Analysis:
teenagers
Albert Einstein, the greatest physicist in the 20th century, was born in Ulm, southwest Germany, on March 1879, and moved to Munich with his family a year later. Einstein's parents were Jews. His father Herman Einstein and his uncle Jacob Einstein jointly opened an electrical appliance factory to produce motors, arc lamps and electrical instruments for power stations and lighting systems. Mother Pauline, a housewife with secondary education, likes music very much and taught Einstein to play the violin when he was six years old.
Einstein was not lively when he was a child, and he couldn't speak when he was over three years old. His parents were worried that he was dumb and took him to see a doctor. Fortunately, Einstein was not dumb, but he didn't speak fluently until he was nine years old. Everything he says must be carefully thought over.
At the age of four or five, Einstein was once ill in bed, and his father gave him a compass. When he found that the compass always pointed in a fixed direction, he was very surprised and felt that there must be something hidden behind this phenomenon. He happily played with the compass for several days, pestering his father and uncle Jacob to ask a series of questions. Although he can't even say the word "magnetic" well, he stubbornly wants to know why the compass can guide the direction. This deep and lasting impression was vividly recalled by Einstein until he was 67 years old.
When Einstein was in primary school and middle school, his homework was normal. Because he is slow and doesn't like people, his teachers and classmates don't like him. The teachers who taught him Greek and Latin hated him even more. He once publicly scolded him: "Einstein, you will never be a successful person when you grow up." And I want to kick him out of school for fear that his class will affect other students.
Einstein's uncle Jacob is in charge of technical affairs in the electric appliance factory, while Einstein's father is in charge of business contact. Jacob is an engineer. He loves mathematics very much. When Einstein came to ask him questions, he always introduced his mathematics knowledge to him in very simple and popular language. Under the influence of his uncle, Einstein was enlightened by science and philosophy earlier.
My father's business is not good, but he is optimistic and kind. Inviting poor students from Munich to dinner at home every night is tantamount to helping them. One of them is a pair of Jewish brothers Max and Bernard from Lithuania. They are all medical students. They like reading books and have a wide range of interests. They were invited to eat at Einstein's house and became good friends with shy little Einstein with black hair and brown eyes.
Max can be said to be Einstein's "first teacher". He lent him some popular natural science books. When Einstein was twelve years old, Max gave him a plane geometry textbook from speke. Einstein recalled this sacred little book in his later years and said, "There are many conclusions in this book, such as that the three heights of a triangle intersect at one point. Although they are not obvious in themselves, they can be reliably proved, so any doubt seems impossible. This clarity and reliability left an indescribable impression on me. "
Einstein was also very lucky to know the main achievements and methods in the field of natural science from an excellent popular reading. Popular reading not only increased Einstein's knowledge, but also touched the curious heartstrings of young people and caused him to think deeply about the problem.
At the age of sixteen, Einstein applied for the engineering department of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, but failed in the entrance examination. He accepted the suggestion of Professor Weber, the president of the Federal Institute of Technology and a famous physicist in the school, and completed the middle school course in Arau, Switzerland, with a view to obtaining a middle school degree.
1896 5438+00 In June, Einstein stepped into the school gate of Zurich University of Technology and studied mathematics and physics in the normal department. He is very disgusted with the indoctrination education in school, which makes people have no time and interest to think about other problems. Fortunately, compulsory education that stifles real scientific motivation is much less in Zurich Federal Institute of Technology than in other universities. Einstein made full use of the free air in the school and devoted himself to the subject he loved. At school, he widely read the works of masters of physics such as Helmholtz and Hertz, and he was most fascinated by Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. He has the ability of self-study, the habit of analyzing problems and the ability of independent thinking.
Early work
1900, Einstein graduated from Zurich University of Technology. He was refused to stay in school because he was not enthusiastic about some courses and indifferent to the teachers. He couldn't find a job and made a living as a tutor and substitute teacher. After a year and a half of unemployment, Marcel Grossman, a classmate who cares about and understands his talent, extended a helping hand to him. Grossman managed to persuade his father to introduce Einstein to the Swiss Patent Office as a technician.
Einstein thanked Grossman for his lifelong help. In his mourning letter to Grossman, he said that when he graduated from college, he was "suddenly abandoned by everyone and faced with life at a loss." He helped me. Through him and his father, I later went to Haller (then director of the Swiss Patent Office) and entered the patent office. It's kind of like saving my life. Without him, I probably won't starve to death, but my spirit will be depressed. "
1902 February 2 1 day, Einstein obtained Swiss nationality and moved to Bern, waiting for the recruitment of the patent office. 1902 On June 23rd, Einstein was officially employed as a third-class technician by the Patent Office, whose job was to examine all kinds of technological inventions applying for patent rights. 1903 married mileva Malik, a college classmate.
