Albert Einstein

March 20, 2006





"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." ~Albert Einstein

Who was Albert Einstein? Albert Einstein (1879-1955) is so widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the 20th century that his name is a synonym for “genius”. He was a theoretical physicist whose general theory of relativity brought him worldwide fame, unusual for a scientist in his day. At age five, his father showed him a pocket compass, and young Albert understood intuitively that the space around the compass was not empty, but strangely filled with an unseen force. That experience became foundational to his later thinking. He was considered a slow learner, possibly due to dyslexia, shyness, or the atypical structure of his brain (studied after his death), but he believed that his slowness was an intellectual asset.

Albert Einstein was friendly, modest about his abilities, and had certain distinctive attitudes. For example, he maintained a limited wardrobe to avoid wasting time deciding what to wear. He had a teasing sense of humor, and enjoyed playing the violin. Einstein was deeply concerned with the social impact of scientific discovery. He said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."