ONE HUNDRED YEAR AGO

Kavita Pandey

Year 1905- “annus mirabilis” year of wonders! “Never before and never since has a single person enriched science by so much as Einstein did in his “annus mirabiles”.

Albrecht Folsing “ Albert Einstein- A biography tr. Ewald Osers (New York Viking, 1997)

The phrase “Annus Mirabiles” was originally coined by John Dryden the famed Restoration poet as a title for his long poem to celebrate the victory of the English fleet over the Dutch and the city of London’s survival of the Great fire. But it befittingly applies to 1666 when Newton laid the foundations of his version of calculus, his theory of colours and his theory of gravitation and also to the year 1905 during which Albert Einstein brought forth his six papers which revolutionized the twentieth century science. In this eventful year of 1905, on March 17, Einstein completed his paper on light quantum hypothesis, on May 11, Journal ‘Annalen der physik’ received his paper on ‘Brownian Motion’. June 30, September 27 and December 19 of the same year were equally important for the German Journal for the contributions of Einstein in terms of his two papers on ‘Special theory of Relativity’ and a second paper on ‘Brownian Motion’ Einstein’s two papers on molecular dimensions and Brownian motion constitute an effort to extend the classical-mechanical approach to kinetic-molecular implications. His derivation of the law governing Brownian motion and its subsequent verification experimentally by Perrin (1870-1942) and others established beyond doubt the existence of atoms. These papers also helped to establish the study of fluctuations (later to statistical thermodynamics) as a new branch of Physics.

Einstein’s papers on the theory of special relativity, nearly revolutionized and changed the world – these removed the apparent contradiction between mechanics and electrodynamics. The new theory is based in its entirety on two postulates:

1. The laws of physics take the same form in all inertial frames.

2. In any given inertial frame, the velocity of light c is the same whether the light be emitted by a body at rest or in a state of uniform motion.

Earlier, the negative result of the Michelson Morley experiment designed to measure the motion of the earth through the hypothetical medium aether had demanded the introduction of a new pastutate. Lorentz 3 and Fitzgerald put forth the contraction hypothesis. Einstein’s June paper demonstrated that the contraction of rods is a natural consequence of his two postulates. The only difficulty inherent was the compatibility of the two postulates, which Einstein solved by formulating the concept of time. The time, according to him, was not an absolute concept as envisaged by Galileo but a relative concept. There are as many times as inertial frames. Simultaneity of events was also robbed off its absoluteness It became relative. The space and time no longer remained separate identities but have an intermingled manifestation. This is the gist of Einstein’s June paper’s kinematic sections and ranks amongst the highest achievements in science, in content and in the simplicity of style:

“The mass of a body is a measure of its energy content and energy in motion must be accompanied by momentum flux and hence, must exert pressure” – Einstein concluded his September paper of 1905, ‘In regard to inertia, a mass m is equivalent to an energy content … mc2.’ This constitutes one of the most remarkable conclusions of the theory of relativity. This brief paper ended with the remark that this prediction could be tested by using radium like salts whose energy content is variable to a high degree. Lewis in 1908 proved Einstein’s result on the basis of the theory of radiation pressure, but the first quantitative verification of mass-energy equivalence in a nuclear reaction was made by Cockcroft and Walton. In fact, the inertial aspect of energy forms one of the most certain foundations of present day nuclear physics and elementary particle physics.

Special relativity led to a new mode of philosophical reflection- it called for a revision of concepts long entrenched in physics and chemistry of the classical period. It formulated the basis for the explanation of stellar energy sources. The brilliant ideas to revolutionize science in 1905 took root in a head which had a large angular back of a child born in 1879.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 to German Jew parents Pauline and Hermann. He was closest to his sister Maja, his junior by two years. The child took an unusually long time to learn to speak but when he did speak at the age between two and three he formed full sentences, first pronounced them softly and when they felt alright he would say the same out loud. Albert was very quiet as a young child and preferred to play by himself. At the age of five he received his first instructions at home which soon had to be abandoned because in a fit of tantrum the child threw a chair at the women who taught him. At six, he was admitted to Volkschule, a public school. He was reliable and persistent with his studies and contrary to the common perception always got excellent grades. In October 1888 Einstein moved from volkschule to Luitpold Gymnasium school. Although a good student both at mathematics and Latin, he disliked those school years because he felt isolated and made few friends. However, at home the environment was quite conducive and stimulating for extracurricular reading. Einstein loved reading popular science books and was introduced to the philosophy of Kant through a family friend. This inculcated in him a taste for philosophy and heavy reading.

Albert Einstein received education in religion- of Catholicism at school and of Judaism at home, causing him to go through an intense religious phase at one point of early life. This phase met with an abrupt end with an exposure to science. In his sixties, Einstein once commented that ‘he had sold himself body and soul to science being in flight from the ‘I’ and ‘we’ to the ‘it’. This detachment lay within and enabled him to walk through life immersed in thought.

