Why was albert Einstein so important?

Answer 1

Einstein restructured physicist's ideas of the nature of space and time leading to the theories of Special and General Relativity which underpin cosmology. To date, these key theories have been found to be consistent with all known data.

He also was one of the first thinkers to work within the burgeoning field of quantum mechanics, working on the photo electric effect and the nature of light in the early days of quantum physics.

He actually won his first Nobel Prize for the full analysis of Brownian Motion leading to the proof of the existence of the atom, his second Nobel Prize was for his work on the Photoelectric Effect and his third Nobel Prize was for his work on Relativity.

His most famous theory is Special relativity involving the effects of traveling close to the speed of light. His crowning achievement was General relativity which deals with the curvature of space due to mass distributions (but not with effects of travel close to the speed of light, having been already explained by Special relativity) which fully explained the origins of the gravitational force.

Einstein spent much of his later life trying to reconcile all the known forces in the Universe (known as the Grand Unified Theory or GUT) he was unsuccessful. The unification of Quantum Mechanics and relativity is still a 'hot' topic as this would unify Physics of the very small (quantum mechanics) with the Physics of the very large (relativity) and provide a good start towards a GUT.

His imagionation and gift for physics helped him develop ideas that shook the world!

Answer 2

Albert Einstein was important because of his groundbreaking work in physics, particularly his theory of relativity. His discoveries transformed our understanding of the universe and laid the foundation for modern physics. He also made significant contributions to the development of the atomic bomb and the field of quantum mechanics.