Albert Einstein          1

Running head: THE LIFE OF ALBERT EINSTEIN

The Life of Albert EinsteinJason L. McLaughlin

Strayer UniversityIntroduction to College Mathematics

MAT - 105 036016June 12, 2009

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          Albert Einstein had a unique talent of thinking visually.    He could see through a

mathematical formula to reveal the true physical world it represented and explained.   

Einstein asked questions about the universe and the world around him.    He wanted to

know how things worked and how the world came to be.    He was truly born to be very

curious and longed to figure out the universe that God had created.    He would study

common everyday objects and known facts about everyday life and question how they

came to be and how they relate to one another.    Einstein would utilize his imagination to

pose new problems that needed solving.    He analyzed the cosmos to reveal new

discoveries about space, time, energy, and the speed of light.    Following Einstein’s

findings that challenged those of Sir Isaac Newton, he arose to become one of the most

well known and famous physicists of all time.    When asked of his secret for success,

Einstein himself said that he was merely passionately curious.   

          Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the small town of Ulm in Germany

to the parents Hermann and Pauline Einstein.    When Albert was born he had an

elongated head and at the time this startled his parents.    Little did they know that this

was the head of a future genius.    Later, when he was a toddler he was so late learning to

speak that his mother feared that he may be mentally retarded.    Albert even displayed

some unusual behavior when he did begin to speak, such that resembled that of autistic

children.    Also, as a young child Albert was known to display temper tantrums which

became rather violent.   

          Einstein loved to play alone as a child instead of with playmates.    He would learn

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about heat and force by running a small steam engine he was given as a gift.    He built

elaborate models out of stone building blocks.    One of his life long passions that began

at childhood was playing the violin, as he loved music.    Einstein’s mother ironically

commented on his childhood experimentation by saying that he may one day become an

excellent professor.    Throughout his life Albert Einstein retained a child like quality that

some say contributed to his discoveries and his way of looking at the world.   

          Overall Albert Einstein did very well in school, which gave much hope for his future

success.    In high school he was ranking in the top of his class, however he was a failure

at sports as he was not adept at being physically competitive.    Instead Einstein loved to

be alone and read; improving and developing skills he felt were significant to his

education.    He was often content to work quietly alone without others noticing him; in

fact he preferred it this way.    Einstein had a habit of becoming completely absorbed in

the work he was doing, seldom being distracted by others around him.   

          Albert’s uncle Jakob Einstein introduced him to algebra at an early age, while he

was still in grade school.    He coached him on the theorems and equations in an easy

manner that a child could understand.    Jakob, who was an engineer, exposed him to

many new technologies in their home work shop.    Also, Albert gained much experience

exploring and asking questions in his father’s factory.    He was able to see many

electrical and mechanical devices that were new and cutting edge at the time, which was

a tremendous opportunity for a curious and budding young man.    It is speculated that

much of Einstein’s development was due to his parents allowing him to learn and grow

intellectually in his own unique and solitary way.     

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          Einstein wanted to escape from the authoritarian methods of his high school in

Munich, Germany so he developed a plan to leave for Switzerland, even before

graduating and receiving a diploma.    He managed to get a letter stating he had an

equivalent of studies to graduate and got a doctors notice stating he was moving for

health reasons.    He desired to attend The Zurich Polytechnic School in Switzerland.    A

family friend called in a favor from the school for Einstein since he was several years too

young to yet enroll.    He was described as a child prodigy and of the importance of him

attending so skeptical school officials finally approved his application.    Since he had

trouble with subjects such as French and Chemistry Einstein failed to pass the entrance

exam.    As it turns out Albert had some trouble with memorization of words.    After

initially failing the entrance exam at Polytechnic he went to Aaran, Switzerland to

complete his secondary education and strengthen his studies in the subjects he was

lacking in.    He attended a cantonal school, which was an easy going liberal school that

had a low pressure approach to a student’s learning process.    This school and the

teachers there opened new doors for young Albert and gave him the spring board he

needed to take his education to the next level.    It was here that he improved his

proficiency in French and sciences.    However, he became bored with his math and

physics classes and he felt he had little to gain since he surpassed his classmates.    He

often challenged his professors and their methods and often performed his work in his

own unorthodox manner.    Also this time allowed him to enjoy his youth in a way he

could not in Germany.

