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Albert Einstein

2017-02-03T03:05:19Z

Mlk:

[[Image:600px-Albert Einstein Head.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|
"I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional [[Atheism|atheist]] whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being." - Albert Einstein<ref name="Isaacson390">Isaacson, Walter (2008). [http://books.google.com/books?id=cdxWNE7NY6QC&pg=PT390 ''Einstein: His Life and Universe''] (New York: Simon and Schuster), p. 390. Retrieved from GoogleBooks archive on February 19, 2015.</ref>]]
'''Albert Einstein''' (1879-1955) was the most famous [[physicist]] of the 20th century, who however self-described himself to be “more of a [[philosopher]] than a physicist”.<ref name="Capria">{{cite book |author=Marco M. Capria, Aubert Daigneaut et al. |title=Physics Before and After Einstein |publisher=IOS Press |year=2005 |chapter=1. Albert Einstein: A Portrait |pages=12|isbn=1-58603-462-6 |url=http://www.dmi.unipg.it/~mamone/pubb/PBAE.pdf |quote=To his collaborator Leopold Infeld he said: “I am really more of a philosopher than a physicist” [17, p. 258].}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|[[Richard Feynman]] observed that "The philosophers are always on the outside making stupid remarks."<ref name="Devils">{{Cite book
| author = David Berlinski
| title = The Devil’s Delusion
| publisher = Basic Books, New York, 2009
| isbn = 978-0-465-01937-3
| pages = 58
|chapter = 3. Horses do not fly
| url=http://www.davidberlinski.org/devils-delusion/about.php
| quote = }}</ref>|group=note}} He was born in Ulm, in Württemberg, [[Germany]] in a [[Judaism|Jewish]] family. During his stay at the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[Patent and Trademark Office|Patent Office]] Einstein produced much of his remarkable work. In 1905 he obtained his [[Doctor|doctor's degree]]. He won the [[Nobel Prize]] for his work on the [[photoelectric effect]] in 1921.<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/ "The Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921"] (2014). Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on January 23, 2015.</ref> Einstein [[Immigration|immigrated]] to the [[United States of America|United States]] in the late 1930s to take the position of Professor of Theoretical Physics at [[Princeton University|Princeton]]; upon the urging of a colleague in physics, recommended that [[President of the United States of America|President]] [[Franklin Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]] develop an [[atomic bomb]] project.<ref>Einstein, Albert (August 2, 1939). [http://www.dannen.com/ae-fdr.html "Letter to F. D. Roosevelt, President of the United States"]. www.dannen.com. Retrieved from "Leo Szilard Online: Einstein's Letter to Roosevelt, August 2, 1939" on January 23, 2015.</ref> He later regretted this and became a passionate [[Pacifism|pacifist]]. In 1952, he was offered the Presidency of [[Israel]], but he turned it down. Einstein collaborated with Dr. Chaim Weizmann in establishing the [[Hebrew]] [[University]] of [[Jerusalem]]. Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 at Princeton, [[New Jersey]] at the age of 76.

==Anecdotes==
*In 1898, young Albert Einstein applied for admission to the Munich Technical Institute and was turned down. The young man, the Institute declared, "showed no promise" as a student. By 1905, he published his explanation of the special [[theory of relativity]].<ref name=anec>[http://web.archive.org/web/20031205122227/http://oaks.nvg.org/sa5ra17.html "Albert Einstein anecdotes"] (2003). Windsor Castle. Retrieved from December 5, 2003 archive at Internet Archive on January 23, 2015.</ref>
*Einstein came to Princeton University in 1935 and was asked what he would require for his study. he replied: "A desk, some pads and a pencil, and a large wastebasket to hold all of my mistakes." <ref name=anec/>
*The sculptor Jacob Epstein tells this story:
*:"When I was doing Professor Albert Einstein's bust he had many a jibe at the Nazi professors, one hundred of whom had condemned his theory of relativity in a book. 'Were I wrong,' he said, 'one professor would have been enough.' <ref name=anec/>

== Works ==
Einstein 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 unsuccessfully searching for a [[Unified Field Theory]].
Einstein's best-known scientific work is his 1905 papers on [[Special Relativity]]. Einstein did not cite any references and it was widely and falsely assumed that his work was original. 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. He used the term "stationary system" instead of the term aether.

Einstein then wrote a series of papers applying relativity to gravity using the mathematics of Riemannian Geometry, contributing to [[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.
[[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,<ref>Lightman, Alan (September 9, 1997). [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/relativity/ "Relativity and the cosmos"]. PBS.org/WGBH/Nova. Retrieved on January 24, 2015. "On November 8, 1919, for example, the ''London Times'' had an article headlined: 'The Revolution In Science/Einstein Versus Newton.' Two days later, ''The New York Times''' headlines read: 'Lights All Askew In The Heavens/Men Of Science More Or Less Agog Over Results Of Eclipse Observations/Einstein Theory Triumphs.'"</ref> when in fact he had selectively used data to attain this result. No Nobel Prize was given for relativity.