From 1900 to 1904, Einstein wrote a paper every year and published it in the German journal of physics. The first two articles are about the thermodynamics of liquid level and electrolysis, trying to give chemistry a mechanical basis. Later, it was found that this road was not feasible, and the mechanical basis of thermodynamics was studied instead. 190 1 put forward some basic theories of statistical mechanics, and three papers from 1902 to 1904 all belong to this field.
1904 seriously discusses the fluctuation phenomenon predicted by statistical mechanics and finds that energy fluctuation depends on Boltzmann constant. It not only applies this result to mechanical systems and thermal phenomena, but also boldly applies it to radiation phenomena, and obtains the fluctuation formula of radiation energy, thus deducing Wien's displacement law. The study of fluctuation phenomenon made him make a major breakthrough in both radiation theory and molecular motion theory in 1905.
1905 miracle
From 65438 to 0905, Einstein created an unprecedented miracle in the history of science. This year, he wrote six papers. During the half year from March to September, he made four epoch-making contributions in three fields in his spare time besides working eight hours a day in the patent office. He published four important papers on quantum theory of light, molecular size measurement, Brownian motion theory and special relativity.
1905 In March, Einstein sent the paper he thought was correct to the editorial department of the German Journal of Physics. He said shyly to the editor, "I will be very happy if you can find room for me to publish this paper in your annual report." This "embarrassing" paper is called "a speculative view on the generation and transformation of light".
In this paper, the quantum concept put forward by Planck in 1900 is extended to the propagation of light in space, and the optical quantum hypothesis is put forward. It is considered that: for time average, light behaves as fluctuation; For instantaneous values, light appears as particles. This is the first time in history to reveal the unity of fluctuation of microscopic objects and particles, that is, wave-particle duality.
At the end of this article, he explained the photoelectric effect with the concept of optical quantum, and deduced the relationship between the maximum energy of photoelectrons and the frequency of incident light. This relationship was not confirmed by Millikan's experiment until 10 years later. 192 1 year, Einstein won the nobel prize in physics for his achievement of "the discovery of the law of photoelectric effect".
But this is really just the beginning. Albert Einstein went hand in hand in the fields of light, heat and electrophysics, and it was out of control. 1905 In April, Einstein completed a new method to determine the molecular size, and in May, he completed the movement of suspended particles in still liquid required by the theory of thermomolecular motion. These are two papers about Brownian motion. Einstein's purpose at that time was to determine the actual size of molecules by observing the irregular motion of suspended particles caused by the fluctuation of molecular motion, thus solving the problem of whether atoms exist in scientific and philosophical circles for more than half a century.
Three years later, French physicist Perrin confirmed Einstein's theoretical prediction with accurate experiments. This justifies the objective existence of atoms and molecules, which also makes ostwald, the German chemist who is most firmly opposed to the founder of atomism and energy theory, take the initiative to announce in 1908 that "the atomic hypothesis has become a scientific theory with a solid foundation".
1In June, 905, Einstein finished his long paper "On Electrodynamics of Transport Bodies" which initiated a new era in physics, and put forward the special theory of relativity completely. This is the result of Einstein's brewing and exploration in 10, which largely solved the crisis of classical physics at the end of 19, changed the space-time view of Newtonian mechanics, exposed the equivalence of matter and energy, and created a brand-new world of physics, which is the greatest revolution in the field of modern physics.
Special relativity can not only explain all phenomena that classical physics can explain, but also explain some physical phenomena that classical physics can't, and predict many new effects. The most important conclusion of the special theory of relativity is that the principle of conservation of mass has lost its independence and merged with the law of conservation of energy, so that mass and energy can be transformed into each other. Others include the slow scale of the clock, the constant speed of light, the zero rest mass of photons and so on. Classical mechanics has become the limit case of relativistic mechanics at low speed. So mechanics and electromagnetism are unified on the basis of kinematics.
1905 In September, Einstein wrote a short article, is the inertia of an object related to the energy it contains? ",as an inference of relativity. Mass-energy equivalence is the theoretical basis of nuclear physics and particle physics, and it also paved the way for the release and utilization of nuclear energy in the 1940s.
