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Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany. At
school, he was the top student, even though he had speech difficulties. His father was Hermann
Einstein, a salesperson and engineer, while his mother was Pauline Einstein. As Albert grew
older, he experimented by making models, mechanical devices and showed keen interest in
mathematics. Though his family moved to Italy to find business, he stayed at Munich, to pursue
his studies at Luitpold Gymnasium.
In 1901,Albert Einstein assumed the position of a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent
Office. In 1905, he received his doctorate. In 1908, he was appointed Privatdozent in Berne. In
1909, he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich. In 1911, he became Professor of Theoretical
Physics at Prague. In 1914, he was appointed Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute
and Professor in the University of Berlin. In 1933, he took served as a Professor of Theoretical
Physics at Princeton. After World War II, Einstein was offered the Presidency of the State of
Israel, which he turned down. He partnered with Dr. Chaim Weizmann, in order to establish the
Hebrew University of Jerusale
Albert Einstein's special Theory Of Relativity stemmed from an attempt to bring together
the laws of mechanics, with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical
problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory.
This led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He also indulged himself in
the investigation of the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density. His observations
laid the foundation of the creation of the photon theory of light.
In 1916, Albert Einstein reached another milestone in the field of physical science, by
publishing his paper on the general theory of relativity. His contributions to the problems of the
theory of radiation and statistical mechanics, during the time, are still remembered. In the 1920's,
Einstein carried on his research on the construction of unified field theories. The development of
quantum theory of a monatomic gas helped a great deal in understanding the nuances of
statistical mechanics. He also accomplished valuable work in connection with the atomic
transition probabilities and relativistic cosmology.
Albert Einstein was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1921. In 1925, he
received the prestigious Royal Society Copley Medal. In 1927, he was elected the Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. In his entire lifetime, he received honorary doctorate degrees in
science, medicine and philosophy from many European and American universities. The leading
scientific academies throughout the world considered it a privilege to award fellowships and
memberships of their respective institutes, to Einstein. He gained numerous awards in
recognition of his work, some of the most prominent being the Nobel Prize in 1921, Copley
Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1925, and Franklin medal of the Fraklin institute in
1935.
After his retirement, Albert Einstein continued to work towards the unification of the
basic concepts of physics. His most important works include Special Theory of Relativity
(1905), Relativity (English translations, 1920 and 1950), General Theory of Relativity (1916),
Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926), and The Evolution of Physics (1938).
Among his non-scientific works, the most important ones are- About Zionism (1930), Why War?
(1933), My Philosophy (1934), and Out of My Later Years (1950). Albert Einstein died on April
18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey.
ARISTOTLE
Aristotle was born around 384 BC in Stagirus on the Chalcidic peninsula of northern
Greece, to Nicomachus, a medical doctor, and Phaestis. Stagirus was his father's home, while
Phaestis came from Chalcis in Euboea.
We don't know anything about Aristotle's childhood, but it is likely Nicomachus would
have expected his son to follow in his footsteps. So, Aristotle quite probably traveled with his
father on his work, which was the way of the physician of the day. Unhappy with the conditions
in the region, Nicomachus began traveling and working more in neighboring Macedonia and
eventually became the personal physician to Amyntas III, king of Macedonia.
It is unknown whether the family moved to Pella, the Macedonian capital, or whether
Aristotle's father moved there for his work. Either way, young Aristoyle seems to have at least
spent some time there as he became friends with Philip, the king s son, who was about his own
age. When Aristotle was around the age of 10, Nicomachus died, ending his plan for Aristotle to
take up medicine. Either shortly before or shortly after that time, Phaestis also died, leaving the
young Aristotle in the care of an uncle (either by blood or as a family friend), Proxenus of
Atarneus. Proxenus continued Aristotle's educatio by teaching him Greek, rhetoric, and poetry.