In April 2004, NASA launched the satellite "Gravity Probe B" to test the ''geodetic precession'' and ''frame dragging'' effects of general relativity. The successful result of this test was announced on May 4, 2011.<ref>http://prl.aps.org/accepted/L/ea070Y8dQ491d22a28828c95f660a57ac82e7d8c0</ref><ref>http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/306430</ref><ref>http://www.nap.edu/html/gpb/summary.html</ref><ref>http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/73870/title/Gravity_Probe_B_finally_pays_off_</ref><ref>http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb/</ref><ref>http://einstein.stanford.edu/</ref><ref>http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/the-gravity-probe-b-bailout</ref><ref>http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/06/nasa-concludes-gravity-probe-b-space-time-experiment-proves-e/</ref>

Einstein compared the effects of large objects on space and time to the way that a large ball placed on a sheet of rubber stretches the material and causes it to sag, and drew the analogy with the way stars and planets warp space-time. A smaller ball rolling along the sagging fabric will be drawn towards the larger ball, in the same way that the Earth is drawn towards the sun, but will not fall into it as long as it continues to move at sufficient speed. This was a change in thinking from the Newtonian cosmos, in which gravity was viewed purely as an attractive force between bodies.

Einstein's statistical explanation of Brownian motion (the random movement of microscopic particles mixed in with pollen) is sometimes credited with helping to confirm the atomic theory at a time when some scientists argued against it.<ref>Cassidy, David (2004). [http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay-brownian.htm "Einstein on Brownian motion"]. [http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/great1.htm American Institute of Physics/AIP Center for History of Physics/Albert Einstein-Image and Impact/The Great Works I]. Retrieved on January 24, 2014.</ref> Most scientists had accepted atomic theory a century earlier.

Einstein also published a heuristic explanation of the photoelectric effect in which light has particle like properties as well as wave like properties. According to [[Maxwell's Equations]], light is a wave so one might expect that increasing the intensity of light should increase the number of electrons emitted from metal. The German physicist Lénard did an experiment proving that this was not true. Einstein argued that the experiment was consistent with [[Max Planck]]'s hypothesis that light is quantized and different particles of light or photons have different frequencies. Therefore, increasing the intensity of low frequency photons has no effect, while using a higher (blue or ultra violet) frequency of light does cause more electrons to be emitted. The formula Einstein used to explain this was Planck's formula ''e'' = ''hf'', where ''h'' is Planck's constant and ''f'' is the frequency.<ref>Davis, Warren, PhD. (2008 or before). [http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae24.cfm?CFID=8792067&CFTOKEN=36662276 "What is the photoelectric effect?"] PhysLink.com. Retrieved on January 24, 2015.</ref>

Although Einstein won a Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect, Lénard was critical of his accomplishments.<ref>Evans, Richard J. (2005). ''The Third Reich in Power'' (London: Penguin Books), pp. 306-309.</ref> Planck and Lénard had already received Nobel Prizes for related work explaining the photoelectric effect.

Einstein also recognized the value in work done by the physicist Satyendra Nath Bose when others did not, and helped Bose publish what is now referred to as Bose-Einstein statistics. A simplified explanation is that the statistics for [[boson]]s (including light) are different from the statistics for fermions which make up solid matter in that there is no way to tag or differentiate one boson from another for statistical comparisons.

===E=mc2===
Einstein’s famous formula ''E=mc''2 says that mass and energy can turn into each other. It was first published by Henri Poincaré. Einstein published an alternate derivation that was corrected and improved by Max Planck. ''E'' stands for [[energy]], ''m'' is [[mass]], and ''c'' is the [[speed of light]]. So, if you increase the energy of a substance, for example by heating it, it gains a minute amount of mass. It was later realized that if you split an atom apart, as in a nuclear explosion, it loses a tiny amount of mass that is released in the form of [[energy]].

The connection ''E=mc''2 to nuclear energy is not as direct as pop culture sometimes represents. Einstein did not discover the huge energy available from nuclear reactions. Early workers in radioactivity, such as [[Ernest Rutherford]], understood clearly that the natural radioactive decay of radium released quantities of energy that could not be explained by chemistry, and were much larger than those of chemical reactions. Neither did Einstein originate the key idea that made nuclear energy a possible weapon or a practical energy source. That was Leo Szilard, who acknowledged having been inspired by a 1914 [[H. G. Wells]] novel. Szilard discovered or invented the chain reaction (and patented it). However, other people recognized the relation between Einstein's interpretation of the ''E=mc''2 formula and chain reactions. Einstein explained that matter releasing energy is also losing mass.

