Albert Einstein , who was born in Ulm on March 14th 1879 an died in Princeton on April 18th 1955, was certainly the greatest and most famous scientist of the century. That's the reason why we decided to study him. Indeed, we think his discoveries have made the world change. For instance, thanks to him, we've discovered how to create energy from atoms. That's why wealthy countries are able to produce enough electricity. His theory about radioactivity is also still use nowadays. All the discoveries are made thanks to his theories . This man spent his life to give us a better world … so he deserved to be studied.
Einstein migrated lots of times. First he left Germany for Milan in Italy because of the repeated business failures of the small shop of his parents in 1895. Economic reasons made him emigrate. Here he studied physics alone and played the violin as a hobby.
Then he entered the Swiss National Polytechnic in Zurich after having tried twice. During this period, he married Mileva Mariç in 1902, one of his classmates at the polytechnic. They had two sons before divorcing. This is one of the most important period of his life : he began his carrier in Physics, published three theoretical paper important to the development in of the 20th century physics. The first two papers dealt with the photoelectric effect and the Brownian motion. The last one, called " On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies ", which is now known as the theory of relativity, was finished in 1905. Though his theory was right, most scientists of his time didn't understand it. However Einstein started to be world-famous. In 1921, Einstein earned the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was internationally famous, and had already acquired many honours and rewards.
In 1933, he migrated to the U.S.A. because of Nazism and Hitler. He decided never to come back to Germany. The reasons of his migrations were here political and cultural.
Einstein emigrated to the U.S.A. in order to find peace and democracy. Unfortunately, he discovered how to create the atomic-bomb and after the war, he explained :
" War has been won, but not peace. "
In his opinion, the nuclear bomb was a danger for humanity. When people asked him what world war three would be, he answered he didn't know but he explained after the third world-war, people would fight with wands. After 1946, Einstein fought against racism, Maccartism, and the H-bomb. Nevertheless, people never really listened to him and the different states continued to create new bombs.
Each time he migrated, Einstein left all he had. He accepted the culture of the state and learnt the language. He had always wanted to forget his former life since he left each country because of war or poverty. So he didn't want to remember why he was forced to migrate.
We think Albert Einstein was one of the most important people of this century. He was not only one of the best physicians but also an humanist. He spent all his life helping people. Thanks to his theories in physics, he gave people a better future and his fight against poverty, racism, discrimination offered people a better present. Einstein was eventually, as his name explained, " ein Stein ", a stone in the world and the history.
David, JF, 1ère S, 2001-2002