Around the age of 17, Aristotle became a student at Plato's Academy in Athens. While
Plato was not there at the time, but on his first visit to Syracuse, the Academy was being run by
Eudoxus of Cnidus. Other teachers included Speusippus, Plato's nephew, and Xenocrates of
Chalcedon.
The events leading to Aristotles departure from the academy are a bit cloudy. Some say
that after Plato died in 347 BC, Speusippus assumed the leadership of the Academy. Perhaps
Aristotle quit because he disagreed with Speusippus's views, or had hoped to be named Plato's
successor, himself. Another theory deals with Aristotle's old friend, Philip of Macedonia.
In 359 BC, Philip had ascended to the throne when his older brother, Perdiccas was killed
fighting off an Illyrian invasion. Philip was a skillful ruler, who not only maintained peace in his
own realm, but also expanded into neighboring territories. Philip captured Olynthus and annexed
Chalcidice in 348 BC. Athens was concerned about the threat of an expanding Macedonia. It's
possible Aristotles continuing friendship with a threatening ruler may have led to his politically
charged departure from the Academy. It also appears that Xenocrates of Chalcedon left with him.
GALILEO GALILEI
Galileo was born in Florence, Italy in 1564 to a poor but noble family.His parents
recognised their child's innate inteligence and talents and so made sacrifices to have him
educated. At his father's insistence, Galileo studied the profitable career of medicine. At the
University of Pisa, Galileo became fascinated in a wide range of subjects. He was also critical of
many of Aristotle's teaching which had dominated education for the past 2,000 years.
Galileo was appointed to be a mathematics professor at the university of Pisa, but, his
strident criticisms of Aristotle, left him isolated amongst his contempories. After 3 years of
persecution, he resigned and went to the university of Padua. Here he taught maths. His
entertaining lectures attracted a large following and he was able to spend the next 18 years
pursuing his interests in astronomy and mechanics.
During this time, Galileo made important discoveries about gravity, inertia and also
developed the forerunner of the thermometer. Galileo also worked tirelessly on the science of
gnomonics (telling time by shadows) and the laws of motion. Its was in astronomy that Galileo
that became famous and also courted the opposition of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Galileo came to the same conclusions of Copernicus that the sun was the centre of the
universe and not the earth. By inventing the world's first telescope, Galileo was able to make
many explorations of the universe. He found that
Thus, Galileo not only had the mathematical proofs of Copernicus, but, also new proof from
the science of astronomy. However, Galileo knew that publishing these studies would bring the
disproval of the church authorities.The Church had already started to forbid the teachings of his
teachings, especially anything that supported Copernicus.However, in 1623, a new pope, Pope
Urban VIII seemed to be more liberally minded and he allowed Galileo to publish his great
works on astronomy and supporting the works of Copernicus.
However, after publication, elements within the Church sought to attack Galileo's position. Thus,
Galileo was arrested and imprisoned for several months. He was convicted of heresy and was
forced to recant his beliefs. He spent the remaining years of his life under house arrest at Arceti.
Galileo had three children. He was especially close to one of his daughters, Polissena; she
took the name of Sister Maria Celeste and entered a convernt near Arceti. Despite being censured
by the church, Galileo continued to make discoveries until death overtook him in 1642. He was
blind by the time he passed away.
ISAAC NEWTON
Isaac Newton (1642-1727), English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher,
considered one of the most important scientists of all time. Newton formulated laws of universal
gravitation and motion—laws that explain how objects move on Earth as well as through the
heavens (see Mechanics). He established the modern study of optics—or the behavior of light—
and built the first reflecting telescope. His mathematical insights led him to invent the area of
mathematics called calculus (which German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also
developed independently). Newton stated his ideas in several published works, two of which,
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,
1687) and Opticks (1704), are considered among the greatest scientific works ever produced.
Newton’s revolutionary contributions explained the workings of a large part of the physical
world in mathematical terms, and they suggested that science may provide explanations for other
phenomena as well.