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| − | Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a theoretical physicist who contributed to the theory of a [[Special Relativity]] and formulated the theory of [[General Relativity]]. He also contributed to the study of [[Photoelectric Effect]], [[Brownian Motion]] and [[Bose-Einstein Statistics]]. He was critical of [[quantum mechanics]] and has proposed the [[EPR-Paradox]] in attempt to disprove it. The last fifteen years of his life were spent in spent unsuccessfully searching for a [[Unified Field Theory]]. Born in Germany, he won the [[Nobel Prize]] for his work on the [[Photoelectric Effect]] in 1921.<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/</ref> He immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s where, upon the urging of a colleague in physics, recommended that President Franklin D. Roosevelt develop an [[atomic bomb]] project.<ref>[http://www.dannen.com/ae-fdr.html]</ref> | + | Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a theoretical physicist who contributed to the theory of a [[Special Relativity]] and the theory of [[General Relativity]]. He also contributed to the study of [[Photoelectric Effect]], [[Brownian Motion]] and [[Bose-Einstein Statistics]]. He was critical of [[quantum mechanics]] and has proposed the [[EPR-Paradox]] in attempt to point out spooky aspects of the theory. The last fifteen years of his life were spent in spent unsuccessfully searching for a [[Unified Field Theory]]. Born in Germany, he won the [[Nobel Prize]] for his work on the [[Photoelectric Effect]] in 1921.<ref>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/</ref> He immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s where, upon the urging of a colleague in physics, recommended that President Franklin D. Roosevelt develop an [[atomic bomb]] project.<ref>[http://www.dannen.com/ae-fdr.html]</ref> |
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| | Einstein's best-known scientific work is his 1905 papers on [[Special Relativity]]. The theory of relativity had already been published by [[Hendrik Lorentz]] and [[Henri Poincaré]]. Einstein's contribution was to give a description of the Lorentz-Poincare theory without reference to the luminiferous aether, and to clarify some of the physical consequences of the theory. | | Einstein's best-known scientific work is his 1905 papers on [[Special Relativity]]. The theory of relativity had already been published by [[Hendrik Lorentz]] and [[Henri Poincaré]]. Einstein's contribution was to give a description of the Lorentz-Poincare theory without reference to the luminiferous aether, and to clarify some of the physical consequences of the theory. |
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| | Einstein then wrote a series of papers applying relativity to gravity using the mathematics of [[Riemannian Geometry]], resulting in [[General Relativity]]. Much of the actual mathematics of general relativity was worked out by Marcel Grossman, David Hilbert, and others. Einstein's main contribution was to give an alternate derivation of the field equations, and to apply them to explain an anomaly in the advance of the perihelion in Mercury's orbit. | | Einstein then wrote a series of papers applying relativity to gravity using the mathematics of [[Riemannian Geometry]], resulting in [[General Relativity]]. Much of the actual mathematics of general relativity was worked out by Marcel Grossman, David Hilbert, and others. Einstein's main contribution was to give an alternate derivation of the field equations, and to apply them to explain an anomaly in the advance of the perihelion in Mercury's orbit. |
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| − | Sir [[Arthur Eddington]] popularized General Relativity by publishing an explanation of it and by attempting to prove the theory experimentally in a dramatic test. Eddington embarked on a highly publicized trip into the Atlantic Ocean off Africa in order to observe the bending of [[star]]light passing nearby the [[Sun]] during the total [[solar eclipse]] of May 29, 1919. Eddington returned with a declaration that he had proven Einstein's theory of [[General Relativity]], making Einstein extremely famous, when in fact he had selectively used data to attain this result. Eddington was passed over for the Nobel Prize.
| + | [[Arthur Eddington]] popularized General Relativity by publishing an explanation of it and by attempting to prove the theory experimentally in a dramatic test. Eddington embarked on a highly publicized trip into the Atlantic Ocean off Africa in order to observe the bending of [[star]]light passing nearby the [[Sun]] during the total [[solar eclipse]] of May 29, 1919. Eddington returned with a declaration that he had proven Einstein's theory of [[General Relativity]], making Einstein extremely famous, when in fact he had selectively used data to attain this result. Eddington was passed over for the Nobel Prize. |
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| | ==Cosmological Constant== | | ==Cosmological Constant== |