Energy binds together the parts of an [[atom]], including the [[nucleus]]. The nucleus of an atom is tiny, but very little mass could release a huge amount of energy. When one nucleus splits apart, it splits other nuclei around it. This is called a [[chain reaction]].

===Cosmological Constant===
{{Main|Cosmological constant}}
The discovery and publication in 1987 of an early correspondence between Einstein and Marić revealed that they had had a daughter, called "Lieserl" in their letters, born in early 1902 in Novi Sad where Marić was staying with her parents. Marić returned to Switzerland without the child, whose real name and fate are unknown. Einstein probably never saw his daughter. The contents of his letter to Marić in September 1903 suggest that the girl was either adopted or died of scarlet fever in infancy.[35][36]
Einstein, looking relaxed and holding a pipe, stands next to a smiling, well-dressed Elsa who is wearing a fancy hat and fur wrap. She is looking at him.
Einstein with his wife Elsa

Einstein and Marić married in January 1903. In May 1904, their first son, Hans Albert Einstein, was born in Bern, Switzerland. Their second son, Eduard, was born in Zürich in July 1910. In April they moved to Berlin. After a few months his wife returned to Zürich with their sons, after learning that Einstein's chief romantic attraction was his first and second cousin Elsa.[37] They divorced on 14 February 1919, having lived apart for five years.[38] Eduard, whom his father called "Tete" (for petit), had a breakdown at about age 20 and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.[39] His mother cared for him and he was also committed to asylums for several periods, finally being committed permanently after her death.[40]

In letters revealed in 2015, Einstein wrote to his early love, Marie Winteler, about his marriage and his still-strong feelings for Marie. In 1910 he wrote to her that "I think of you in heartfelt love every spare minute and am so unhappy as only a man can be" while his wife was pregnant with their second child. Einstein spoke about a "misguided love" and a "missed life" regarding his love for Marie.[41]

Einstein married Elsa Löwenthal in 1919,[42][43] after having had a personal relationship with her since 1912.[44] She was a first cousin maternally and a second cousin paternally.[44] In 1933, they emigrated to the United States. In 1935, Elsa Einstein was diagnosed with heart and kidney problems; she died in December 1936.[45]
Einstein revised his work on General Relativity to include a 'fudge-factor' which he termed the "cosmological constant". He was trying to account for the apparent steady-state nature of the universe.

One doesn't need to understand relativity to get a rough idea of the problem. Suppose the universe consists of a number of galaxies scattered about, and that they have been scattered about in this way forever. Gravity would make them attract each other, and they would ''very slowly'' move toward each other. That is, they would "fall". The speed of this would be extremely tiny, but if the universe were truly eternal, that is, it had been this way ''forever'', they wouldn't still be scattered. What is needed is a fudge factor saying that there is a tiny gravitational repulsion to go along with the much larger and better-known inverse-square attraction. The repulsion force would be ''extremely tiny'' because the galaxies are far away, but it would have to be there. In the general relativity formulation of gravity, this takes the form of the cosmological constant appearing in the field equations of GR.

[[Edwin Hubble]] (after whom [[NASA]]'s famous [[Hubble Space Telescope]] is named) later convinced him otherwise. At one point he had Einstein actually making direct observations alongside him, and Hubble's findings showed conclusively that the [[universe]] was indeed expanding, as predicted by certain solutions of GR's field equations in the absence of a cosmological constant. Einstein recanted his original position, and accepted as true the notion of a changing universe having a definite beginning.

He later said of his Cosmological Constant, "It was the biggest blunder of my life."

An interesting end-note on this term: Principal investigators from [[Princeton University]] first published findings in 1998 apparently revealing an accelerating expansion for the universe.<ref>[http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html "WMAP produces new results"] (2013). NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe website. Retrieved on January 25, 2015.</ref> Because this initially seemed like it might be a sort of 'anti-gravity' effect (similar in concept to Einstein's original notion), it briefly became quite popular for scientists to dub the phenomenon the 'Cosmological constant' as well. For more information, see: [[Dark Energy]].

== Writings ==

*Special Theory of Relativity (1905)
*General Theory of Relativity (1916)
*''Relativity: The Special and the General Theory'' (translation), 1st ed. (1920)
*''Vier Vorlesungen über Relativitätstheorie'' (1922)
*''Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement'' (1926)
*''About Zionism'' (1930)
*''Why War?'' (1933)
*''The World As I See It (My Philosophy)'' (1934)
*''The Evolution of Physics'' (1938) with Leopold Infeld
*''Out of My Later Years'' (1950)
*''Einleitende Bemerkungen uber Grundbergriffe'' (1953)
*''The Meaning of Relativity'', 3rd ed. (1950), 4th ed. (1953), 5th ed. (1956)
''...the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or program, but straight from the heart.''