In this short period of six months, Einstein's breakthrough achievements in science can be said to be "unprecedented". Even if he gave up physics research, even if he only accomplished any of the above three achievements, Einstein would leave an extremely important mark on the history of physics development. Einstein dispelled the "dark clouds in the clear sky of physics" and ushered in a more brilliant new era of physics.
/kloc-in the 0/9th century, with a series of major discoveries in physics, many scientists claimed that the building of physics had been basically completed, leaving only the supplement and perfection of later generations. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, a young physicist almost single-handedly knocked down this classic physical building. He is Albert Einstein, a great theoretical physicist and the founder of the theory of relativity.
Einstein was born in March 1879 in a Jewish family in Ulm, Baden-Wü rttemberg, Germany. The next year, the whole family moved to Munich. Einstein didn't show great talent in his childhood. He attended high school in Munich, dropped out of school before graduation, and then transferred to the state middle school in Arau, Switzerland. From 65438 to 0896, Einstein entered the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich to study mathematics and physics, and became a teacher after graduation. Einstein loved teaching and educating people, but it was his dream to become a physicist.
1902, Einstein became an examiner in the Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland. The ease of work in the patent office made Einstein continue to devote himself to scientific research. From 65438 to 0905, Einstein, who was only 26 years old, published three papers and made historic achievements in three different fields of physics, especially the proposal of special relativity, which completely changed human understanding of space, time and material movement and marked the arrival of a new era of physics.
19 14, Einstein returned to Germany, entered the Prussian Academy of Sciences, engaged in scientific research, and served as a professor at the University of Berlin. 19 15 years, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. This is another great achievement of modern science after the special theory of relativity. 19 19, the total solar eclipse observed by British astronomer Eddington confirmed Einstein's prediction that light will bend after passing through the gravitational field of the sun. Einstein became famous and the theory of relativity became a household name.
192 1 year, Einstein won the nobel prize in physics for his research on photoelectric effect. 1933, Einstein was forced to immigrate to the United States because of Nazi Germany's anti-Semitism, and obtained American citizenship on 1940. 1April 1955 18, Einstein died in Princeton, USA.
Einstein has made outstanding contributions to photoelectric effect and relativity, and his research results on Brownian motion have become the most popular foundation of financial mathematics because of his regular grasp of a large number of disorderly factors. The concept of laser stimulated radiation put forward by him is widely used today after decades; The EPR paradox put forward in his argument with Bohr is still a topic of constant discussion in theoretical physics and philosophy of science. ...
Einstein was not only a great scientist but also a pacifist. He witnessed the destruction of human civilization in two world wars and thought that peace was the primary problem of mankind. 1955 In April, Einstein signed the Russell-Einstein Declaration on his deathbed, calling on people to unite and prevent the outbreak of a new world war.
Romantic history of scientific genius, two marriages
Einstein started his first marriage under the strong pressure of his parents. It is reported that Einstein fell in love with his Serbian girlfriend mileva while studying at Zurich Institute of Technology. Mileva is a mathematician. 1901July, when he learned that his fiancee mileva was pregnant, he promised to give up all scientific and professional ambitions and be responsible for mileva. In order to get married, he can even accept the lowest position. However, the arrogant Einstein found it difficult to find a job, which dealt a great blow to mileva who was pregnant with a child. The personality conflict between them became more and more serious after marriage.
After a period of torture, they divorced on 19 19. By the end of the 1920s, they had reached a certain degree of reconciliation, and there were hundreds of letters between them. It is said that Einstein's theory of relativity is largely attributed to mileva, who helped Einstein do a lot of mathematical calculations. Since his separation from mileva, Einstein has lived with his second wife and cousin Elsa. He loves Elsa more than she does.
Multiple lovers
In addition to having an affair with a private secretary, Einstein, who loves music and sailing at sea and cares about world affairs, also has a lot of like-minded confidants! Even when he became a father, his scandals were endless!
Einstein was very attractive to women. His first girlfriend, his teacher's daughter, had a nervous breakdown after being abandoned by Einstein. Joanna, I met her in Prague in the early 20th century. She and her husband immigrated to the United States on 1939 and became close friends with Einstein. Joanna even cut Einstein's hair and they talked on the phone every week. There is also a Russian immigrant Magdalena, who is said to be a spy!
