April 18: On This Day in World History … briefly
Einstein's dream of unifying other laws of physics with gravity motivates modern quests for a theory of everything and in particular string theory, where geometrical fields emerge in a unified quantum-mechanical setting.
1955: Einstein dies in his sleep
Albert Einstein died in his sleep at Princeton Hospital at the age of 75.
Regarded as one of the most creative intellects in human history, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, for his photometric law and his work in the field of theoretical physics. His theory of relativity, which had its beginnings in an essay he wrote at the tender age of 16, was verified by the Royal Society of London in 1919. Eintein’s commitment to world peace and Zionism brought him into conflict with right-wing opinion in his native Germany.
When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Einstein renounced his German citizenship and went to America. In 1939, after Lise Meitner split the atom, he urged President Roosevelt on the importance of US scientists developing an A-bomb ahead of the Nazis, and his recommendation marked the beginning of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.
The horror of Hiroshima in 1945 so shocked Einstein, that he wrote letters calling for the establishment of a world government to prevent future use of the bomb, fully aware that without his theory of relativity, the nuclear age would never have dawned.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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