Legacies are perhaps the only good the passing years leave behind. At the dawn of year 2106 ,one of the most important theories of physics is about to complete its one hundred years of influence.In 1905, Einstein published five papers in seven months that generalized and revolutionized modern Physics and the philosophy of Science.
It is for such reasons that on December 31, 1999 Time magazine declared Einstein as the ”Person Of The Century ”. The Time magazine also called Albert Einstein as “The Greatest Mind and Person of our age”.
Among the theories Einstein gave in 1905 was the special theory of relativity. This theory was based on the fact that the velocity of light was an absolute constant.This was generalized by Einstein to his General Theory of Relativity in 1915.With the end of 2015, the General Theory Of Relativity has become one hundred years old and this is a great legacy of Einstein.
Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany to a Swiss parentage. He became a naturalised American in 1935 after leaving Germany to avoid persecution as a Jew. He was expelled from his school and his teacher called him a lazy lamb and told his father he would do nothing. His father died in 1902 without seeing his fame and great work. Einstein struggled a lot and now was expecting a good job for his work but nothing happened. Even in 1907, in frustration he applied for job as a school teacher but was declared under-qualified. Finally in 1909 after four years of his famous discoveries and after spending seven years as a patent clerk, he got junior professorship at the University Of Zurich. For the next four years, Einstein slowly climbed up the academic ladder.
General Theory of Relativity states that gravity is the curvature of space and time. Space and time bend in presence of a matter, and this is what makes objects fall.
According to General Theory of Relativity gravity is not a force but the very structure of space and time. It is the geometry on which particles move. The gravity also does not move with an infinite speed, and moves at the speed of light. The General Theory of Relativity explains the structure of space and time at most places in our universe. But there are places, where space and time are expected to break down due to quantum effects. It is at those places we expect General Theory of Relativity to break down, and we expect that it will get generalized to some more general theory.
His work on the Brownian Motion, confirmed the existence of Atoms.He also discovered equivalence of mass and energy, and this lead to the development of the atomic bomb.He introduced concept of particle wave duality and this became the basis of quantum mechanics. He also discovered the particle nature of light. He discovered both the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity.
One such proposal that has recently become important is gravity’s rainbow and this theory states that gravity acts differently on particles of different energy.
Max Planck Nobel laureate and great Physicist has rightly said ” There was hardly a problem in modern Physics to which Einstein has not made a remarkable contribution”. He solved many big problems of his time in modern Physics and his achievements are unparalleled.
However, all these generalizations are only possible because of the important work done by Einstein.Einstein died in 1955, but his work is still a source of inspiration for a lot scientists.
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