Albert Einstein Biography

Albert Einstein Biography

Physicist, Scientist (1879–1955)

Synopsis

Born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany in 1879, Albert Einstein developed the special and general theories of relativity. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Einstein is generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century. He died on April 18, 1955, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Early Life

Born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany, Albert Einstein grew up in a secular, middle-class Jewish family. His father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer who, with his brother, founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a company that manufactured electrical equipment in Munich, Germany. His mother, the former Pauline Koch, ran the family household. Einstein had one sister, Maja, born two years after him.

Aristotle Biography

 

Early Life

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, a small town on the northern coast of Greece that was once a seaport. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. Although Nicomachus died when Aristotle was just a young boy, Aristotle remained closely affiliated with and influenced by the Macedonian court for the rest of his life. Little is known about his mother, Phaestis; she is also believed to have died when Aristotle was young.
After Aristotle’s father died, Proxenus of Atarneus, who was married to Aristotle’s older sister, Arimneste, became Aristotle’s guardian until he came of age. When Aristotle turned 17, Proxenus sent him to Athens to pursue a higher education. At the time, Athens was considered the academic center of the universe. In Athens, Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s Academy, Greek’s premier learning institution, and proved an exemplary scholar. Aristotle maintained a relationship with Greek philosopher Plato, himself a student of Socrates, and his academy for two decades. Plato died in 347 B.C. Because Aristotle had disagreed with some of Plato’s philosophical treatises, Aristotle did not inherit the position of director of the academy, as many imagined he would.
After Plato died, Aristotle’s f,riend Hermias king of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia, invited Aristotle to court. During his three-year stay in Mysia, Aristotle met and married his first wife, Pythias, Hermias’ niece. Together, the couple had a daughter, Pythias, named after her mother.

Famous Scientists

 

Famous Scientists

About 2.3 million years ago our very earliest ancestors invented their first primitive tool, the split stone, which they used for cutting and scraping. For the next 1 million years early humans gradually learned to customize stone tools and use fire.
Modern humans first appeared about 200,000 years ago. About 50,000 years ago they (or should that be we?) began to use language, symbols and more complex tools.
As inventions and discoveries added to one another, human civilization, technology and science advanced and evolved. The word “science” is derived from the Latin word “scientia” which means “knowledge.” Science is probably the most important and helpful area of study for the human race.

Galileo Biography

Astronomer, Scientist (1564–1642)

Synopsis

Born on February 15, 1564, in Pisa, Italy, Galileo Galilei was a mathematics professor who made pioneering observations of nature with long-lasting implications for the study of physics. He also constructed a telescope and supported the Copernican theory, which supports a sun-centered solar system. Galileo was accused twice of heresy by the church for his beliefs, and wrote books on his ideas. He died in Arcetri, Italy, on January 8, 1642.

Early Life

Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564, in Pisa in the Duchy of Florence, Italy. He was the first of six children born to Vincenzo Galilei, a well-known musician and music theorist, and Giulia Ammannati. In 1574, the family moved to Florence, where Galileo started his formal education at the Camaldolese monastery in Vallombrosa.
In 1583, Galileo entered the University of Pisa to study medicine. Armed with high intelligence and talent, he soon became fascinated with many subjects, particularly mathematics and physics. While at Pisa, Galileo was exposed to the Aristotelian view of the world, then the leading scientific authority and the only one sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. At first, Galileo supported this view, like any other intellectual of his time, and was on track to be a university professor. However, due to financial difficulties, Galileo left the university in 1585 before earning his degree.

 

Scientific Discoveries

Scientific Discoveries

Bacteria and Germ Theory

During Pasteur's time, people believed that microbes such as bacteria appeared due to "spontaneous generation." They thought that the  just appeared out of nowhere. Pasteur ran experiments to see if this was true. Through his experiments he proved that germs (i.e. bacteria) were living things that came from other living things. They didn't just spontaneously appear. This was a major discovery in the study of biology and earned Pasteur the nickname the "Father of Germ Theory."

Pasteurization

Pasteur used his knowledge of germs to investigate how beverages such as wine and milk were spoiled by microbes such as bacteria and molds. He found that heating up the liquids would kill most of the microbes and allow the beverages to last longer and be safer to drink. This process became known as pasteurization and is still done on many foods such as milk, vinegar, wines, cheese, and juices.

