Homeschool Unit Study: Albert Einstein
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In 1884, when Albert Einstein was just five years old, he received a gift from his father that sparked his lifelong love and exploration of math and physics. The gift was a simple compass, but what piqued young Einstein's curiosity was the seemingly magical way the compass needle responded to the invisible magnetic force field of the Earth. This was the beginning of his search into mysterious aspects of the Universe, especially the nature of time because motion is a function of time.
While growing up, he continued studying math and physics feverishly and taught himself calculus by the age of 15. Other subjects simply did not interest him as much and he was known to skip classes, making it difficult to get positive recommendations from professors. This impeded Einstein from getting the academic position he wanted after graduating, so after two years of searching, he accepted a technical expert position at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property—or patent office—in Bern, Switzerland.
During his employment at the patent office, specifically in 1905, he published four groundbreaking and revolutionary scientific papers, known as the Annus mirabilis (extraordinary or miracle year) papers.
But it was not until 1915 that he published his most famous paper, which outlined his theory of general relativity, that explores the mathematics of gravity.
The four papers Einstein published in 1905 were each revolutionary in and of themselves:
Brownian Motion
This paper proved the existence of atoms and also laid the foundation for a new field of study called 'statistical mechanics'.
The Photoelectric Effect
This paper demonstrated the particle nature of light and led to a quantum theory of matter.
Special Relativity
This paper revolutionized the basic scientific understanding of space and time.
Mass-Energy Equivalence
This paper mathematically connected matter and energy with the famous equation E=mc2.
Albert Einstein was arguably one of the greatest minds in history. Learn more about his extraordinary work with the activities below.
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