. He wrote "Relativity and the Problem of Space." In February 1917, he wrote a paper on cosmology, introducing the cosmological term. He suffered from liver disease, gastric ulcers, jaundice, and general weakness, cared for by his cousin Elsa. In February 1918, he published his second paper on gravitational waves, including a formula. From January to March 1919, he gave lectures in Zurich. In February, he divorced Mileva. In June, he married Elsa. In September, he learned of the results of the British astronomers' observation of a solar eclipse, and on November 6, the news was announced, causing a sensation around the world. As a result, Einstein's theory was regarded as "one of the greatest achievements in the history of human thought." In December, he received the only honorary degree from the University of Rostock: a doctorate in medicine. In March 1920, his mother died of cancer. In summer, he visited Scandinavia. From August to September, anti-relativity sentiment arose in Germany, and Einstein faced vicious attacks. He publicly responded. In October, he accepted a part-time professorship at the University of Leiden and gave a report titled "Ether and Relativity." In January 1921, he visited Prague and Vienna. On January 27, he gave a report titled "Geometry and Experience" at the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In February, he went to Amsterdam to attend the International Workers' Union Conference. From April 2 to May 30, he visited the United States with Weizmann to raise funds for the establishment of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He received the Barnard Medal at Columbia University and was received by President Harding in the White House. During his visits to Chicago, Boston, and Princeton, he gave four lectures on relativity. In June, he visited the United Kingdom and paid his respects at Newton's grave. In January 1922, he completed his paper on the unified field theory. From March to April, he visited France, working to normalize relations between France and Germany. He gave a speech critical of Mach's philosophy. In May, he joined the Committee on Cooperation of Intellectuals of the League of Nations. In July, he received threats of assassination and temporarily left Berlin. On October 8, Einstein and Elsa took a ship from Marseille to Japan. They visited Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai along the way. On November 9, while en route to Japan, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. From November 17 to December 29, he visited Japan. In February 1923, while returning from Japan, he visited Palestine and stayed for 12 days. On February 8, he became the first honorary citizen of Tel Aviv. On his return from Palestine to Germany, he visited Spain. In March, he was deeply disappointed with the League of Nations' failure to improve international relations and resigned. From June to July, he helped establish the "Friends of New Russia Association" and became a member of its executive committee. In July, he went to G?ppingen to receive the Nobel Prize for 1921 and gave a lecture on relativity as a thank you for receiving the prize. He discovered the Compton effect, resolving a long-standing contradiction in the concept of photons. In December, he first predicted that quantum effects might come from over-constrained general relativistic field equations. In December 1924, he joined the Jewish organization in Berlin and became a paying member. In June, he reconsidered joining the League of Nations. In December, he made his last major discovery, deriving an independent argument for the association of waves and matter from the analysis of statistical fluctuations. At the same time, he discovered Bose–Einstein condensation. In 1925, he was appointed a council member of the German-Soviet cooperative group "Sino-European Cultural and Technical Association." From May to June, he visited South America. He signed a statement refusing military service along with Gandhi and others. He received the Copley Medal. He worked on the board of directors of the Hebrew University. He published "Non-Euclidean Geometry and Physics." In the spring of 1926, he discussed the philosophical problems of quantum mechanics with Heisenberg. He received the gold medal of the "Royal Astronomer." He was elected an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In February 1927, he signed the anti-fascist declaration drafted by Barbusse. He joined the International Anti-Imperialist League and was elected honorary chairman. In October, he attended the fifth Solvay Conference in Brussels and began a fierce debate with the Copenhagen School over the interpretation of quantum mechanics. He published "Newtonian Mechanics and Its Influence on the Development of Theoretical Physics." In January 1928, he was elected a council member of the "German Human Rights League" (formerly the "New Fatherland League"). In the spring, due to overwork, his health deteriorated, and he went to Davos, Switzerland, for treatment, giving lectures to young people there. He published "The Recent Changes in the Basic Concepts of Physics." In April, Helen Dukas began working as his lifelong private secretary. In February 1929, he published "Unified Field Theory." In March, on his 50th birthday, he hid in the suburbs to avoid birthday celebrations. For the first time, he visited the Belgian royal family and formed a friendship with Queen Elizabeth, which lasted until his death. On June 28, he received the Planck Medal. From September onwards, he engaged in debates with the French mathematician Hadamard on the issue of war and peace, consistently opposing all wars unconditionally. In 1930, dissatisfied with the League of Nations' inaction in improving international relations, he resigned. On May 5, he signed a declaration on world disarmament by the "International Women's Peace and Freedom League." In July, he debated with Tagore on the objective nature of truth. From December 11, 1930, to March 4, 1931, he visited the United States for the second time, mainly giving lectures at the California Institute of Technology. On December 13, Mayor Walker of New York presented him with the key to the city. From December 19 to 20, he visited Cuba. He published articles such as "My Worldview" and "Religion and Science." On November 11, the "Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists" ceased activities. In 1931, he returned to Berlin from the United States in March. In May, he visited the United Kingdom and gave lectures at Oxford. In November, he called on countries to impose economic sanctions on Japan to stop its military aggression against China. In December, he went to