What did Albert Einsten do?

Answer 1

The Accomplishments of Albert Einstein

The four major areas of science that Albert Einstein contributed to are Light, Time, Energy and Gravity.

Light

Einstein's fascination with light began at an early age. When he was 16 years old he wondered what it would be like to ride his bike on a beam of light. Almost 10 years later, in 1905 he had what he called his first "Thought Experiment" and came up with the special theory of relativity in which he stated that light is constant, unlike the wavelike picture that the scientists of the time had thought it was. Not only that, it is not possible to travel faster than the speed of light 186,000 miles/second (300,000 Km/second). Light always travels at the same speed whether it be on the headlight of a train speeding down the tracks or the light on the lantern shining on the tracks. The light itself, always travels at the same speed.

Time/Space

Einstein's theory states that time is not constant as is light, the faster one goes, the slower time is, even though that person does not feel it as being different.

One practical use for this is knowing that there is a time difference the closer you get to the speed of light. This is generally not noticable to people here on earth (walking vs. driving a car), but it is of utmost importance when considering space travel.

There was a Russian cosmonaut that spent 748 days in space (roughly 2 years). That man is now 0.02 seconds younger than he would have been had he never gone to space, because of the slower time in space aboard the MIR space station. For him it doesn't make that much of a difference, but lets say that someone wanted to travel to alpha centauri, our nearest star. It would take them 5.7 earth years, however they would only age 3.8 years and return at a younger than expected age. So time itself is relative, while light is constant.

Energy

Most everyone has heard of E=MC2, This is the famous equation that shows the relationship between Energy and Mass (at rest, the equation is different for moving mass). It was once thought that Energy and mass were different, however Einstein's theory states that Energy and Mass are merely different forms of the same thing, similar to Ice, water and gas, all are forms of liquid.

Not only that Mass and Energy can be destroyed and changed into one another, as stated in the light theory above. Speed up enough and you will have a gain of mass because energy has turned into Mass. Our sun is burning up hydrogen, turning it into energy that we perceive as light. Since the source of hydrogen is not infinite, the source of light is not finite. However, we have nothing to fear for several million years.

Gravity

Einstein added to Newton's theory of gravitational pull, stating that not only does the apple fall to the ground because of gravity, but earth's orbit attracts asteroids (and other space objects) because of the "dent" the earth makes in the "fabric" of space. Thus, giving us the power to our advantage as a "parking space" for satellites in our orbit to use for our technological advantages. It has also been used to get men to and from the moon.

Conclusion

These are just the major accomplishments of Albert Einstein, after World War II he was influential in the idea of dropping the Atomic bomb on Japan (which he immediately regretted), He also has been influential in promoting the Israeli state and actively promoted freedom of thought and liberty in a time of hate and racism.