Category Great Personalities

Did music have a profound influence on Einstein?

Einstein’s mother bought a violin and hired a music teacher to give him lessons when he was six years old. Though he was not too eager to attend classes in the beginning, he soon came to love playing the violin. Einstein and his mother would play duets with her accompanying him on the piano.

His love for music stayed with him throughout his life. Einstein was often seen carrying his violin case during his time at Princeton. He would solve complex mathematical problems in his head while improvising on the violin he nicknamed Lina. Playing his violin alone or with others gave Einstein great pleasure and relaxation. He resolved many problems in his personal life and science by taking refuge in music.

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Where was Albert Einstein born?

Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. Though his parents were Jews they were not religious. This could have been a matter of survival in Germany at the time. Until a few years before Einstein’s birth, Jews were not even considered German citizens. Albert’s father Hermann Einstein had been a salesman and an engineer. Hermann and his brother started Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, an electrical equipment manufacturing company based in Munich. Meanwhile, Einstein’s mother Pauline Koch ran the household.

The Einstein family shifted to Munich when Albert was a year old. Little Albert started speaking only at the age of three. He had a sister, Maja, two years younger to him. Maja recollects Albert’s intense concentration while building multiple-storied card houses.

Einstein mentions two events as having immense impact on his early years. The first was at the age of 5, when he saw a compass. He was puzzled to hear that some invisible forces could make the compass needle always point north. This marked the beginning of his lifelong fascination with invisible forces. The second event was his introduction to geometry at the age of 12.

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What makes Albert Einstein one of the legends in the history of science?

Albert Einstein is considered to be one of the most influential persons of the 20th century. His thoughts on space, time, motion and energy revealed new trajectories to the world.

Astronomers use his work till day to study everything from gravitational waves to Mercury’s orbit. His contribution also extends to the philosophy of science.

Einstein’s formula on mass – energy equivalence, E=mc2(square) has been called the world’s most famous equation. Even those unfamiliar with the underlying physics know about this equation.

In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the law of the photoelectric effect. His theory of general relativity gives an explanation of gravity while the law of photoelectric effect explains the behaviour of electrons in certain conditions.

Einstein’s theories and discoveries marked a turning point in the development of quantum theory and influenced the development of atomic energy.

The ‘theory of everything’ was a single theory under which Einstein tried to unify all the forces of the universe. He worked on this unified field theory, though unsuccessfully, till the time of his death.

Einstein’s insight and inquisitiveness made him the most influential physicist of the 20th century.

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Why is it said that it is nearly impossible to sum up Newton’s contributions to the scientific world?

 

 

Newton’s contributions to science are truly staggering. In a foreword to a twentieth century edition of Newtons Opticks, Albert Einstein wrote:

“Nature was to him an open book, whose letters he could read without effort… In one person, he combined the experimenter, the theorist, the mechanic and, not least, the artist in exposition. He stands before us strong, certain and alone; his joy in creation and his minute precision are evident in every word and every figure.”

Newton summarized his achievements in these words: “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me…”

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When did Newton die?

Sir Isaac Newton led an active life until his old age when age-related afflictions became a barrier. As he experienced inconsistencies due to weakness in the bladder, he was forced to limit his movements and follow dietary restrictions.

He became ill with gout in 1725 and suffered haemorrhoids the next year. In the months prior to his death, Newton was ill and bedridden. He lost consciousness on 19 March 1727 due to pain from his bladder stone and never regained consciousness. Newton passed away on 31 March 1727 at the age of 84. He was buried in London’s Westminster Abbey on April 4, to rest among the kings and queens, dukes and earls of England.

Isaac Newton’s pallbearers included two dukes, three earls and the Lord Chancellor. Voltaire described Newton’s funeral as the funeral of a king who had done well by his subjects.

In the last years of his life, Newton’s circle of friends included Prince George (later George II) and his wife Caroline, whom he visited regularly. He was successful, famous and wealthy by the time he died. Newton is said to have helped his extended family generously and was a charitable person. As he had never married, his estate went to the descendants of his stepfather, Barnabas Smith.

His papers were given to his half-niece Catherine Barton and her husband John Conduitt.

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What were the connections between Newton and alchemy?

Alchemy is a proto-science which studies, among other things, the possible methods to transform base metals such as lead and copper into silver or gold. Alchemy also involves the search for the cure for diseases and a way to extend life.

Alchemy is shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Newton has been considered as a credulous alchemist by many. He had even described a recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone in one of his manuscripts. Philosopher’s Stone is said to have the ability to turn base metals into silver and gold and had magical properties and could even help humans achieve immortality.

Newton’s belief that he had discovered a blueprint for the Philosopher’s Stone was rather surprising, considering his status as a serious and empirical scientist.

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