Two illegitimate daughters
Before Einstein married his first wife, Serbian mathematician mileva, he gave birth to his daughter Li Ze in June of 1902+0. She was born with "dawn syndrome" and her reaction was very slow. Because young Einstein devoted himself to his career and was unable to raise his daughter, he paid little attention to mileva's mother and daughter. Later, it is said that Li Ze was given to strange parents for adoption, and she completely lost contact with her biological parents. Another story says that mileva sent her daughter to her home in Vojvodina, Serbia, and her parents took care of her, but Li Ze died of scarlet fever when she was two years old. According to the record of American writer Zachheim, Li Ze died on September 5, 1903/kloc-0, when a total solar eclipse occurred in Vojvodina, which provided the first evidence for Einstein to explain the special relativity of space and time a few years later.
Besides Li Ze, Einstein also had an illegitimate daughter named Evelyn, who was born to Einstein and a new york native. When the little girl was born, Einstein ignored her. Finally, Einstein's adult son Hans couldn't stand it anymore and adopted an illegitimate daughter himself. It is reported that Hans brought her up, but never told her the identity of her biological parents. Einstein showed great sympathy for the poor, the weak and the oppressed, but showed incomprehensible indifference to his closest people, especially his children!
Three theories change human life
Xiao Li jumped out of the car equipped with GPS satellite positioning and navigation system and went to a quick printing shop with a CF card of a digital camera in his hand. The electric door slammed open and norah jones's latest CD was playing in the store. Without Einstein, these high-tech products would not appear in real life. It is hard for ordinary people to imagine how much Einstein's contribution is.
People may only know that his theory of relativity E=MC2 was applied to the atomic bomb. In fact, no matter the means of transportation, mountaineering navigation, or even the GPS system for positioning, as long as the error is within 15 meters, it is corrected by relativity. This is because there is a time difference between the positioning satellite and the earth. If it is not corrected, the signal error of GPS will be as high as more than 30 meters.
1905, Einstein published three theories of special relativity, Brownian motion and quantum theory, which shocked the scientific community and was called "miracle year". These three theories changed later human life.
Relativity is Einstein's greatest research, which has a far-reaching impact on the 20th century and the 20th century. His E=MC2 is the most important formula of relativity, and it is pointed out that "speed" plays a key role in material transformation and energy generation. Later, E=MC2 was applied by human beings, and an atomic bomb with super destructive power was invented.
At 7: 40 tonight, the "Physics Shines the World" beam arrived in Beijing.
At 7: 40 pm on April 19, Beijing time, in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death, a special optical signal traveling around the world from Princeton University will arrive in Beijing via Shanghai.
It is reported that April 18, 2005 is the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death. As one of the important global commemorative activities of the International Year of Physics, the "Physics Shines the World" beam propagation activity was held on this day. At 20: 30 local time in New Jersey, USA, a beam of optical signals will be sent from Princeton University where Einstein worked, and will travel around the world within 24 hours through the ocean optical cable, and finally return to the United States.
From 7: 00 pm to 9: 30 pm on April 19, Beijing time, it is designated as "China time". China Association for Science and Technology and China Physical Society, as the organizers of the event in China, set up a command center in Beijing to ensure the smooth progress of the light beam transmission activity. After receiving the international optical signal from Shanghai, it split into two paths, passed through 33 cities in 365,438+0 provinces in China, and finally gathered in Beijing at the same time, and then transmitted to Russia and India respectively.
It is reported that relay activities between provinces (cities) in China will be conducted by e-mail. Starting from Shanghai, follow the "polygon" line. Each province and city activity organization unit receives the electronic signal within the specified time, and transmits the signal to the next province (city) according to the road map. The activity command center will announce the transmission process on the China Physical Education Network.
To welcome the arrival of international optical signals, at 7 o'clock tonight, Beijing Association for Science and Technology and Beijing Physics Society will hold international signal transmission ceremonies and commemorative activities in Juyongguan Great Wall, Changping Qianfeng School and Beijing No.4 Middle School. In 2005, China will join the world in setting off an upsurge of physics popularization.
April 18 is the 50th anniversary of the death of Einstein, the "most creative and intelligent man in human history". It is reported that in order to commemorate 1, 000 years ago (1, 905), Einstein published five papers that laid the foundation in the fields of physics such as relativity and quantum theory. In June 2004, the 58th United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to designate 2005 as "World Physics Year". All countries in the world use "lighting" to commemorate this scientific genius in human history.
