Albert Einstein

Born: March 14, 1879
City and Country of Origin: Württemberg, Germany
Education: Luitpold Gymnasium; Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich; doctorate in 1905
Awards: Nobel Prize for physics in 1921; Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925; Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935
Major Works: Photo Electric Effect; Special Theory of Relativity; Theory of Molecular Motion; General Theory of Relativity
Einstein Biography: Shortly after is birth his family moved to Munich where he began his education. His family later moved to Italy and when young Albert was old enough to be on his own he moved to Aarau, Switzerland to continue his education at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich where he trained to be a teacher in math and physics. In 1901 the year of his graduation he obtained his Swiss citizenship. Unable to find a job as a teacher he took a position at the Swiss Patent Office. It was during his years while working at the Patent Office that young Einstein did his most remarkable work. This led to his appointment, in 1905, as Privatdozent in Berne and Professor Extraordinary at Zurich and in 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague. He was appointed Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute and Professor in the University of Berlin iIn 1914. That same year he once again became a citizen of Germany where he would remain until 1933 when he saw the rise of the Third Reich and renounced his German citizenship and emigrated to the United States where he became a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton University. In 1940 he became a United States citizen and retired from his position. After World War II he was influential in the World Government movement and was offered the position as the first president of Israel which he declined. Early on in his career he realized the inadequacy of Newtonian physics which eventually led to his Special and General Theories of Relativity.
Died: April 18, 1955