In 1905 at the age of 26ófour years before he was able to get a job as a professor of physicsóEinstein published five of the most important papers in the history of science. He proved atoms and molecules existed and light existed in particles known as photons. He also described his Theory of Relativity. He proposed that space and time were threads in a common fabric, which could be bent, stretched, and twisted.
The papers unraveled problems already being worked on by others. Had Einstein not been born, the papers would eventually have been written. What is remarkable is that a single man came up with all these conclusions.
His essay about the photo-electric effect stated that light was made up of particles by observing that when light strikes certain metals, electrons fly off. This can only happen if light comes in little packets concentrated enough to knock an electron loose.
His second paper stated how to calculate the number of atoms in a certain quantity of a chemical substance and the size of a molecule by studying molecular motion in a solution. His work was accepted as a doctoral thesis and then published in 1906.
Just 11 days later he sent out a paper about Brownian motion. He combined kinetic theory and classical hydrodynamics to write an equation that showed that the displacement of particles varies as the square root of time.
On June 30, Einstein had an idea about synchronizing clocks that were spatially separated. This led to his writing a paper that completely overhauled our understanding of space and time. His fourth paper was only 30 pages long and contained no references. He titled his work, On the electrodynamics of moving bodies.
Two centuries before Einsteinís papers, physics was built around Isaac Newtonís laws of motion. A scientist by the name of Maxwell, however, developed the theory of electrodynamics. This posed a problem to the principle of relativity because it suggested that electromagnetic waves always travel at the same speed.
Either electrodynamics was wrong or there had to be some kind of stationary ether through which the waves could propagate. Einstein swept away the idea of the ether. He said that no matter how fast you are moving, light will always appear to travel at the same velocity. The speed of light is a fundamental constant of nature and cannot be exceeded.
So with all of his information about the laws of physics, Einstein built a new theory of motion that revealed Newtonís mechanics to be an approximation that only holds at low everyday speeds. His new theory became known as the Special Theory of Relativity. This led to the understanding that space and time are intimately linked to one another. The length of an object becomes shorter when it travels at velocities close to the speed of light, and a moving clock runs slower than a stationary clock.
His last essay was basically an afterthought on the consequences of special relativity. The best known equation today, E = mc2, is included in this article. This basically said that a little bit of mass could create a tremendous amount of energy. Einsteinís famous equation was used to create the atomic bomb.
Einstein was a brilliant man. To him, ìThe most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is so comprehensible.î
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