== Honors ==
Einstein received honorary doctorate degrees in science, medicine and philosophy from many American and European universities.

He won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work on the photoelectric effect.
*"It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few individuals for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular assessment of my powers and achievements and the reality is simply grotesque." <ref name="Mallove">Mallove, Eugene F., Sc. D. (July–August 2001). [http://www.infinite-energy.com/iemagazine/issue38/einstein.html "The Einstein myths—of space, time and aether"]. ''Infinite Energy Magazine'', iss. 38. Retrieved from Infinite Energy website on January 25, 2015.</ref>

Einstein told a friend in 1930, "To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself." <ref name="Mallove"/>

He gained the Copley Medal of the [[Royal Society]] of London in 1925 and the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1935.

Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 <ref>Küpper, Hans-Josef (2004 or bef.). [http://www.einstein-website.de/z_information/variousthings.html#president "President of the State of Israel"]. Albert Einstein in the world wide web. Retrieved on January 25, 2015.</ref> but respectfully declined, stating he believed his lifelong study of objective matters made him an inappropriate candidate for a position in politics; he was also strongly opposed to nationalism.

In 1999, he was named "Person of the Century" by [[Time Magazine|''Time'' magazine]].

==Einstein and the A-bomb==
In 1939 research done by several leading scientists including [[Enrico Fermi]] regarding chain reactions of nuclear fission prompted [[Leo Szilard]] to persuade Einstein to write a letter to [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Roosevelt]],<ref>Einstein, Albert (August 2, 1939). [http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/einstein.shtml "Letter to F. D. Roosevelt, President of the United States"]. Hypertextbook/E-World. Retrieved on January 25, 2015.</ref> to warn the President about the possibility of nuclear weapons and that Nazi [[Germany]] had already taken an interest in this technology.

Einstein himself had never been involved in the [[Manhattan project]]. He was considered a security risk, as he was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between 1937 and 1954.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20040810044240/http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/einstein.htm "Albert Einstein"] (2004). Federal Bureau of Investigation website. Retrieved from August 10, 2004 archive at Internet Archive on January 25, 2015.</ref> Later he condemned the use of nuclear weapons.

==Controversy surrounding his death==
Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey, then a pathologist, performed the autopsy on Einstein in the [[Princeton Medical Center]] several hours after his death. Upon completion, Dr. Harvey removed the brain and eyes.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 "The long strange journey of Einstein's brain"] (April 18, 2005). Review and excerpt from Burrell, Brian (2005), ''Postcards from the Brain Museum''. National Public Radio website. Retrieved on January 25, 2015.</ref> There is controversy about whether or not Harvey had consent from the Einstein family to remove the brain and keep it, though letters from Otto Nathan, executor of the Einstein estate, suggest that Harvey did indeed have permission to keep the brain, as long as research performed on it was only described in scientific journals.

The brain was photographed and sliced into 240 pieces in order to be preserved and further studied. Harvey hoped some uniqueness would be discovered that distinguished Einstein's brain as "genius".

Although he sent pieces away for further study, the bulk of the brain remained with Harvey for over 40 years. His once-ambitious plans for doing research on Einstein's brain were never actualized, though there were at least two controversial studies performed which suggested a physical reason for Einstein's intelligence. In 1996 Harvey entrusted Elliot Krauss, chief [[pathologist]] at the Princeton Medical Center, with the brain. The brain now sits in a secret location, possibly only a few feet away from where it was first removed from Einstein's head. Krauss loans out pieces of the brain for scientific research, but he is very discriminating in deciding who shall receive a piece.<ref>Abraham, Carolyn (2001). ''Possessing Genius'' (U.K.: Icon Books), 2005 edition.</ref>

==Religious views==
[[Image:Einstein inshul1930.jpg|right|thumb|Einstein wearing a kippah in a Berlin Synagogue, 1930.|300px]]
There is some controversy surrounding the religion of Albert Einstein.
Walter Isaacson reports him shortly after his fiftieth birthday explaining his religious views to an interviewer in this manner: <blockquote>“I'm not an [[atheist]]. I don't think I can call myself a [[pantheist]]. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws." <ref>Isaacson, Walter (April 27, 2007). "Einstein and the mind of God". ''Washington Post''.</ref></blockquote>

In the same interview, Einstein spoke of his feelings regarding Christianity:

<blockquote>
"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."
</blockquote>

And when asked if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, Einstein replied:

<blockquote>
"Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."
</blockquote>

