Albert Einstein.

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Lingue
Voto:	2.5 (2)
Download:	87
Data:	07.06.2000
Numero di pagine:	1
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

Einstein, Albert
1879-1955, American theoretical physicist; b. Germany; recognized as one of the greatest physicists of all time. He became (1914) titular professor of physics and director of theoretical physics at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. The Nazi government confiscated (1934) his property and revoked his German citizenship because he was Jewish, and in 1940 Einstein became an American citizen, holding a post at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton from 1933 until his death. Although an ardent pacifist, he urged Pres. F.D. ROOSEVELT to investigate the possible use of atomic energy in bombs. In one of three important 1905 papers, he explained BROWNIAN MOVEMENT on the basis of his study of the motion of atoms. His special theory of RELATIVITY (1905) dealt with systems or observers in uniform (unaccelerated) motion with respect to one another. He asserted (1911) the equality of GRAVITATION and INERTIA and formulated (c.1916) a general theory of relativity that included gravitation as a determiner of the curvature of a SPACE-TIME continuum. Einstein contributed to the development of QUANTUM MECHANICS, postulating (1905) light quanta (PHOTONS), on which he based his explanation of the PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT, and developing the quantum theory of SPECIFIC HEAT. Working on a unified field theory, he attempted to explain gravitation and electromagnetism with one set of laws. For his work in theoretical physics, notably on the photoelectric effect, he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics.