Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, which was part of the German Empire. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century due to his development of the theory of General Relativity and his contributions to Quantum Mechanics.
Einstein's early education began in Munich, where his family moved when he was one year old. He showed an early aptitude for mathematics and physics, but struggled with the authoritarian atmosphere at the Luitpold Gymnasium. At 16, he left school without graduating and moved to Switzerland, where he completed his secondary education at the Aarau Canton School.
He then enrolled at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, where he studied to become a teacher in mathematics and physics. Here, he met Mileva Marić, his future wife.
After graduating, Einstein struggled to find academic positions and worked as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office in Bern from 1902 to 1909. During this time, he published several groundbreaking papers in 1905, known as his Annus Mirabilis papers:
In 1915, Einstein published his theory of General Relativity, which provided a new understanding of gravity as a curvature of spacetime caused by mass and energy. This theory was confirmed by observations during the solar eclipse of 1919, significantly elevating his status in the scientific community.
Einstein remained in Germany during World War I, where he was exempted from military service due to his Swiss citizenship. After the war, he became a prominent figure in the international scientific community, though his Jewish heritage made him a target for anti-Semitic attacks in Nazi Germany, leading him to emigrate to the United States in 1933.
Upon arriving in the US, Einstein accepted a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Here, he continued his work on unified field theories, attempting to reconcile General Relativity with Electromagnetism, though without success. He also became an outspoken advocate for civil rights and various humanitarian causes.
Einstein died on April 18, 1955, in Princeton. His brain was preserved for research, though studies on it have been controversial and inconclusive regarding whether his cognitive abilities were exceptional.
Einstein's contributions to science are vast; his theories have led to numerous technological advancements, including GPS technology, and his philosophical insights continue to influence modern physics.