Einstein also said
<blockquote>
"In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views.",<ref name=Jammer>Jammer, Max (1999). ''Einstein and Religion'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).</ref>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"[The fanatical atheists] are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle. They are creatures who—in their grudge against the traditional 'opium of the people' [[[Karl Marx]]'s oft-cited description of religion]—cannot bear the music of the spheres."<ref name=Jammer/>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>"God does not play dice with the universe."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=zPkrAQAAIAAJ&q=%22God+does+not+play+dice+with+the+universe%22&dq=%22God+does+not+play+dice+with+the+universe%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ldPGVJrIOejIsAScz4DQDg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBA ''Et Cetera''] (1943), p. 61. Retrieved from GoogleBooks archive on January 26, 2015.</ref></blockquote>
and
<blockquote>
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind" <ref>Isaacson, Walter (2007). [http://books.google.com/books?id=cdxWNE7NY6QC&pg=PA390&dq=%22Science+without+religion+is+lame.+Religion+without+science+is+blind%22+isaacson&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZC_HVK2wMsaiNujbg7AO&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Science%20without%20religion%20is%20lame.%20Religion%20without%20science%20is%20blind%22%20isaacson&f=false ''Einstein: His Life and Universe''] (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster), p. 390. Retrieved from GoogleBooks archive on January 26, 2015.</ref>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."<ref>Einstein, Albert (January 3, 1954). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/12/peopleinscience.religion Excerpt of "Letter to Eric Gutkind".] Excerpt retrieved from Randerson, James (May 13, 2008), "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear", Theguardian website [U.K.] on January 28, 2015.</ref>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."<ref>Einstein, Albert (March 24, 1954). Letter from ''Albert Einstein - The Human Side'' (1979), selected and edited by Dukas, Helen and Hoffman, Banesh (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).</ref></blockquote>

Taken as a whole, it appears Einstein rejected the literal stories of God's personal involvement with the Hebrews, but he did believe in the existence of a higher power as a metaphor for what we did not know about the universe.

=== Views on Judaism and Zionism ===
[[Image:Einst 22.jpg|right|thumb|Einstein with [[David Ben-Gurion]].|300px]]
In 1920, in a letter to the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, Einstein wrote
<blockquote>
"I am neither a German citizen, nor is there in me anything that can be described as ‘Jewish faith.’ But I am happy to belong to the Jewish people, even if I do not consider them in any way God's elect."
</blockquote>
Einstein did not view fellow Jews as co-religionists, but as tribal companions.
Einstein was made an honorary citizen of [[Tel Aviv]] during his visit in 1923.
In 1952, Einstein was offered the position of president of Israel by the 1st prime minister of [[Israel]] David Ben-Gurion, but declined the offer. Before his death in 1955, Einstein wrote to the Zionist leader Kurt Blumenfeld:
<blockquote>
"I thank you, even at this late hour, for having made me conscious of the Jewish soul."
</blockquote>
Einstein willed that all his scholarly work be archived in Israel's Hebrew University after his death.

Einstein always expressed his anti-war views and staunchly opposed nationalism:

''"He who joyfully marches to rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism on command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so a base of action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."''

==Einstein on Germany and the rise of Hitler==
In 1944, in a message to a bulletin run by Polish Jews in New York, Einstein wrote
<blockquote>
The Germans as an entire people are responsible for the mass murders and must be punished as a people if there is justice in the world and if the consciousness of collective responsibility in the nations is not to perish from the earth entirely. Behind the Nazi party stands the German people, who elected Hitler after he had in his book [''Mein Kampf''] and in his speeches made his shameful [genocidal] intentions clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding.
</blockquote>

== Unsupported attributions ==
* Many ideas and quotes are falsely attributed to Einstein. He did not invent very much of we now call [[special relativity]]. The Principle of Relativity, that the law of physics should be the same in all inertial frames, had already been published before Einstein.<ref>Logunov, A. A. (2005). [http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0408077 ''Henry Poincaré and Relativity Theory'']. Retrieved from Cornell University arXiv.org archive on January 28, 2015.</ref> He did not discover the [[Lorentz transformation]], or the Lorentz invariance of [[Maxwell's Equations]] for electromagnetism.<ref>Macrossan, Michael N. (1986) [http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00002307/ "A note on relativity before Einstein"]. ''British Journal for the Philosophy of Science'', vol. 37, no. 2:, pp. 232-234. Retrieved from University of Queensland [Australia]/UQ eSpace archive on January 28, 2015.</ref> He was not the first to propose that the [[speed of light]] is constant for all observers, or that "[[the aether]]" is superfluous and not observable.<ref>Rothman, Tony (March–April 2006). [http://web.archive.org/web/20070710071317/http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/49611/page/1?&print=yes "Lost in Einstein's shadow"]. ''American Scientist'', vol. 94, no. 2, p. 112. Retrieved on January 28, 2015.</ref> He was not the first to recognize and explain how special relativity causes an ambiguity in defining simultaneity.<ref>Fric, Jacques (June 2003). [http://www.everythingimportant.org/relativity/Poincare.htm "Henri Poincaré: A decisive contribution to Special Relativity, the short story"]. www.everythingimportant.org. Retrieved on January 28, 2015.</ref> He did not combine space and time into a four-dimensional [[spacetime]] in his special relativity papers until others had been doing it for a couple of years.

