Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1867, when Poland was under Russian rule. Her parents were both teachers. After losing their jobs, they contracted the student cafeteria. The young Marie Curie also had to help cook. She was born under oppression. Little Marie, who grew up under the iron heel, did not understand why Polish children were not allowed to learn Polish. , not allowed to read Polish books, and had to study under the supervision of Tsarist Russian inspectors. Her father and brother told her: "Oppression breeds resistance" and "Knowledge is power", which aroused her strong desire to pursue knowledge and improve academic performance.
From then on, little Mary’s heart was filled with love for her motherland and hatred for the invaders. The thought of studying for the liberation of the motherland was swirling in her mind. After graduating from high school, she became a tutor. But the desire for knowledge has never changed, but in Poland, which is under colonial shackles and feudal shackles, the university does not accept girls, so she dreams of going to Paris to study physics and chemistry, and her sister dreams of going to Paris to study medicine. Saving money to study in Paris. In the end, her sister went to Paris first, while she stayed in Poland to earn money for her sister's education.
Mary not only studied hard on her own, but also worked tirelessly to teach scientific knowledge to children in rural Poland and spread Polish culture among female factory workers. However, in doing so, she might be discovered by spies and monitored by Tsarist Russia at any time. captured by the police. But Mary had only one idea in her mind: to serve the oppressed motherland and study for the liberation of the motherland. As she said in a letter to a childhood friend: "I have exhausted all my strength to cope with all this and keep trying...I have the highest principle: no matter whether it is for people or things, I will never do anything wrong. Don’t give in! …” Five years later, her sister received her doctorate, and Mary came to Paris to study at the Sorbonne College, wearing shabby clothes, living in a simple hut, and eating bread and tea. The university library attracted Mary closely. Once, she forgot to eat and fainted in the library.
Mary is like a greedy sponge, desperately sucking the milk of knowledge. Forgetting to eat has become a common thing for Mary. I left the library every night and went back to my small room to continue studying under the kerosene lamp until two o'clock in the middle of the night. When she was lying on the bed to rest, she was so cold that she had to get up, put on all her clothes one by one, and then lay down again. The hard life and hard study made this young girl look pale and haggard. In her degree examinations at Solburn College, Mary came first with distinction in her Masters in Physics.
Thomas Alva Edison was a world-famous American electrician and inventor. In addition to his inventions and contributions in phonographs, electric lights, telephones, telegraphs, movies, etc., he also made great contributions to mining. There are also many famous creations and insights in the fields of , construction, chemical industry, etc. Edison made about 2,000 inventions during his lifetime and made great contributions to human civilization and progress.
Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in the small town of Milan, Ohio, in the midwestern United States. His father is of Dutch descent, and his mother worked as a primary school teacher and is of Scottish descent. When Edison was 7 years old, his father lost money in the roofing business, so the family moved to Fort Gratiot in the northern suburbs of Huron, Michigan. Shortly after moving here, Edison contracted scarlet fever and remained ill for a long time. The disease was believed to be the cause of his deafness. Edison went to school at the age of 8, but after only three months of studying, he was dismissed by the teacher as an "imbecile" and kicked out of school. From then on, his mother was his "home tutor". Because of his mother's good education methods, he developed a strong interest in reading. "He not only read a lot of books, but he also read ten lines at a glance and could recite them after reading them." When he was 8 years old, he read the works of Shakespeare and Dickens, the most important playwrights of the English Renaissance, and many important historical books. By the age of 9, he could quickly read more difficult books, such as Parker's "Nature and Nature". Experimental Philosophy. I loved chemistry when I was 10 years old. At the age of 11, he experimented with his first telegraph. To earn money to buy chemicals and equipment, he started working. When he was 12 years old, he got a job selling newspapers on a train, traveling between Port Huron and Detroit, Michigan. While selling newspapers, he also runs a fruit and vegetable business. Whenever he has time, he goes to the library to read. He bought an old printing press and started publishing his own weekly magazine, the Herald. The first issue of the magazine was printed on the train.
He used the money he earned to build a chemistry laboratory on a luggage cart. Unfortunately there was a chemical fire and he was thrown out of the car along with his equipment. Another time, when Edison was trying to board a freight train, a conductor grabbed his ears to help him get on. This action resulted in Edison becoming permanently deaf.
