On July 1, 1905, Albert Einstein makes public the Theory of Relativity he created. A curious fact is that in 1999, the American magazine “Time” proclaimed him “Person of the Century”, and a survey of the most famous modern physicists defined him as the greatest physicist of all time.
In 1905, at only 26 years old, Einstein wrote five articles on three different topics that shook and changed the scientific world. The topics are the special theory of relativity, the statistical theory of Brownian motion, explaining it at the molecular and atomic levels, and the equation E = m c2 for the equivalence of mass and energy.
These articles are not based on difficult experiments and complex calculations, but rather on elegant arguments, conclusions and intuition. For the first time in the history of mankind, Albert Einstein proves that pure thought can change our ideas about nature. That same year, Einstein defended his doctorate.
At the very beginning of his scientific career, Albert Einstein understood that, given the then views on physics, classical mechanics could not be reconciled with the laws of electromagnetic fields, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He also understood that the principle of relativity could be applied to gravitational fields and in 1916 formulated the general theory of relativity.
He continued his work in the field of statistical and quantum theory, creating his own explanation of the theory of elementary particles and the movement of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light, thereby laying the foundations of the photon theory of light. In 1917, he used the general theory of relativity to create a comprehensive model of the structure of the Universe, thus laying the foundation for relativistic cosmology.
In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to theoretical physics, and especially for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.
The German theoretical physicist, philosopher and writer of Jewish origin worked for much of his life in Switzerland and the United States. He is considered one of the most influential and famous scientists and intellectuals of all time. He published more than 300 scientific papers and over 150 other works and received honorary doctorates from numerous European and American universities.