* Einstein did not invent the term "relativity theory", and did not even like the term. He called it the "so-called relativity theory" until 1911. Einstein did not banish the ether from Physics. In a 1920 lecture, he said, "More careful reflection teaches us, however, that the special theory of relativity does not compel us to deny æther."<ref>Quoted in Tipler, Frank J., astrophysicist of Tulane University (October 26, 2008). [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1271310 "The Obama-Tribe 'Curvature of constitutional space' paper is crackpot physics"]. Social Science Research Network website. Retrieved on January 31, 2015.</ref>

* Einstein was not the first to observe the equation ''E=mc''2 as a consequence of special relativity,<ref>Henri Poincaré published it in 1900. Hermann, Robert A. (January 1, 2004). [http://web.archive.org/web/20081217082358/http://www.serve.com/herrmann/einpdf.pdf "E=mc2 is not Einstein's discovery"]. Retrieved from December 17, 2008 archive at Internet Archive on January 24, 2015.</ref> or to foresee its application to [[nuclear binding]] energies or [[antimatter]] annihilation.
* Einstein only published faulty and incomplete proofs.<ref>Multiple references:
*Ohanian, Hans C. (September 2008). [http://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Mistakes-Human-Failings-Genius/dp/0393062937 ''Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius'']. Retrieved on January 31, 2015.
*[http://discovermagazine.com/2008/sep/01-einstein.s-23-biggest-mistakes "Einstein's 23 biggest mistakes"] (September 1, 2008). Discover magazine website. Retrieved on January 31, 2015.</ref>
* He did not foresee a nuclear [[chain reaction]] and had to be persuaded about the possibility of an [[atomic bomb]].
* However, Einstein's interpretation of the ''E=mc''2 equation was fairly popular.
* According to Einstein, a body losing energy through heat or [[radiation]] was losing mass.<ref>Multiple references:
*Einstein, Albert (September 27, 1905). [http://web.archive.org/web/20081217082511/http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/annalen/history/papers/1905_18_639-641.pdf "Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von dessen Energieinhalt abhängig?"], ''Annalen der Physik'', vol. 18, pp. 639–643. Retrieved from December 17, 2008 Internet Archive archive of University of Augsburg/Annalen der Physik website on January 31, 2015.
*English translation: Einstein, Albert (September 27, 1905). [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/E_mc2/www/ Hypertext of "Does the inertia of a body depend on its energy-content?"]. Translated in Perrett, Wilfrid and Jeffery, George B. (1923), ''The Principle of Relativity'' (London: Methuen), pp. 67-71. Hypertext retrieved from Fourmilab [Switzerland] website on January 31, 2015.</ref>

* Einstein did not originate the idea of using non-Euclidean geometry<ref>His friend Paul Ehrenfest pointed out the need for curved space. Kaku, Michio (2014). [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/181349/Albert-Einstein "Albert Einstein"]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved on February 1, 2015.</ref> [[metric tensor]]s to reconcile gravity with special relativity.<ref>Walter, Scott (2006). [http://web.archive.org/web/20061205041327/http://univ-nancy2.fr/DepPhilo/walter/papers/b4.pdf "Breaking in the 4-vectors: the four-dimensional movement in gravitation, 1905–1910"]. University of Nancy 2 [France]/Department of Philosophy/Scott Walter website. Retrieved from December 5, 2006 archive at Internet Archive on February 1, 2015.</ref> It was not his idea to describe gravity in [[covariant equations]], and he published papers supposedly showing that it was impossible.<ref>Norton, John D. (March 1993). [http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/decades_re-set.pdf "General covariance and the foundation of general relativity: eight decades of dispute"]. ''Reports on Progress in Physics'', no. 56, pp. 791-858. Retrieved from University of Pittsburgh/John D. Norton website on February 2, 2015.</ref> He did not discover the Lagrangian formulation of [[general relativity]], and was not the first to publish the field equations. He did not foresee the [[expansion of the universe]] (although this expansion is consistent with the field equations), the possibility of [[black hole]]s, or [[dark energy]].

* Einstein did not originate the idea that light is observable as particles. Max Planck published that a few years before Einstein, and received a Nobel prize for it.

* Einstein did not prove that matter was made of atoms. That had been known for a century when Einstein published his 1905 paper on Brownian motion.

* Einstein never developed a [[unified field theory]] of any significance. He published papers on [[quantum mechanics]], but always insisted on a deterministic interpretation.