In August 1862, Edison used fearless heroism to rescue a boy who was about to be killed on the train tracks. The child's father was grateful for this, but since he had no money to repay him, he was willing to teach him telegraph skills. From then on, Edison became involved with this mysterious new world of electricity and embarked on a scientific journey.
Einstein was born at 11:30 am on March 14, 1879, at No. 135 Bahnhofstrasse, Ulm, Germany. Both parents are Jewish. His father's name was Hermann Einstein, and his mother's name was Pauline Coker. Einstein
In 1884, Einstein became fascinated with the pocket compass.
In 1885, Einstein began to learn violin.
In 1886, Einstein studied at the Munich Public School (Council School); he studied Jewish rules at home.
In 1888, Einstein entered Louisbold High School. Continue to receive religious education in school and receive a ordination ceremony. Friedman is the instructor.
In 1889, under the guidance of Talmei, a medical student, he read popular scientific readings and philosophical works.
In 1891, he taught himself Euclidean geometry and felt passionate about it. At the same time, he began to teach himself advanced mathematics.
In 1892, he began to read the works of Immanuel Kant. In 1895, he taught himself calculus.
In 1896, he received a diploma from Aarau High School. In October, he entered the Normal Department of the Federal Technical University of Zurich to study physics.
On October 19, 1899, Einstein officially applied for Swiss citizenship.
Einstein graduated from the Federal University of Technology in Zurich in August 1900; in December he completed his thesis "Inferences from Capillary Phenomenon", which was published in the "Journal of Physics" in Leipzig the following year and became a Swiss citizen.
On March 21, 1901, he obtained Swiss nationality. From May to July of this year, I completed the thesis on the thermodynamic theory of electric potential difference.
In September 1904, he was converted from a probationary employee of the Patent Office to a formal third-level technician.
In March 1905, he developed quantum theory, proposed the light quantum hypothesis, and solved the photoelectric effect problem. In April, he submitted his thesis "A New Method for Determining Molecular Size" to the University of Zurich and obtained his doctorate. In May, he completed his thesis "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" and independently and completely proposed the principle of special relativity, ushering in a new era of physics.
In April 1906, he was promoted to a second-level technician in the Patent Office. In November, I completed a paper on the specific heat of solids, which is the first paper on the quantum theory of solids. In October 1908, he concurrently served as a non-staff lecturer at the University of Bern.
In October 1909, he left the Bern Patent Office and became an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. Einstein
In October 1910, he completed his paper on critical opalescence.
The law of "photochemical equivalent" was proposed in 1912.
In 1913, he returned to Germany and served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in Berlin and professor at the University of Berlin. He was also elected as an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
In April 1914, Einstein accepted the invitation from the German scientific community and moved to Berlin.
The First World War broke out in August. Although he lived in the birthplace of the war and lived surrounded by war advocates, he resolutely expressed his anti-war attitude.
In September, Einstein participated in the founding of the anti-war group "New Motherland Alliance". When the organization was declared illegal and its members were arrested and persecuted in large numbers and went underground, Einstein remained determined Participate in the secret activities of this organization.
In October, under the control and instigation of militarists, the German scientific and cultural circles issued the "Declaration of a Civilized World" to defend the aggressive war launched by Germany and advocated that Germany was above all else and that all The world should embrace the "true German spirit".
Ninety-three people signed the "Declaration", all of whom were prestigious German scientists, artists, and pastors at the time. Even Nernst, Roentgen, Ostwald, Planck, etc. all signed it. When Einstein was asked to sign, he flatly refused, but at the same time he resolutely signed his name on the anti-war "Letter to Europeans." This move shocked the world.
In November 1915, he proposed the complete form of the gravity equation of general relativity and successfully explained the perihelion motion of Mercury. Einstein
In March 1916, he completed the concluding paper "The Foundations of General Relativity". In May, he proposed the hypothesis that the universe is finite and unbounded. In August, he completed "Quantum Theory of Radiation", summarizing the development of quantum theory and proposing the theory of stimulated emission.
