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Hello from a lirker. I am a retired Physics instructor. I enjoy thelist. BUT, I come and go, you know when you are retired there are alot of
Einstein's annus mirabilis The annus mirabilis is the collective works
Next year, 2005, is the 100th anniversary of what's being called
do a Goggle search on "Einstein annus mirabilis" you will get a huge
... Historians call it the annus mirabilis, the miracle year.
The annus mirabilis is the collective works of Einstein in 1905. If you
Einstein annus mirabilis.
Here is a text and the source of one of the search elements done on
Galileo or Kepler? (Galileo) Maxwell or Bohr? (Maxwell, but it's closer
There is a parlor game physics students play: Who was the greater genius?
the behavior of the entire cosmos -- and while others before him had
Newton's claim is obvious. He created modern physics. His system described
Newton. "Newton, forgive me;" Einstein wrote in his Autobiographical
But what of Einstein? Well, Einstein felt compelled to apologize to
are really asking, "how will I measure up?" Is there a shot to match -- if
That's the difference. Young physicists who play the "who's smarter" game
on his own. After hours, he creates the Special Theory of Relativity, in
· In 1905, Einstein is 26, a patent examiner, working on physics
demi-god. But now add the rest of what Einstein did in 1905:
That's pretty good -- but one idea, however spectacular, does not make a
that light exists as tiny packets, or particles, that we now call photons.
· In March, Einstein creates the quantum theory of light, the idea
invents a new method of counting and determining the size of the atoms or
· Next, in April and May, Einstein publishes two papers. In one he
which adds a twist to the story: Einstein's March paper treated light as
· And then, in June, Einstein completes special relativity --
extension of special relativity in which Einstein proves that energy and
· And of course, Einstein isn't finished. Later in 1905 comes an
Historians call it the annus mirabilis, the miracle year. Einstein ranges
In sum -- an amazing outburst: Einstein's 1905 still evokes awe.
it is what comes next that is almost more remarkable. After 1905, Einstein
And that alone would have been enough to secure Einstein's reputation. But
problem that Newton confronted, and solved -- almost. Einstein begins his
· In 1907, he confronts the problem of gravitation -- the same
nature, the co-existence of particles and waves at the level of quanta. In
· Before anyone else, Einstein recognizes the essential dualism in
answers a basic question: "Why is the sky blue?" His paper on the
· Even the minor works resonate. For example, in 1910, Einstein
Relativity--the product of eight years of work on the problem of gravity.
· Then in 1915, Einstein completes the General Theory of
relativity to model the behavior of an entire universe. General relativity
· In 1917, Einstein publishes a paper which uses general
invention of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle Einstein
· Returning to the quantum, by 1919, six years before the
contributions to the development of quantum theory. His last work on the
· Yet as late as 1924 and 1925, Einstein still makes significant
largely because its probabilistic nature forbids a complete description of
In sum: Einstein is famous for his distaste for modern quantum theory --
spends the bulk of his remaining scientific career searching for a deeper
After the quantum mechanical revolution of 1925 through 1927, Einstein
theories." They are multi-dimensional. (Some versions include as many as 26
Contemporary theoretical physics is dominated by what are known as "String
they involve interactions at energy levels far beyond any we can handle.
As it stands, string theories are unproved, and perhaps unprovable, as
nature on every scale, from the smallest to that of the cosmos as a whole.
Between 1905 to 1925, Einstein transformed humankind's understanding of
a producer of NOVA's Einstein Revealed, and author of several books. The
You can't touch that. Who's smarter? No one since Newton comes close.
Thomas Levenson is a Boston-based independent film maker and author. He is