Albert Einstein was a German-born
theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, effecting
a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as
the father of modern physics and the most influential physicist of the 20th
century. While best known for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2
(which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"), he
received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical
physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric
effect." The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory within physics.
In February 1933 while on a visit
to the United States, Einstein decided not to return to Germany due to the rise
to power of the Nazis
under the new chancellor Adolf Hitler. After travelling to Europe to renounce
his German citizenship, Einstein returned to the US and on the 17th October
1933 and took up a position at the Institute for
Advanced Study at Princeton,
New Jersey, that required his presence for six months each. He settled in the
U.S becoming a citizen in 1940 and on the eve of World War II, he helped alert
President Franklin D. Roosevelt that Germany might be developing an atomic
weapon, and recommended that the U.S. begin similar research; this eventually
led to what would become the Manhattan Project. Einstein was in support of
defending the Allied forces, but largely denounced using the new discovery of
nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand
Russell, Einstein signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, which highlighted the
danger of nuclear weapons. Einstein remained affiliated with the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955.
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