After the victory of the Soviet socialist revolution led by Lenin in 1917, Einstein enthusiastically supported this great revolution and praised it as a great social experiment that would be of decisive significance to the world. : "I respect Lenin because he was a person who had a spirit of complete self-sacrifice and devoted himself wholeheartedly to realizing social justice. I don't think his methods are practical, but one thing is for sure: people like him are He is the defender and recreater of human conscience."
In November 1918, influenced and inspired by the victory of the Russian October Revolution, German workers and soldiers launched an uprising and overthrew Kaiser Wilhelm. On the third day after II stepped down, Einstein wrote two postcards to his mother, cheering "A great thing has happened... What an honor it is to experience this event personally!" In the 1920s and early 1930s, , Einstein was basically an absolute pacifist. However, the reality of constant wars of aggression and plunder shattered his beautiful dream. Especially after Hitler came to power in 1933, Germany became increasingly fascist, which made Einstein realize that a new barbaric war was inevitable, prompting him to change his views. He made it clear: "When the law and human dignity must be defended, we must fight. Since the danger of fascism has arrived, I no longer believe that absolute passive pacifism is effective. As long as fascism rules Europe, then There will be no peace." Because of Einstein's progressive activities and because he was a Jew, he was listed as an important target of persecution by the German Nazis. Fortunately, he left Germany at the end of 1932 to give lectures in the United States and was not persecuted. His house in Berlin was raided and destroyed, his property confiscated, his books burned, and the Nazis offered a reward of 20,000 marks for his death. Facing the danger of assassination by the Nazis, Einstein showed no fear, but fought more determinedly. When his close friend Laue wrote a letter to persuade him to adopt a prudent and protective attitude towards political issues, he regardless of his personal safety, loudly pointed out that fascism means war, peace must be defended with arms, and called on the American people to rise up and fight fascism. When Einstein later learned from radio broadcasts that the United States had dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and injuring many civilians, he felt very sad. He later wrote a letter to American citizens, saying: "The scientists who have liberated this huge power must first take responsibility for everything. Atomic energy must be limited and must not be used to kill all mankind, but To enhance human happiness."
Einstein's theory in 1919 is regarded as "one of the greatest achievements in the history of human thought." In December, he received the only honorary degree in Germany: a doctorate in medicine from the University of Rostock.
Between April 2 and May 30, 1921, in order to raise funds for the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he and Weizmann visited the United States for the first time.
In January 1922, he completed his first paper on unified field theory. In July, he was threatened with murder and temporarily left Berlin. On October 8, Einstein and Elsa took a ship from Marseille to Japan. Visits Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai along the way. On November 9, while on his way to Japan, Einstein was awarded the 1921 "Nobel Prize in Physics" for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Visited Japan from November 17th to December 29th.
In July 1923, he went to Gothenburg to receive the 1921 Nobel Prize. In December, it was speculated for the first time that quantum effects may arise from over-constrained general relativistic field equations.
In 1924, the "Bose-Einstein condensation" was discovered.
After 1925, Einstein went all out to explore a unified field theory.
In the first few years, he was very optimistic and thought victory was in sight; later he found difficulties and he believed that the existing mathematical tools were not enough.
In the 30 years from 1925 to 1955, in addition to the completeness of quantum mechanics, gravitational waves and the motion problems of general relativity, Einstein devoted almost all of his scientific and creative energy to The search for unified field theory.
In 1926, he was elected as an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
After 1928, he turned to the exploration of pure mathematics. He tried various methods, but failed to achieve results of real physical significance.
In January, he was elected as a director of the "German Human Rights League" (formerly the German "New Fatherland League").
On his 50th birthday in March 1929, he hid in the countryside to avoid birthday celebrations. Won the "Planck Medal" on June 28.
From December 11, 1930 to March 4, 1931, Einstein visited the United States for the second time, giving lectures at the California Institute of Technology.
In July 1932, he corresponded with Freud to discuss the psychological issues of war; he called on the German people to defend the Weimar Republic and oppose fascism with all their strength.
On January 30, 1933, the Nazis came to power.
On March 10, he issued a statement in Pasadena that he would not return to Germany, and set off back to Europe the next day.
On March 20, the Nazis raided his house and he protested. Later, his property in Germany was confiscated and his books were burned.
