爱因斯坦

爱因斯坦(1879～1955年)

Einstein, Albert

德、瑞裔美籍科学家。出生於乌尔姆（Ulm）的犹太家庭，在慕尼黑长大，1894年举家迁居瑞士。1902年他成为瑞士专利局的初级检验员，开始进行原创的理论工作，後来为20世纪物理学奠定了许多理论基础。1905年获得苏黎世大学（University of Zurich）博士学位，同年靠着三篇论文的出版而赢得国际声誉：一篇论述布朗运动（Brownian motion），证实了分子存在；一篇论述光电效应（photoelectric effect），证实了光的粒子性质；一篇论述他特有的相对论，包括质量与能量的方程式（E=mc2）。他拥有数个教授职位，1914年出任柏林凯瑟.威廉研究所（Kaiser Wilhelm Institute）主任。1915年出版了相对论的概论，在1919年一次日蚀中观察太阳近处光的偏离，获得实验上的肯定。1921年因在光电效应方面的工作而获颁诺贝尔奖，而在相对论方面的工作仍有争议。他对量子场论（quantum field theory）有重要的贡献，几十年来致力於找出电磁作用（electromagnetism）与引力（gravitation）之间的关系，他相信这是找到宇宙中统御物体行为之通则的第一步，但这样的统一场论（unified field theory）并未被研究出来。他在相对论和引力方面的理论远胜过老式的牛顿物理学，对科学和哲学的探讨掀起了一场革命。当希特勒掌权时，他辞去普鲁士学院（Prussian Academy）的职位，迁居新泽西州普林斯顿（Princeton），到先进科学研究所（Institute for Advanced Study）工作。虽然长期爱好和平，却在1939年出面说服罗斯福总统启动曼哈顿计画（Manhattan Project）以生产原子弹（atomic bomb，他的理论远远超过这种技术），虽然他没有亲自参与。身为战後世界最重要的科学家，他拒绝出任以色列总理，而成为倡导核子限武的有力人士。

English version：

1879～1955年

Einstein, Albert

German-Swiss-U.S. scientist. Born to a Jewish family in Ulm, he grew up in Munich, and his family moved to Switzerland in 1894. He became a junior examiner at the Swiss patent office in 1902 and began producing original theoretical work that laid many of the foundations for 20th-century physics. He received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905, the same year he won international fame with the publication of three articles: one on Brownian motion, demonstrating the existence of molecules; one on the photoelectric effect, in which he demonstrated the particle nature of light; and one on his special theory of relativity, which included his formulation of the equivalence of mass and energy (E = mc2). He held several professorships before becoming director of Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in 1914. In 1915 he published his general theory of relativity, which was confirmed experimentally during a solar eclipse in 1919 with observations of the deviation of light passing near the sun. He received a Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work on the photoelectric effect, his work on relativity still being controversial. He made important contributions to quantum field theory, and for decades he sought to discover the mathematical relationship between electromagnetism and gravitation, which he believed would be a first step toward discovering the common laws governing the behavior of everything in the universe, but such a unified field theory eluded him. His theories of relativity and gravitation represented a profound advance over Newtonian physics and revolutionized scientific and philosophical inquiry. He resigned his position at the Prussian Academy when Adolf Hitler came to power and moved to Princeton, N.J., where he joined the Institute for Advanced Study. Though a longtime pacifist, he was instrumental in persuading Pres. Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 to initiate the Manhattan Project for the production of an atomic bomb, a technology his own theories greatly furthered, though he did not work on the project himself. The most eminent scientist in the world in the postwar years, he declined an offer to become the first prime minister of Israel and became a strong advocate for nuclear disarmament.