Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. He developed the general theory of relativity and is best known for “the world’s most famous equation” –
Einstein emigrated to the US at the beginning of WWII because, being Jewish, he feared for his life. Soon after becoming an American citizen in 1940 he started his career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princetown, New Jersey>
He was a very passionate supporter of civil rights and he campaigned for the rights of African Americans. America’s racism was “the worst disease” and saw it being “handed down from one generation to the next.”
Einstein also had a love of music and had considered becoming a musician if he weren’t a physicist. He learned to play the violin at the young age of 5 and discovered Mozart’s violin sonatas when he was 13. Through the years many had complimented him on his level of coordination and intonation.
In April of 1955, Einstein suffered a rupture to his abdominal aortic aneurysm and refused surgery saying “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” He was 76 years old.
Sources:
Calaprice, Alice (2005) The new quotable Einstein. pp.148–149 Princeton University Press, 2005. See also Odyssey in Climate Modeling, Global Warming, and Advising Five Presidents
Cohen, J.R.; Graver, L.M. (November 1995), “The ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm of Albert Einstein”, Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics 170 (5): 455–8, PMID 2183375
David Bodanis (2000). E = mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation. New York: Walker.
Jerome, Fred, and Taylor, Rodger. Einstein on Race and Racism Rutgers University Press, (2006)
Paul S. Boyer; Melvyn Dubofsky (2001). The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-19-508209-8.
Peter Galison; Gerald James Holton; Silvan S. Schweber (2008). Einstein for the 21st Century: His Legacy in Science, Art, and Modern Culture. Princeton University Press. pp. 161–164. ISBN 0-691-13520-7.