California again for lectures. He published a series of articles and speeches in preparation for the 1932 International Disarmament Conference. He published "Maxwell's Influence on the Concept of Physical Reality." In February 1932, he protested the conviction of the German pacifist Ossietzky as a traitor in Pasadena. In March, he returned to Berlin from the United States. In May, he went to Cambridge and Oxford for lectures and rushed to Geneva to attend the disarmament conference, feeling extremely disappointed. In June, he had a conversation with Murphy about the problem of causality. In July, he corresponded with Freud about the psychological aspects of war. He called on the German people to defend the Weimar Republic and oppose fascism with all their might. On December 10, he and his wife left Germany for the United States. They had originally planned to visit the United States but never returned to German soil again. On January 30, 1933, the Nazis came to power. On March 10, he made a statement in Pasadena that he would not return to Germany, and left the next day. On March 20, the Nazis searched his home, and he published a protest. His property in Germany was confiscated, and his works were burned. On March 28, he arrived in Belgium and took refuge in a rural coastal area. On April 21, he resigned from his position at the Prussian Academy of Sciences. On May 26, in a letter to Laue, he pointed out that scientists should not remain silent on major political issues. In June, after giving lectures in Oxford, he returned to Belgium. In July, he changed his absolute pacifist stance and called on young people in various countries to arm themselves and prepare to fight a life-and-death battle against Nazi Germany. In early September, the Nazis offered a reward of 20,000 marks for killing him. On September 9, he crossed the sea to Britain and never left Europe again. On October 3, he gave a speech in London titled "Civilization and Science." On October 10, he left Britain and arrived in the United States on October 17, settling in Princeton and being appointed a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1934, his collected works titled "My Worldview" were edited and published by his stepson Rudolf Kaiser. In 1935, in May, he made a short trip to Bermuda. In Bermuda, he formally applied to live in the United States forever, which was also his last time leaving the United States. He received the Franklin Medal. He co-authored a paper with Podolsky and Rosen, challenging the Copenhagen School and claiming that the description of reality by quantum mechanics is incomplete. He worked tirelessly to have the Nobel Prize (Peace Prize) awarded to Ossietzky, who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. In 1936, he began collaborating with Infeld and Hoffmann to study the movement problem of general relativity. On December 20, his wife Elsa died. He published "Physics and Reality" and "On Education." From March to September 1937, he participated in the writing of the popular book "The Evolution of Physics," co-authored by Infeld. In March, he supported the "Seven Gentlemen" of China. In June, he co-authored a paper with Infeld and Hoffmann titled "Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion," deriving the equations of motion from the field equations of general relativity. In 1938, he co-authored a paper with Bergmann titled "Extension of the Kaluza–Klein Theory." In September, he wrote a letter to his descendants, expressing his dissatisfaction with the current state of capitalist society. In 1939, on August 2, under the influence of Szilard, he wrote to President Roosevelt, urging the United States to accelerate atomic energy research to prevent Germany from getting the atomic bomb first. His sister Maja came from Europe to the United States and stayed at Einstein's home for a long time. In 1940, on May 15, he published "An Examination of the Foundations of Theoretical Physics." On May 22, he telegraphed Roosevelt, opposing the United States' neutral policy. On October 1, he obtained U.S. citizenship. In 1941, he published articles such as "Science and Religion." In October 1942, at a meeting of Jewish supporters of the Soviet Union, he enthusiastically praised the achievements of the Soviet Union in various fields. In May 1943, as a scientific advisor, he participated in the work of the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1944, to support the anti-fascist war, he auctioned his 1905 paper on special relativity for $6 million. He published a review of Russell's epistemology. In December, he discussed atomic weapons and post-war peace with Stern and Bohr, following Bohr's advice to remain silent for the time being. In 1945, in March, he discussed the dangers of atomic armament with Szilard and wrote a letter introducing Szilard to meet Roosevelt, which was unsuccessful. In April, he retired from the Institute for Advanced Study (though he continued to work as usual). From September onwards, he published a series of statements on atomic war and world government. In May 1946, he initiated the organization of the "Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists," serving as its chairman. In May, he received an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University. He wrote a long "Autobiography," reflecting on the path of scientific exploration in his life. In May, his sister Maja became paralyzed due to a stroke, and he read books to her every night thereafter. In October, he wrote an open letter to the United Nations General Assembly, urging the establishment of a world government. In 1947, he continued to publish a large number of statements on world government. In September, he published an open letter suggesting that the United Nations be reorganized into a world government. In April–June 1948, he collaborated with the astronomer Shapley to vigorously oppose the United States' preparation for a preventive war against the Soviet Union. He protested the U.S. universal military training program. He published "Quantum Mechanics and Reality." His former wife Mileva died in Zurich. In December, he underwent an abdominal operation and discovered a large aortic aneurysm in his abdomen. On January 13, 1949, Einstein was discharged from the hospital. In January, he wrote "A Reply to Criticism," countering the criticism of the Copenhagen School in the collection titled "Albert Einstein: Philosopher—Scientist." In May, he published "Why Socialism?" In November, the "Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists" ceased activities. In 1950, on February 13, he gave a television speech opposing the U.S. production of the hydrogen bomb. On April