Albert Einstein

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Recommended: Albert Einstein contributions to science

What is it that triggers a spark of genius? Is there some encouragement given at the right time that starts the process or helps it along, or does genius simply find its expression despite all odds?
At age five, Einstein was given a device that would stir his intellect. It was the first time he had seen a magnetic compass. He lay there shaking and twisting the odd contraption, certain he could fool it into pointing off in a new direction. But try as he might, the compass needle would always find its way back to pointing in the direction of magnetic north. Most kid at his age, including me, would have given up figuring how it worked. "A wonder," he must have thought. The invisible force that guided the compass needle was evidence to Albert that there was more to our world that meets the eye. There was "something behind things, something deeply hidden."
Einstein's genius, accompanied by his logic and imagination, succeeded in continuing the work of Newton. Within the frame of the relativity theory, demanding a formulation of the laws of nature independent of the observer and emphasizing the singular role of the speed of light, gravitational effects lost their isolated position and appeared as an integral part of a general kinematics’ description, capable of verification by refined astronomical observations. Moreover, Einstein's recognition of the equivalence of mass and energy should prove an invaluable guide in the exploration of atomic phenomena.

Indeed, the breadth of Einstein's views and the openness of his mind found most remarkable expression in the fact that, in the very same years when he gave a widened outlook to classical physics, he thoroughly grasped the fact that Planck's discovery of the universal quantum of action revealed an inherent limitation in such an approach. With unfailing intuition Einstein was led to the introduction of the idea of the photon as the carrier of momentum and energy in individual radiative processes. He thereby provided the starting point for the establishment of consistent quantum theoretical methods, which have made it possible to account for an immense amount of experimental evidence concerning the properties of matter, and even demanded reconsideration of our most elementary concepts.
The same spirit that characterized Einstein's unique scientific achievements also marked his attitude in all human relations. Notwithstanding the increasing reverence which people everywhere felt for his attainments and character, he behaved with unchanging natural modesty and expressed himself with a subtle and charming humour.

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