Einstein’s mother, Pauline, was an accomplished pianist and gave her children lessons in music at an early age. Einstein violin instructions from Herrschimed. He had a taste for music and his favorite composures were Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli and Scarletti. Einstein’s father, Hermann, on the otherhand was fond of literature and read Schiller and Heine aloud to his family. Writings of Heine remained dear to Einstein throughout his life.

In June 1894, Einstein’s parents moved to Milan and then to Pavia leaving him behind at Munich to finish school. Einstein, then fifteen, felt nervous at the prospect of joining the compulsory military service and depressed because of his loneliness. He therefore, even without consulting his parents joined them in Pavia. He promised his upset parents to prepare by self study to join Eidgenossische Tecnische Hochschule (the Federal Institute of Technology ETH) in Zurich. At the same time he took the crucial decision to relinquish German citizenship. In Italy (Pavia and Milan) he was attracted by the landscape and the visual Arts. In visual arts he preferred old masters although he also appreciated contemporary artists like Picasso.

A freer life and independent work transformed the quiet boy into a communicative young man. He failed in his first attempt to enroll at ETH but after a year at cantonal school in Arau, a German speaking part of Switzerland, he enrolled in 1896 at ETH Zurich. At this time his family was in financial trouble and he had to live on a modest allowance of hundred swiss francs of which he was able to save twenty frances to pay for his Swiss naturalization papers.

For his years at ETH, Einstein himself writes that his experimental projects were not received with enthusiasm by his Professor H.F. Weber. Einstein in turn was also not impressed by Weber because he felt the he was not learning anything new. As a student, he followed the works of Kirchhoff, Hertz and Helmholtz and learnt Maxwell’s theory, studied papers by Lorentz and by Boltzmann. Einstein did not enjoy forced reading and it took him almost a year after his final examinations to regain his interest in Physics. His applications for obtaining teaching assistantship at ETH Zurich, Leipzig and Leiden remained unsuccessful. After two temporary teaching assignments in Winterthur and another private school in Schaffhausen, Einstein submitted his doctoral thesis at the University of Zurich on Kinetic theory of gases. The work, however was not accepted as a thesis.

Einstein, disappointed at not being successful to gain a teaching position moved to Bern to take a position as a third class technical expert at the patent office. In 1903 he married Mileva Maric, a fellow student from the ETH. His work at the patent office was interesting enough to engage his mind but not challenging enough to distract him from Physics. In 1903 and 1904 he published papers on the foundations of statistical Mechanics.

Einstein’s work of the year 1905 widened the horizons of Physics and laid the foundations of many new branches in Science. In March he wrote a paper which won him the Nobel Prize, in April he finished an article which gained him a Ph.D. degree from the University of Zurich. In June and September he wrote two papers in Special Theory of Relativity which changed the concept of time and space and amalgamated the laws of conservation of mass and energy into one( E=Mc2 ). His years at the patent office left him with ample time to write a fundamental paper on the theory of specific heats for solids and book reviews for the Journal Annalen der Physik. By the end of 1907 Einstein had taken important strides towards the General Theory of Relativity General Relativity completely changed the discussion of the origin and fate of the universe. Bern days for Einstein marked a career in academics and opened up new vistas in Physics. What followed thereafter is the story of a legend, and academician, a professor, who collaborated with the major research institutes, and researchers in the world, lectured in conferences, and interacted with students. Einstein had come out of his splendid isolation to make history! It was in 1906 when Van Laue after meeting Einstein at Bern remarked ‘The young man who met me made such an unexpected impression on me that I could not believe he could be the father of the relativity theory.’

Einstein’s mind continued to be intensely active and fully alert till the very end of his life on April 18, 1955. A professor at worlds most prestigious Universities, Einstein never cared for teaching courses. He never supervised students pursuing to Ph.D. degree. All his papers are his own.

Einstein was a genius- who experienced the mystics of magnetism, grew cold and trembled at the age of five on being handed over a compass by his father , who sat smiling throughout the lectures of his teachers which were not exciting enough and who was so confident of his work that after receiving the cable informing him of the confirmation of his predication about the bending of light by the Sun, he is said to have remarked “It had to be so, otherwise I would have to pity the Dear Lord. The theory is correct anyway.”

Resources:
‘Einstein’s Miraculous Year’ Ed. John Stachel Scientia 2001.
‘The Theory of Relativity’ by R.K. Pathria 1971.
‘Subtle is the Lord..’ by Abraham Pais Oxford Paper Backs 1982.
‘Stars Their Birth, Life and Death’ Shklouskii Freeman & Co. 1978.