Albert Einstein

Biographical Details
Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Wrttemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six
weeks after he was born, his family moved to Munich and he had his schooling
at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Einstein continued
his education at Aarau, Switzerland. There, he entered the Swiss federal
Polytechnic School. In Zurich, he was trained to be a physics and a mathematics
teacher. In 1901, he received his Swiss citizenship.
Albert Einstein is one of the fathers of modern physics. Albert Einstein studied
theoretical physics, medicine, philosophy and mathematics.
Einstein made many important discoveries that contributed heavily to the world
of physics. Einstein discovered The Special Theory of Relativity, General Theory
of Relativity, The Photoelectric Effect, for which Einstein received the Nobel
Prize, and Brownian motion. All these discoveries were made in the year 1905,
the Annus Mirabilis which means miracle year. He was thus awarded the Nobel
Prize for his contributions to theoretical physics because of his discovery of the
law of the photoelectric effect.

Scientific Method
1. Observations and Inferences
Based on Einstein's autobiographical notes, it is believed that he got his seed
for his theory of special relativity from a thought experiment. In this thought
experiment, he imagined that he is chasing a beam of light. In this he expected
that he should observe such a beam of light as an electromagnetic field at rest.
But either on the basis of the theories valid at that time or on the basis of
experience, he could not find any explanation. Albert Einstein abandoned the
emission theory of light as it could not explain this paradox. Instead Einstein
decided to restart the whole experiment using two facts that he knew for sure.
These two facts or principles were that, if you have two observers and nothing
else, then it is not possible to say which observer is moving. The second
principle is that the speed of light is the same for both observers.

2. Aim
Einsteins aim was to find a theory that will explain and interpret motion
between different inertial frames of reference

3. Hypothesis
If two viewers are moving at different but constant speeds, then they will both
have a different view of the event. If time freezes, then you are travelling at the
speed of light.

4. Method

a.
Started fresh with known facts that the speed of light is
constant and physical laws are same for all inertial systems.

b.
Did a thought experiment which is a variation of riding a
light wave. Instead of light wave he thought about a magnet and
conductor. In this experiment also he was unable to find support for
aether.
c.
Modified Electrodynamical theory to keep the velocity of
light constant, with respect to the source that emits and not with
respect to aether. This theory is called the Emission theory of light.

d.
As even with the new emission theory of light,
constancy of speed of light could not be explained, he came up with
concept of relativity of simultaneity. In this Einstein modified the way
time and space behave and concluded that time is related to the signal
velocity.
e.
Theory of special relativity was discovered which
explained all the paradoxes.

5. Results
Einstein discovered in Special Theory of Relativity that there is no absolute
time; it depends on the state of motion of the observer. He also found that
space and time are two different aspects of the same thing as opposed to
Newton who said that space and time were two completely different concepts.
Additionally calculations based on special relativity show that:
moving clocks run slower
moving objects appear shorter
moving objects mass increases

6.

Discussion

Even though Einstein did not do any experiments for the theory of special
relativity, he was able to explain the anomalies and paradoxes he found in his
thought experiments. The question of whether Maxwells equation will work only
one reference frame, was explained conveniently by Special Relativity. The
concept of Luminiferous Aether was put to rest by the Michelson-Morley
experiment. Special relativity as concept is applicable only to inertial frames of
references which move at constant speed. Special relativity can not be applied
to objects that are accelerating and not moving in straight line. Special relativity
introduced a totally new idea of space-time continuum to the science world.
Though the discovery of Special Relativity can be loosely fit into the scientific

method, it can be argued that it was not strictly a scientific method. Einstein did
not conduct any experiment as part of his discovery, but later on, experiments
conducted by other scientists proved that his predictions in his special relativity
paper were correct.

7. Conclusion
Einsteins theory of special relativity is a discovery that explains scenarios that
deal with circumstances in which objects are moving at a constant speed. The
paper has restriction for velocities that extend only up to the speed of light and
not beyond it. This discovery states that the laws of nature do apply to all
inertial time frames. It also states that time does freeze when an object is
moving at the speed of light. Each viewer will have a different observation of
the event in the scenario that they are moving at different velocities.

Evaluation
The Special theory of Relativity was a very important discovery as it
explains the relation between space and time. Experiments conducted
later on found to match predictions of special relativity with great
accuracy. The GPS navigation system that is widely used in automobiles
and airplanes now for finding directions and positions was possible due to
Einsteins Special Relativity
The mass-energy equivalence concept of the theory of special
relativity lead to the discovery of the atom Bomb that ended the Second
World War in 1945. This theory also lead to the discovery of general
relativity. When Einstein was reviewing his Special Theory of Relativity
Paper, he found that it was very limited as it only accounted for objects
moving at a constant velocity. The General theory of Relativity accounts
for objects moving at different velocities.
After making his Special Theory of Relativity, many scientists have
been inspired to see if they can improve on that discovery. Einstein
started another theory that unified all the forces and theory is called, the
Grand Unified Theory, which many scientists are now working on
completing.
This discovery helped humanity to end the Second World War as the
Special Theory of Relativity helped USA to make the atom bomb.

Bibliography
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