Albert Einstein. It is a name we all know, the name of perhaps the greatest thinker of the 20th century. He revolutionized the world with his thinking, not just in physics, but also in philosophy, ethics, and religion. Kip Thorne, a California Institute of Technology physicist, attributes Einstein's deep insight to his "conviction that the universe loves simplicity and beauty... His willingness to be guided by this conviction, even if it meant destroying the foundations of Newtonian physics, led him, with a clarity of thought that others could not match, to his new description of space and time." In 2000, he was named Time Magazine's "Person of the Century". That alone can tell you how deeply Einstein affected the way we see our world. He altered the world's thinking so radically, that his formulas and hypotheses are held as the foundation for modern science. Every great life must begin somewhere; every famous person must spring from humble beginnings. Albert Einstein was born Ulm, Germany on March 14th in 1879. His parents, Hermann and Pauline Einstein were from ordinary, middle-class families of Jewish descent. A year after Albert was born, the family moved to Munich. It was i

2.) Albert Einstein: The Scienstist, The Philosopher, The Moralist, The Man; by Placker, Victoria; www.angelfire.com/ne/cre8vityunltd/einstein.html

4.) Einstein, Albert; in World Book Encyclopedia; published in 1998

n Munich that Albert's only sibling, Maria, was born. At first, the Einsteins were perfectly content with their life, and they doted on their two lovely children. But as time went on, they began to wonder if perhaps something was wrong with young Albert. He was extremely slow in learning to speak. For a time, his parents even feared that he was retarded. His teachers disliked him because of his slow speech and questioning nature. Years later, it was this curious nature which led him to create the theory of relativity. He was constantly questioning the "laws" by which his world was governed. It was this quality that helped him become a great scientist. This inquisitive child learned much more from doting relatives at home than he did from at his school. His music-loving mother introduced him to the violin, and he began taking lessons at age six. He was also introduced to math at home, through his Uncle Jakob. Jakob began teaching him algebra, as part of a "game" they played together. The love of both math and music, which his family had unwittingly instilled in him, would continue with him for all of his life. Unfortunately, his caring family would not be able to stay with him forever. In 1894, his father's business failed, and the family decided to move to Italy. They decided to leave Albert behind so that he could finish his high school career, and receive the diploma that would allow him to enter the university. He was desperately unhappy though, and he tried repeatedly to get a "medical leave of absence" from his school so that he could go to see his family. However, his plan turned out to be unnecessary. At 16 years of age, he was expelled from school for being unruly, and having an insolent, undisciplined attitude. After his expulsion, his followed his family to Italy, where he continued his studies on his own. After several months though, his parents decided that he must start studying for a practical profession. He decided to apply to go to The Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. Unlike most of the German universities, they did not require a diploma, only that you pass an entrance examination. Albert took the exam, hoping that his mastery of science and math would compensate for his deficiencies in other areas. His gamble failed though, and he was left with a future that was looking bleak. However, there was one glimmer of hope left for Einstein. His math scores were so astronomically high that FIT urged him to spend a year studying for a degree at a nearby secondary school. Having that degree would allow him to enter FIT without taking the examination. He decided to go with that option, and enrolled in the nearby school in Aurau. During the year he spent studying at Aurau, he decided that he would renounce his German citizenship. He completed the necessary paperwork, and became a "stateless person" until he was 21, at which point he officially became a Swiss citizen. In the summer of 1896, Einstein received his degree from secondary school and entered FIT. He started the four-year course to become a physics teacher in the fall of that year. But he soon grew bored, and he spent a great deal of time studying on his own, learning about the newest discoveries, and questioning the foundations of classical physics. It was around this time that he began questioning the scientific principles of Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. Their theories on space and time and light didn't seem to go together, in fact they seemed to contradict each other at times! For example, Newton explained how light moves by inventing a material for it to move through, which he called "ether". How else could light waves

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