In May 1935, he formally applied for permanent residence in the United States in Bermuda. That year, he was running around in order to give the Nobel Prize (Peace Prize) to Ossietzky, who was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp.
Supporting China's "Seven Gentlemen" in March 1937.
In 1937, with the cooperation of two assistants, he derived the equations of motion from the gravitational field equations of general relativity, further revealing the unity between space, time, matter, and motion. This is the generalized theory of The major development of the theory of relativity was also the last major achievement achieved by Einstein in his scientific creation activities. In terms of unified field theory, he never succeeded. He never got discouraged and started from the beginning with full confidence every time. Because he stayed away from the mainstream of physics research at that time and attacked problems on his own that were unsolvable at the time, he was very isolated in the physics community in his later years, contrary to his situation in the 1920s. However, he remained fearless and unswervingly followed the path he had identified. Until the day before his death, he was still preparing to continue his mathematical calculations on the unified field theory in his hospital bed. Concerned about the destiny of all mankind, Einstein loved science and mankind. He did not put himself outside society because he was immersed in scientific research. He has always been concerned about human civilization and progress, and fought tenaciously and bravely for it. He said: "Only by dedicating oneself to society can one find out the meaning of a life that is actually short and risky." This is exactly what he did.
In September 1938, I wrote a letter to my descendants five thousand years later, expressing dissatisfaction with the current situation of capitalist society.
On August 2, 1939, he wrote to President Roosevelt, suggesting that the United States speed up atomic energy research to prevent Germany from mastering the atomic bomb first.
On May 22, 1940, he called Roosevelt to oppose the U.S. neutrality policy.
Obtained U.S. citizenship on October 1.
In May 1943, he participated in the work of the U.S. Navy as a scientific advisor.
In 1944, in order to support the anti-fascist war, he auctioned the manuscript of the 1905 special theory of relativity paper for US$6 million.
In 1947, he continued to publish a lot of remarks about world government.
In January 1949, he wrote "Reply to Criticism", a counter-criticism of the Copenhagen School's criticism in the collection "Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist".
On February 13, 1950, he gave a televised speech opposing the United States' efforts to build a hydrogen bomb. On March 18, the will was signed and sealed.
In 1951, he published a series of articles and letters pointing out that the United States' policy of arms expansion and war preparation was a serious obstacle to world peace.
In November 1952, after the death of Weisman, the first president of Israel, the Israeli government asked him to serve as the second president, but he was rejected.
In March 1954, he was publicly denounced as an "enemy of the United States" by U.S. Senator McCarthy.
In 1955, Einstein and Russell jointly issued the "Russell-Einstein Declaration" opposing nuclear war and calling for world peace.
He died in the hospital at 1:25 on April 18, 1955. After the long and arduous exploration of the general theory of relativity, Einstein still felt dissatisfied and wanted to extend the general theory of relativity to include not only the gravitational field, but also the electromagnetic field. He believed that this was the third stage in the development of relativity, that is, unified field theory.
Edit this anecdote
■Einstein’s story of playing truant
In the spring of 1895, Einstein was 16 years old. According to German law at the time, boys who left Germany before the age of 17 did not have to return to serve in the military. Due to his deep hatred of militarism and the fact that he could no longer bear to be alone in the military-like Luipold High School, Einstein decided to leave Germany without consulting his parents and reunite with his parents in Italy. However, what should I do if I drop out of school and cannot get a diploma in the future? Einstein, who had always been honest and simple, came up with an idea that he thought was a good one in desperation. He asked his math teacher to give him a certificate saying that he had excellent math scores and had already reached the university level. He also got a sick leave certificate from a familiar doctor, saying that he had a nervous breakdown and needed to go home to rest. Einstein thought that with these two proofs, he could escape from this disgusting place. Unexpectedly, before he applied, the dean of students called him in and ordered him to drop out of school because he had ruined the class spirit and failed to abide by school discipline. Einstein blushed. No matter what the reason was, as long as he could leave this middle school, he was willing to do so and didn't care about anything else. He just suddenly felt guilty for having come up with a cunning idea that he never implemented. Later, Einstein felt guilty every time he mentioned it. Perhaps this kind of thing is too far away from his frank and sincere personality.