Photo of Albert Einstein.
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Courtesy of Tracey Keifer. Emilio Segre Visual Archives. American Institute of Physics.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German physicist who lived between 1879-1955. His special and general theories of relativity, theory of Brownian motion, work in quantum physics, statistical mechanics, and on the photoelectric effect, make him the most well-known scientist of the twentieth century.

In 1905, Einstein presented his special theory of relativity which made bold statements about the nature of light and the equivalency of matter and energy. Later, in 1916, he presented predictions on the link between gravity and space and time, which were verified three years later. Einstein also studied the properties of elementary particles and warned of the dangers of nuclear war.

Last modified June 16, 2008 by Randy Russell.

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