Germany: regard him as a "national hero"
After Germany's defeat in two world wars, it has been deeply troubled by the lack of national heroes. Although Einstein was a Jew, he fled his birthplace in Germany to escape Nazi persecution, but Germany still wanted to regard this greatest scientist in the 20th century as a "German national hero". In order to let the German people know about this "hero", Germany will open the lakeside cabin where Einstein once lived in capps, Potsdam in May. At that time, visitors will be able to visit the places where Einstein once lived, thought and rowed for free. In addition, Einstein's quotations have been published in Germany, and have also been on the German bestseller list, which is very popular with German officials.
Britain: an alternative commemoration of "madness"
In Britain, the Science Museum in London started the commemoration of "Einstein Year" from June+10 this year. Compared with other countries, the commemorative activities in Britain are slightly different. The activity mainly showed Einstein's "crazy" side, so bicycle stunts, rap music and modern dance were all named Einstein. The first stunt rider performance of cross-country bicycle was named "Einstein somersault", which was the first stunt performance designed by physicists. The rapper's love song "Einstein (Time is not enough)" became the theme song of the "Einstein Year" activity. In addition, more activities to commemorate Einstein are in full swing. On May 24th, Lambert Dance Company will give a ballet performance called "Constant Speed" in London, with the theme of "Relativity".
Israel: Violin Commemorates Great Men
In Israel, * * * deliberately chose the annual "National Science Day" to commemorate this great Jew. For Israelis, Einstein is the eternal idol of the Jewish nation. At the same time, Einstein's ability to play the violin may have some influence on his great scientific thought. Therefore, the Israelis chose the unique way of "inviting violinists to play" to commemorate Einstein. In addition, the Israeli Embassy in China also held large-scale commemorative activities on June 5438+08 and June 5438+09, inviting media and other institutions to participate.
United Nations: global "lighting" commemoration
When all countries in the world are celebrating, the United Nations is no exception. The United Nations has specially designated this year as the "World Physics Year", which is the first time that the United Nations has set up a global-scale commemorative activity for a discipline. In addition, on April 19, all parts of the world will commemorate this great scientist with various forms of "lighting". The specific arrangement of the "lighting" activity is: starting from Einstein's former residence in Princeton, New Jersey, USA, and then advancing from the eastern part of the United States to the western part and Asia. Next, we will continue to follow Russian in the north and Japanese and China Taiwan Province province in the south. The two routes finally meet in Austria and finally return to Princeton City. China, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have also become the "node" cities of the whole relay activity in China District.
The people of China who once called for world sanctions against Japan will never forget him.
Einstein, a "citizen of the world" who has a strong sense of responsibility and cares about all mankind, is also concerned about China and deeply sympathizes with the sufferings of the people of China.
192 1 visited the United States, 1922 visited Japan, passing through Shanghai twice and staying for 3 days. Seeing that the people of China were in dire straits, Einstein was deeply sympathetic and unfair, and thought that "this is a hardworking, enslaved but tenacious nation". 193 1 year, the Japanese invaded three northeastern provinces of China, and Einstein repeatedly called on all countries in the world to take severe economic sanctions against Japan. In order to support Chen Duxiu, who was arrested by * * * * in 1932, and the seven intellectuals who advocated anti-Japanese in 1937, Einstein once joined forces with Russell, Dewey and other British and American intellectuals and cultural celebrities to express solidarity.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death, China also launched a series of commemorative activities.
How long will the next Einstein have to wait?
Philosophers are far away. They are typical of the past. But science will not stop at Einstein. "Will there be another Einstein?" It is the biggest suspense of this year's "World Physics Year".
Scientists believe that a new Einstein will eventually be born, but it may take a long time. After all, it took more than 200 years for Einstein to appear after Newton. In Einstein's time, there were probably thousands of physicists all over the world, and those who were qualified to argue with him were probably not satisfied with taking a bus.
Universities in 2 1 century have trained millions of physics graduates, but the research posts are limited. Most of them contributed their analytical skills to Wall Street or Silicon Valley, and even those who stayed for research were not alone.
Education is also the key, but it is often ignored. Einstein studied the works of Kant, Schopenhauer, Spinoza and other philosophical masters when he was young. Philosophical training enabled him to think independently and abstractly. Einstein's violin attainments are also well-known, and the academic circles all know that mathematics and music are inseparable. Whenever Einstein pondered a physics problem but couldn't figure it out, he often played the violin crazily to inspire. As some scientists have said, Einstein's love for music shows his intuitive thinking, which also creates an intuitive space for him to create a theory of relativity that ordinary people can't imagine in the future.
The recently published * * * gives Einstein an ambitious "task list" in the future, which is puzzling.
Scientific problems in today's world.