          In October 1896 a 17 year old Einstein finally enrolled at The Zurich Polytechnic

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School.    He had signed up for a program that groomed students to become an authority

in physics and mathematics.    Albert’s field, theoretical physics was still growing and

developing in the academic world.    Only a handful of scientists and mathematicians

were combining physics with math in their work.    Much of theoretical physics was in the

experimental stage.    Einstein was more adept at physics than math; however a

considerable portion of his class load at the Polytechnic would include math classes.   

Einstein would soon realize how closely related physics and math were in his studies.   

Throughout his tenure there he was a prominent student who earned high grades in most

of his classes.

          Einstein married his first wife Mileva Maric on January 6, 1903 soon after

graduating from The Zurich Polytechnic.    They had known each other for several years

and went to school together.    Mileva was very instrumental in his early work with

checking his equations and math for him as she too was a scholar of mathematics.   

Despite Albert’s family’s initial disapproval, Einstein and Mileva were determined to

make the best of their lives.    They soon had two sons Hans Albert and Eduard.    Between

1902 and 1909 while waiting for a professorship Einstein began working at a patent

office in Berne, Switzerland.    There he was able to analyze and see first hand the

inventions that came to him for approval.    This was very important experience that

helped fuel his inventiveness and problem solving need.    Later, he would develop some

inventions of his own as well.    Constant working and solitary habits coupled with many

disagreements began to erode the marriage.    Einstein and Mileva separated and

eventually divorced bitterly.    Einstein married his cousin Elsa whom he had been in a

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relationship with for some time prior to his divorce.    Over the years Einstein’s

relationship with his children wavered, often to the point of alienation.    Eduard

developed mental illness and Hans Albert became bitter with his father because of his

extended absences.    Over the years Einstein and his sons had rocky relations, but when

his sons were grown they began to return to him and rekindle their relationships.   

          Einstein wanted to unravel the mysteries that shaped and explained the universe and

natural world around us.    He felt it was science that held the key to discovering the

reality of our existence.    Albert Einstein had many discoveries and breakthroughs; the

notable one’s he is known for include the theory of relativity, unified field theories, and

the quantum theory.    He was curious and fascinated about the perplexity of space and

time.    One of his most famous equations E=mc2 came from study and connections

between mass and energy.    Einstein came to believe that energy and mass were each one

and the same.    He declared that an object’s mass is a direct measurement of the energy it

holds within.    The equation that he initially used to explain his theory was L/V2 or

L=mV2, whereas L represented energy and V represented light’s velocity.    Eventually, at

a later date this was changed to the more familiar E=mc2, replacing the L and V with E

and C respectively.    The resulting equation explains how energy equates to mass

multiplied by the speed of light squared.    This explains how a very small particle of

matter can equal an extremely large amount of energy if transformed.

General relativity explains geometrically how space time is actually curved and

how matter moves when affected by gravity.    According to Einstein, space time and its

curve or warp affects an object’s motion through space.    In turn these objects cause the

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very curve in space time.    This discovery brought about a completely advanced method

of viewing and reality.    Einstein’s quantum theory of light proved that atoms truly do

exist.    Also, the theory changes how we think of space and time.

Instead of testing his theories in a laboratory as many other scientists, Einstein

performed tests and calculations in his mind.    These thought experiments resulted in

solutions and discoveries that further baffled his colleagues and the world.    He, for

example, would suggest the bending of light and how space could actually be curved

instead of flat plane.    Other scientists and mathematicians were developing their own

theories as well and it is these views that Einstein later built upon.    His theory of

relativity was based on the works of Lorentz, who developed equations that explained

movement.    Einstein valued simplicity, which is ironic given the theories and concepts

he posed in his work.    He wished to explain everything in nature in a consistent and

intelligent way.

          Albert Einstein received the Nobel Peace Price in 1922 for work on the production

and transformation of light in 1905.    He was also honored for his theory of the

photoelectric effect or the process of “the quantum leap”.   

         

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References

Goldsmith, D., & Bartusiak, M. (Eds.). (2006). E=Einstein: His life, his thought, and his 

influence on our culture. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Highfield, R., & Carter P. (1993). The private lives of Albert Einstein. New York: St.

Martin’s Press.

Isaacson, W. (2007). Einstein: his life and universe. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Neffe, J. (2005). Einstein. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.