* Many quotes are falsely attributed to Einstein. Here are a few. "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left." "We use only 10% of our brains." "Evil is simply the absence of God." "Originality is the art of concealing your sources." 

== Quotes ==
Here are some quotes that have been attributed to Einstein, but which have not been verified.

* The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.<ref>Applewhite, Ashton, et al. (2003). [http://books.google.com/books?id=H-GfO0jkBLsC&pg=PA146&dq=The+difference+between+stupidity+and+genius+is+that+genius+has+its+limits&ei=NtAaSsTZBZj2MJ2NyL8J ''And I Quote: The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker''] (New York: St. Martin's), rev. ed., p. 146. Retrieved from GoogleBooks on February 2, 2015.</ref>

* Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.<ref>Darbellay, Frédéric et al. (2008). [http://books.google.com/books?id=MbC45UX_4gMC&pg=PT19&dq=Learn+from+yesterday,+live+for+today,+hope+for+tomorrow.+The+important+thing+is+not+to+stop+questioning.&ei=Mdk-SormHozayQT1-uS-AQ ''A Vision of Transdisciplinarity: Laying Foundations for a World Knowledge Dialogue''] (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press), p. xix. Retrived from GoogleBooks on February 2, 2015.</ref>

* "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." <ref>Feld, Bernard T. (1979). [http://books.google.com/books?id=CNuwE3NL1QgC&pg=PA388&dq=Whoever+is+careless+with+the+truth+in+small+matters+cannot+be+trusted+with+important+matters&ei=swRFSoSYM46yzASEy8Bc "Einstein and the Politics of Nuclear Weapons"]. ''Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Centennial'' (1982), edited by Holton, Gerald James and Elkana, Yehuda (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), p. 388. Retrieved from GoogleBooks on February 3, 2015.</ref>

==Notes==
<references group=note/>

==External links==
*[http://www.relativitycalculator.com/E=mc2.shtml Relativity Science Calculator - e=mc2 derivation]
*[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/ "The Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921"] (2014). Nobelprize.org.
*Einstein, Albert (June 30, 1905). [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/specrel.pdf "On the electrodynamics of moving bodies"]. Translated in Perrett, Wilfred and Jeffery, George B. (1923), ''The Principle of Relativity: A Collection of Original Memoirs on the Special and General Theory of Relativity'' (London: Methuen), pp. 35–65. Translation of ''Das Relativatsprinzip'' (1922, Leipzig [Germany]: Teubner), 4th ed. Retrieved from Fourmilab [Switzerland] website.
*Einstein, Albert (September 27, 1905). [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/E_mc2/e_mc2.pdf "Does the inertia of a body depend on its energy-content?"]. Translated in Perrett, Wilfrid and Jeffery, George B. (1923), ''The Principle of Relativity'' (London: Methuen), pp. 67–71. Translation of ''Das Relativatsprinzip'' (1922, Leipzig [Germany]: Teubner), 4th ed. Retrieved from Fourmilab [Switzerland] website.
*Paterniti, Michael (2000). ''Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America With Einstein's Brain'' (New York, NY: Random House).
*"Collected Quotes from Albert Einstein" [http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Einstein, Albert}}

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Supreme Court of the United States

2017-02-03T03:03:42Z

Mlk:

[[Image:Supreme Court.jpg|thumb|200px|US Supreme Court Building]]
The '''Supreme Court of the United States''' (SCOTUS) is the highest court of the judiciary of the [[United States of America]]. Between 1800 and 1935, it met primarily in the basement of the United States [[Capitol]] building, then in the Old Senate Chamber, until it moved into its present location at One First Street NE, [[Washington, D.C.]]. [[Alexander Hamilton]] originally described the federal judiciary as the "least dangerous branch" due to the fact that it does not have the power to enforce its rulings, or control the country's [[finance]]s.<ref>http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa78.htm Federalist #78</ref> However, due to [[liberal]] tendencies the Supreme Court has grabbed so much power in the last half-century that it currently exceeds the authority of the other branches of government.

==Structure==
By custom, the Court is composed of eight [[Associate Justice]]s and one [[Chief Justice of the United States of America|Chief Justice]]. To assist them there are many clerks, guards, and staff. Cases are heard ''[[en banc]]'' whenever the Court is in session. Historians generally divide Court history into eras named after the Chief Justice then presiding (e.g., the [[Rehnquist Court]] and the [[Warren Court]]).
[[Image:SCOTUS.jpg|300px|left|thumb|The Supreme Court of the United States, 2010 Back Row (l-r):Sotomayor, Breyer, Alito, Kagan Front Row(l-r):Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg]]
Justices are appointed by the U.S. [[President]] with the advice and approval of the [[U.S. Senate]], which means that confirmation by a vote of a simple majority of the Senate is required before one can be sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

A list of pending cases to be heard on their merits by the Supreme Court, also known as petitions for which [[certiorari]] has been granted, is available on its website.<ref>[http://www.supremecourtus.gov/orders/07grantednotedlist.pdf Cases pending for the 2007 term]</ref>

==Opinions==
Prior to the [[Marshall Court]], the Court issued [[opinion]]s in ''seriatim''. This means that each Justice wrote his own opinion and delivered it from the bench. Currently, the Court issues one opinion, said to be "the opinion of the Court". Opinions tend to have the history of the case, followed by the Court's reasoning and action. Generally the opinion will be written by a member of the majority, chosen by either the Chief Justice or the most senior Justice in the majority.