Silk Worms

As Pasteur learned more and more about bacteria, he began to think they may be the cause of disease in humans. When the French silk market was threatened by a disease to silkworms, Pasteur decided to investigate. He discovered that this disease was caused by microbes. By eliminating the microbes from the silkworm farms, he was able to end the disease and save the French silk business.

Vaccinations

Pasteur continued to investigate with . He found that he could make a weak form of a disease that would cause people to become  to the stronger form of the disease. He called this weak form a "vaccine." He first discovered this by working with cattle on the disease anthrax. The first vaccine he gave to a human was the rabies vaccine. He administered it to a nine year old boy name Joseph Master in 1885.

Legacy

Today Louis Pasteur is known as one of the most important scientists in history. His discoveries led to an understanding of microbes and diseases that has helped to save millions and millions of lives.

Pasteur is most remembered by the Pasteur Institute which he established in 1887. Today the Pasteur Institute is one of the world leaders in battling infectious diseases.

Louis Pasteur died in 1895 from a stroke. He was buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France.

Ernest Rutherford Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Rutherford was awarded with countless honors during his career, including several honorary degrees and fellowships from organizations such as the Institution of Electrical Engineers. In 1914 he was knighted. In 1931, he was elevated to the peerage, and granted the title Baron Rutherford of Nelson. He was also elected president of the Institute of Physics that same year.
On October 19, 1937, Baron Rutherford died in Cambridge, England at age 66 from the complications of a strangulated hernia. The scientist, who had been nicknamed “Crocodile” by his colleagues for always looking ahead, was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Years before he died, during World War I, Rutherford said he hoped scientists would not learn how to extract atomic energy until “man was living at peace with his neighbors.” The discovery of nuclear fission was, in fact, made just two years after his death, and eventually resulted in what Rutherford had feared—the use of nuclear power to build wartime weapons.
Many of Rutherford’s discoveries also became the basis of the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s construction of the Large Hadron Collider. The largest and highest-energy particle accelerator in the world and decades in the making, the Large Hadron Collider started smashing atomic particles in May 2010. It has since been used to answer fundamental questions about physics, by scientists who share in Rutherford’s tendency toward forward-thinking and his relentless quest for proof through scientific exploration.

Ernest Rutherford Research and Discoveries

Research and Discoveries

In 1895, as the first research student at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in London, Rutherford identified a simpler and more commercially viable means of detecting radio waves than had been previously established by German physicist Heinrich Hertz.
Also while at Cavendish Laboratory, Rutherford was invited by Professor J.J. Thomson to collaborate on a study of X-rays. German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen had discovered X-rays just months before Rutherford arrived at Cavendish, and X-rays were a hot topic among research scientists. Together, Rutherford and Thomson studied the effects of X-rays on the
of gases, resulting in a paper about dividing atoms and molecules into ions. While Thomson went on to examine what would later be called an electron, Rutherford took a closer look at ion-producing radiations.
Focusing on uranium, Rutherford discovered that placing it near foil resulted in one type of radiation being easily soaked up or blocked, while a different type had no trouble penetrating the same foil. He labeled the two radiation types “alpha” and “beta.” As it turns out, the alpha particle was identical to the nucleus of a helium atom. The beta particle was, in fact, the same as an electron or positron.
Rutherford left Cambridge in 1902 and took up a professorship at McGill University in Montreal.

Radarford Life History

Ernest Rutherford Biography

Physicist, Scientist (1871–1937)

Early Life

Ernest Rutherford was born in rural Spring Grove, on the South Island of New Zealand on August 30, 1871. He was the fourth of 12 children, and the second son. His father, James, had little education and struggled to support the large family on a flax-miller’s income. Ernest’s mother, Martha, worked as a schoolteacher. She believed that knowledge was power, and placed a strong emphasis on her children’s education.
As a child, Ernest, whose family called him “Ern,” spent most of his time after school milking cows and helping with other chores on the family farm. Weekends were spent swimming in the creek with his brothers. Since money was tight, Rutherford found inventive ways of overcoming his family’s financial challenges, including birds-nesting to earn funds for his kite-flying supplies. “We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to think,” was Rutherford’s motto at the time.
At the age of 10, Rutherford was handed his first science book, at Foxhill School. It was a pivotal moment for Rutherford, given that the book inspired his very first scientific experiment. The young Rutherford constructed a miniature cannon, which, to his family’s surprise, promptly and unexpectedly exploded. Despite the outcome, Rutherford’s interest in academics remained unfaltering. In 1887 he was awarded a scholarship to attend Nelson Collegiate School, a private secondary school where he would board and play rugby until 1889.