Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!

[Guest LilBambi]

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein! May you Rest in Peace.

 

 

Albert Einstein (/ˈælbərt ˈaɪnstaɪn/; German: [ˈalbɐt ˈaɪnʃtaɪn] ( listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongsidequantum mechanics).[2][3] While best known for hismass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"),[4] he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of thephotoelectric effect".[5] The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory.

 

Near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led to the development of his special theory of relativity. He realized, however, that the principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational fields, and with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916, he published a paper on the general theory of relativity. He continued to deal with problems ofstatistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and themotion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe.[6]

 

He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitlercame to power in 1933 and did not go back to Germany, where he had been a professor at theBerlin Academy of Sciences. He settled in the U.S., becoming an American citizen in 1940.[7] On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" and recommending that the U.S. begin similar research. This eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project. Einstein supported defending the Allied forces, but largely denounced using the new discovery ofnuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein signed theRussell–Einstein Manifesto, which highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons. Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955.

 

Einstein published more than 300 scientific papersalong with over 150 non-scientific works.[6][8] His great intellectual achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous withgenius.[9]

 

[Guest LilBambi]

The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. (1945)

 

On the problems presented by nuclear weapons. Variant: ... If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.

 

The second sentence about becoming a watchmaker is discussed in Albert_Einstein#Misattributed. Searching on google books for "Einstein" and "heart of mankind", all of them seem to pair it with the watchmaker quote without giving a source, so not very trustworthy (earliest source I find is Alan Moore's 1987 graphic novel Watchmen, which at the end of Chapter IV—originally published as a single issue on Dec. 1 1986 according to this page—has the quote "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker"). It's possible the "heart of mankind" sentence could be a paraphrase of the following quote from Einstein and the Poet, p. 92: "I agree with you, intellect has never saved the world. If we want to improve the world we cannot do it with scientific knowledge but with ideals ... We must begin with the heart of man—with his conscience—and the values of conscience can only be manifested by selfless service to mankind." Hypnosifl 16:31, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

 

The "heart of mankind" part could also be inspired by a line from the interview with Michael Amrine here: "Science has brought forth this danger, but the real problem is in the minds and hearts of men. We will not change the hearts or other men by mechanism, but by changing our hearts and speaking bravely." Hypnosifl 01:56, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

 

Added the Alan Moore variant to Albert_Einstein#Misattributed. Hypnosifl 01:35, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

 

http://en.wikiquote....Albert_Einstein

 

If only I had known, I should have become a watch-maker*.

 

According to The Quote Verifier (2006) by Ralph Keyes, Einstein never said any such thing. (According to p. 285 of the book's "source notes" Keyes checked New Statesman 16 April 1965, which is commonly cited as the source of this quote. Some other books claim it's from New Statesman 16 April 1955 and at least one has it as 1945, but a google books search with the date range restricted to 1900-1995 shows that all the earliest sources give it as 1965. This includes the earliest source located, The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations from 1971, as can be verified by this search.) Keyes notes that Einstein "did use similar words to make a very different point" when he wrote, in a 1954 letter to the editor at The Reporter magazine, "If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances."

 

Similarly, in Einstein and the Poet by William Hermanns, p. 86, Einstein is quoted saying the following in a 1948 interview: "If I should be born again, I will become a cobbler and do my thinking in peace."

 

http://en.wikiquote....n#Misattributed

 

BOLD emphasis mine.

Edited March 14, 2014 by LilBambi

[Guest LilBambi]

[Guest LilBambi]

It is amazing, but brilliant people often do not do well in the idiotic structured systems in schools ... is it little wonder?

 

They said the same of Thomas Edison, if I remember right...