Albert Einstein was a
German mathematician and physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. In the following decade, he immigrated to the United States after being targeted by the German Nazi Party. His work also had a major impact on the development of atomic energy. In his later years, Einstein focused on unified field theory. He died in April 1955 at age 76. With his passion for inquiry, Einstein is generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century.
Albert Einstein was born on March
14, 1879, in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany. He grew up in a secular Jewish
family. His
father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer who, with his
brother, founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a Munich-
based company that mass-produced electrical equipment. Einstein’s mother, the former Pauline Koch, ran the
family household. Einstein had one
sister,
Maja, born two years after him. Einstein attended elementary school at the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich. However, he felt alienated there and struggled with the institution’s rigid pedagogical style. He also had what were considered speech challenges. However, he developed a passion for classical
music and playing the violin, which would stay with him into his later years. Most significantly, Einstein’s youth was marked by deep inquisitiveness and inquiry.
