Albert Einstein

Biography

Einstein's popular image — the wild hair, the tongue-out photograph — hides the outsider's story: a patent clerk who published the century's most important physics in his spare time, a Jew driven from Germany, and a celebrity-scientist who spent his fame on civil rights, Zionism and warnings about nuclear weapons.

German-born theoretical physicist whose 1905 papers revolutionised physics and whose name became a synonym for genius.

Known for

The theory of relativity and the equation E = mc².

Notable works & defining projects

• Annus Mirabilis papers (1905)
• General relativity (1915)
• The World As I See It (essays)

Notable achievements

• Published the special theory of relativity and E = mc² in his 'miracle year', 1905
• Won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921, for the photoelectric effect
• His general theory of relativity (1915) reshaped the understanding of gravity

Timeline

1. 1905Published four revolutionary papers, including special relativity and E = mc²
2. 1915Completed general relativity, redefining gravity
3. 1933Emigrated to the United States, settling at Princeton as Hitler rose to power

Did you know?

• In 1905 he was working as a technical expert at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern — the 'miracle year' happened after office hours
• He renounced his German citizenship at 17 and was stateless for five years before becoming Swiss