Albert Einstein

albert einstein

born in 1879, birthday on 14 March

Einstein was born in Germany, in Ulm to be precise. He is seen as one of the most important physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for discovering the so-called theory of relativity and the photoelectric effect.

For a while his mother thought he was slow, but fortunately that turned out not to be the case. Albert Einstein could not stand crowds, noise or violence. He preferred to sit quietly all day long, listening to music or reading. Albert really loved music.

He did not like school. He did not care much for his classmates either. They called him a stupid child. Albert never wanted to join in their games, he preferred to sit on his own. He did not study hard and did not pay much attention. That was not really necessary, because he always got the highest marks. He was especially good at maths. He thought it was a wonderful subject. When he was only 10 years old, he was already studying mathematics after school. Some people think Einstein had several conditions as a child: dyslexia or autism. But there is no evidence for that, he could read and write well and was not antisocial. He could concentrate very well.

In 1914 the First World War broke out. Einstein was living in Switzerland at the time, and by then he had officially become Swiss. He was very glad that this meant he had nothing to do with the war. But Albert was almost sick with horror, he found it so terrible that so many people were being killed. He did not know what it was all for and he would never find out. In 1915 Einstein helped write a letter called the Manifesto to the Europeans. The letter was addressed to all the governments of Europe. With that letter Einstein wanted to bring about a union between the countries of Europe, in which problems would be talked about instead of fought over. Albert Einstein worked for peace his whole life. He was a pacifist: someone who is against all kinds of violence.

And perhaps fun to know: in 1923 Einstein visited the Philips Physics Laboratory in Eindhoven. The Natlab is now an arthouse cinema and theatre close to The Discovery Factory. Feel free to pay it a visit!

Source: Wikipedia.nl

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