When a majority of Justices agrees to the opinion, it is called the [[Majority Opinion|majority opinion]]. Occasionally, a majority of Justices agrees to the [[remedy]], yet a minority of Justices agrees with the main opinion. This is called a [[plurality opinion]].

Justices that disagree with the Court's action can and frequently do write [[dissenting opinion]]s, which state their objections to the ruling. When a Justice agrees with an action, but not the reasoning behind it, he may write a concurring opinion, which states the reasoning he would have used. Such opinions have no bearing on the case at bar, but are often used later in time as justification for legal rulings.

==Conservative and liberal votes==
[[File:Judges-over-time.jpg|thumb|200px|How judges became more conservative (moving up) or liberal (moving down) over time. Click to enlarge.]]

Four of the five most conservative justices to serve on the court since 1937, out of a total of 43 justices, are on the court right now: Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] and Justices [[Antonin Scalia]], [[Clarence Thomas]] and [[Samuel Alito]] The fifth was Chief Justice [[William Rehnquist]], whom Chief Justice Roberts replaced in 2005.<ref>see Adam Liptak, "To Nudge, Shift or Shove the Supreme Court Left," [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/weekinreview/01liptak.html?_r=1&hp ''New York Times'' Jan. 31, 2009] Data from a 2008 study by William M. Landes, who teaches law and economics at the University of Chicago, and conservative Judge Richard A. Posner of the federal appeals court.</ref> Looking at votes in divided cases on ideologically charged issues like criminal procedure, civil rights and the First Amendment shows Justice Thomas, the most conservative justice. He voted for the conservative position in those cases 82% of the time. Justice Marshall, the only other African-American to serve on the court, was by this measure the most liberal, voting for the conservative side 21% of the time. Thankfully, Scalia maintained a hard conservative position, consistently opposing liberals and their fruitless court positions.

In ten of the last eleven appointments, the new justice was more conservative than the one replaced.

==Current members==
{|class="wikitable"
!Name!!Date of Accession!!Appointed by!!Title!!General ideology
|-
|[[Anthony Kennedy]]||February 18, 1988|||[[Ronald Reagan]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[moderate]]/swing
|-
|[[Clarence Thomas]]||October 23, 1991|||[[George H. W. Bush]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[conservative]]
|-
|[[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]]||August 10, 1993|||[[Bill Clinton]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[liberal]]
|-
|[[Stephen Breyer]]||August 3, 1994|||[[Bill Clinton]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[liberal]]
|-
|[[John Roberts]]||September 29, 2005|||[[George W. Bush]]|||[[Chief Justice of the United States of America|Chief Justice]]|||[[moderate]]/swing
|-
|[[Samuel Alito]]||January 31, 2006|||[[George W. Bush]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[conservative]]
|-
|[[Sonia Sotomayor]]||August 6, 2009|||[[Barack Obama]]|||[[Associate Justice]]|||[[liberal]]
|-
|[[Elena Kagan]]||August 7, 2010||[[Barack Obama]]||[[Associate Justice]]||[[liberal]]
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[State supreme court]], usually the corresponding court in a [[state court]] system
*[[Supreme Court]] for supreme courts generally
*[[Supreme Court 2011 Term]]
*[[28 U.S.C. § 1254(1)]]
*[[2007 key issues]]
*[[American Trucking Ass'ns v. Scheiner]]
*[[Anderson v. Liberty Lobby]]

==Further reading==
* Hall, Kermit L., ed. ''The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Supreme-United-States/dp/0195176618/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233525239&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search], complete text online at many academic libraries.
** Patrick, John J. ed. ''The Young Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States'' (1994)
* Hall, Kermit L., and James W Ely Jr., eds. ''The Oxford Guide to United State Supreme Court Decisions'' (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Guide-United-Supreme-Decisions/dp/019537939X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233525239&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search], complete text online at many academic libraries.
* Rehnquist, William H. ''The Supreme Court'' (2002), a popular introduction [http://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-William-H-Rehnquist/dp/0375708618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233525459&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Savage, David G. ''Turning Right: The Making of the Rehnquist Supreme Court'' (1993) [http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Right-Making-Rehnquist-Supreme/dp/0471595535/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233525459&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

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