One of the greatest minds of our modern world was undoubtedly
Albert Einstein. I sometimes read pieces
or quotes from him just to ponder their meaning. He stated some of the most profound thoughts
with the fewest of words I believe I have ever read. I also believe he was as much philosopher as scientist.
In the current times we live in, it is more important than
ever to stand up and be accounted for even when it can cause you fear. I saw a bumper sticker on a car during my
weekday morning commute. It simply
stated “RESIST”. Wow, powerful and what
a brave person!
With that in mind, here is one of my favorite quotes from
Albert Einstein.
“Great spirits have always encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds. The
mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly
to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions
courageously and honestly.”
Don’t be mediocre people.
You get one go-around. Make it
count!
Albert Einstein; German; 14 March
1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the
general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics
(alongside quantum mechanics). Einstein's work is also known for its influence
on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his
mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the
world's most famous equation"). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his
discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the
evolution of quantum theory.
Near the beginning of his career,
Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the
laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This
led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He realized, however, that
the principle of relativity could also be extended to gravitational fields, and
with his subsequent theory of gravitation in 1916, he published a paper on
general relativity. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics
and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the
motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light which
laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied
the general theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the
universe.
He was visiting the United States
when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to
Germany, where he had been a professor at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He
settled in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1940. On the eve
of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
alerting him to the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of
a new type" and recommending that the U.S. begin similar research. This
eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project. Einstein supported
defending the Allied forces, but generally denounced the idea of using the
newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British
philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto,
which highlighted the danger of nuclear weapons. Einstein was affiliated with
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in
1955.
Einstein published more than 300
scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works. On 5 December 2014,
universities and archives announced the release of Einstein's papers,
comprising more than 30,000 unique documents. Einstein's intellectual
achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous
with "genius".
Namaste,
Tom
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