Albert Einstein was a famous scientist, writer and professor. He was born in Ulm,
Germany, on March 24,1879. As a child, Einstein wasn't like the other boys: he
hated school but loved math. He was shy, and talked very slowly. He didn't
participate in sports but instead played with mechanical toys, put together
jigsaw puzzles, built towers and studied nature. At school and home he would ask
many questions and because of that everybody thought he was dumb. Once when he
was sick in bed, his father Herman, bought him a compass; and Albert asked
"Why does the needle point to the north?" His father didn't know the
answer. Herman was calm, friendly and had a black mustache. Einstein also had a
brother, Jakob. Studied electrical machinery firm financed by the Kocks.
Pauline, Einstein's mother was a cultured women and an excellent pianist.
Pauline encouraged Einstein to study the violin along with his scientific
ambitions. There was a strong physical resemblance between Einstein and his
younger sister Maja, and the two had a close relationship throughout their
lives. Maja, also a pianist, married Paul Winteler Einstein childhood friend,
Paul Winteler, in 1910 and later moved to the United States. When Einstein was
older, he invented electric eye. He also was asked to be the president of
Israel, but he refused. When Einstein was a teen-ager he was very interested in
science. When he wanted to relax he would play the violin which he started
playing at the age of six. The kocks, his mother's family, and the Einstein had
lived in Southern Germany for more than a century, selling cloth, farming, and
clerking in banks. During their free hours they enjoyed boating on the Danube
and walking in the woods. Both families were Jewish . In 1880, when Albert was
one year old, his father's business failed and the family moved to Munich, the
capital of Bavaria A heavily catholic city, it featured art galleries, breweries
and a university. Einstein's father Herman. managed an electrical machinery firm
which was financed partly by the Kock family. Einstein's mother Pauline, was a
cultured woman and excellent pianist. She was 11 years younger than her husband.
Pauline not only motivated her son to encouraged his scientific ambitions. When
Einstein was fifteen, his father's business failed again, and the family
relocated in Italy, Milan. Einstein stayed behind to complete his education, but
soon was asked to live school. He eventually joined his family in Italy. His
parents continued to support his scientific interests, however enabling him to
study at the " Swiss Federal Polytechnic School," or "Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology," in Zurich. At the institute, Einstein met
a petite, dark-haired Mileva Maric, who excelled in mathematics. Albert and
Mileva were married on January 6, 1903. Although the couple had two sons, Mileva
was dissatisfied with her life. She wanted either a career in her husband's
work. After many years of disagreement, the couple divorced in 1919, and Mileva
became a university teacher of mathematics. Einstein kept in touch with her and
his sons, and in the early 20s, he gave Mileva his entire forty-five thousand
dollars Nobel Prize. Han's Albert, Einsteins older son, developed a good
relationship with his father. He became a good engineer, and when Einstein moved
to United States in 1933, Hans Albert visited him often, ultimately setting here
with his own family. Einstein younger son Eduard, began reading Shakespeare at
the age of five. He got his father permission to concentrated on music and
literature but did not achieve success. Eduard later accused his father of
ruining his life a nervous breakdown. Although Einstein rushed to Switzerland
when Eduard became ill, neither he nor the psychiatrists were able to help.
Eduard lived with his mother until her death, when he was placed in a mental
institution. Einstein also proved that matter and energy are really different
forms of the same thing, which is the Special Theory of Relativity. Einstein's
General Theory of Relativity showed that gravity, too, is relative. Gravity is
the force that attracts two bodies of matter toward one another. This theory
explained that a person gaining speed would feel *a force exactly like the pull
of gravity. In a spaceship without windows, that person would not be able to
tell if the ship had started too move faster, or if it were being pulled by
gravity from planet of star. In 1929. Einstein had doubts about whether an
atomic bomb could really be made. ON August 6, 1945, the United states dropped
an atomic bomb on Japan. Since this Einstein had believed the conflict could be
settled without restorting to such a terrible weapon. "Oh weh!" he
gasped. It was cry of sorrow that went beyond words. On August 9, the United
states drop a second bomb on Japan, ending war. A new historical atomic age, had
been born, and no one knew better than Einstein the threat it posed to human
survival. For the rest of his life, he worked to make sure the bomb would never
be used again. He served in committees to inform the public about atomic energy
and the growing danger of weapons development. In 1905 Einstein proposed his
Special Theory of Relativity. According to this theory, people view time and
space differently, depending on their positions relative, or in relation, to one
another. For example, To a person standing at the exact midpoint between two
lamps, those lamps might appear to flash at the same time. But a person passing
by very quickly in a train would see one lamp flash before the other. This
happens because the light from one lamp would reach that person before the light
from other lamp. Time, then would be different for the two people. Einstein had
many opportunities to speak out about causes in which he believed. One of those
causes was Zionism, the movement to create the Jewish nation of Israel. Another
was world peace. Many times he urged the nations of the world to get rid of
their weapons. Einstein is remembered as a great scientist who worked hard to
make the world a better place for all people.