The Impact of Einsteins Inventions on Society

TOPIC: DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF EINSTEIN’S INVENTIONS ON SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION

Albert Einstein is one of the most celebrated scientists in history. His work helped bring a new era of discovery and knowledge to the area of physics. However he is not just known for his famous equation for the conservation of energy and matter or his theory of relativity. Throughout his career he became the Edison of physics helping to contribute many important pieces of physics to our understanding of the universe and how it works. Without Einstein’s inventions we would be further behind in physics than we are now.

There are two major contributions he made in physics. The most interesting correlation was his visionary view of the universe and how it works. Many believed that Einstein has been able to construct a mental image of the universe and used this as the basis of much of his works. Every time he makes a new proposal the experiments and data would prove making him the da Vinci of the 20^th century. Many articles have been written about Albert Einstein for the universe.

HISTORY OF EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein was a German theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the pillars of modern physics. He is best known in popular culture for his mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc2. He received the Nobel Prize in physics for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the kingdom of Wurttemberg in the German empire on 14 March 1879. His father was Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer. His mother was Pauline Einstein. The family moved to Munich in 1880. Albert Einstein attended a catholic school from the age of five for three years. When he was eight he was transferred to the luitpold gymnasium, where he received advanced primary and secondary school education until he left Germany seven years later.

On 17 April 1955, Albert Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rapture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which had previously been reinforced surgically in 1948. He took the draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance commemorating the state of Israel’s seventh anniversary with him to the hospital, but didn’t live long enough to complete it. Einstein refused surgery saying;”I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” He died in the hospital early the next morning at the age of 76, having continued to work even till the end. During the autopsy, the pathologist of Princeton hospital removed Einstein’s brain for preservation without the permission of his family, with the hope that scientist would be able to discover what made him so intelligent. Einstein’s remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.

INVENTIONS OF EINSTEIN

Einstein’s invention changed the world in a variety of ways and while most people know the man is one of the many geniuses to ever live, most people don’t know exactly what he did or invented. The following are most of Einstein’s invention:

The Refrigerator: this is one of the most important inventions in the society by Einstein. This was incredibly important because it allowed people to store food in a cold place for an extended period of time, rather than forcing them to eat it on the spot or lose money when the foods spoiled. The refrigerator also helped reduce diseases among people who would occasionally eat rotten food because they didn’t know or were hungry and didn’t have any other option.

The Theory of Relativity: this theory is also known as E=mc2 which is Einstein’s best invention, as it is what led to the ability to create nuclear fusion. This invention has two opposite effect, as it allowed people to harness energy but also allowed people to build the nuclear bomb.

Why the Sky is Blue: Einstein solved this question by calculating the scattering of light from molecules. He proved this by conducting a simple experiment.

Quantum Physics: this theory is called the photoelectric effect. This showed that when a quanta of light strikes atoms in metal, electrons are released. This was the basis for quantum physics, which Einstein also invented through his experimentation.

Formula for Brownian motion: this is one of his early inventions, based on experiments he did while he was in college. He described the Brownian motion as the movement of particles in liquids. No one has documented this effectively till Einstein came.

IMPACT OF EINSTEIN’S INVENTIONS ON SOCIETY

Though Einstein did not write his most important essays for practical use or personal profit, his unique thoughts on light, time and space have led to many technological innovations which appear to us today to be quite normal. Many people associate Einstein with the development of the atomic bomb or nuclear energy. In 1905, Einstein was indeed the first person to prove that atoms actually exist. And in his most famous formula that E=mc2, he showed that the mass of atoms contains enormous quantities of energy. But this theory was only of indirect importance of the atomic revolution.

His ideas had much direct influence on inventions such as the television, for example. It is thanks to his special theory of relativity that we are able to receive such sharp images today. Electrons are accelerated in a television and according to the theory of relativity, the mass of electrons thereby increases measurably. Digital cameras can only take pictures because they contain sensor which converts light into electricity. The principle can be traced directly back to Einstein, who explained the photoelectric effect. Not just that, his work form the basis for the development of all equipment which converts light into electricity from digital cameras to solar cells which also made him win the Nobel Prize in November 1922.

All the technologies which involve the use of laser beams are based on Einstein’s theories. Einstein was the first to recognize the principles of monochrome, bundled laser light. Satellite-assisted positioning systems on earth, so-called GPS, make use of Einstein’s idea. Einstein’s influence on present day inventions is still effective till now. Einstein played an important role in pending quantum computer technological revolution. He recognized that particles can be in different states at the same time.

POSITIVE IMPACTS OF EINSTEIN’S INVENTIONS

Albert Einstein’s major contribution to science has extracted the positive impacts. One of his impacts is his early work on relativity dealt only with systems or observers in uniform motion with respect to one another and is referred to as the special theory of relativity. In 1911 he asserted the equivalence of gravitation and inertia, and in 1916 he completed his mathematical formulation of a general theory of relativity that included gravitation as a determiner of the curvature of a space time continuum.

Another of Einstein’s impact is the invention of photons and the quantum theory. He postulated light quantum, upon which he based his explanation of the photoelectric effect, and he developed the quantum theory of specific heat. Although he was one of the leading figures in the development of quantum theory, Einstein regarded it as only a temporarily useful structure. Einstein wished his theories to have that simplicity and beauty which he thought fitting for an interpretation of the universe and which he did not find in quantum theory.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF EINSTEIN’S INVENTIONS

Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity and his general theory of relativity was made public in 1915. He did not directly participate in the invention of atomic bombs but as we go on we will get to know that he was instrumental in facilitating its development. He declared that large amount of energy could be released from the small amount of matter, with the equation E=mc2. Though bombs were not what he had in mind when in published his equation. Einstein’s greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built. As the realization of nuclear weapons grew near, Einstein looked beyond the current war to future problems that such weapons could bring. He wrote to physicist Niels Bohr in December 1944,”when the war is over, then there will be in all countries a pursuit of secret war preparations with technological means which will lead inevitably to preventative wars and to destruction even more terrible than the present destruction of life.”[Clark, pg. 698]. In November 1954, five months before his death, Einstein summarized his feelings about his role in the creation of the atomic bomb:”I made one great mistake in my life… when I signed the letter to president Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made, but there was some justification –the danger that Germans would make them”.[Clark, pg. 752]

CONCLUSION

Albert’s intellectual growth was strongly fostered at home. His mother, a talented pianist, ensured the children’s musical education. His father regularly read schiller and Heine aloud to the family. Uncle Jakob challenged Albert with mathematical problems, which he solved with deep feelings of happiness. More significant were the weekly visits of max Talmud from 1889 to 1894 during which time he introduced the boy to popular scientific texts that brought to an end a short-lived religious phase, convincing him that a lot in the bible stories could not be true. A textbook of plane geometry that he quickly worked through led on to an avid self-study of mathematics, several years ahead of school curriculum.

REFERENCES

1. “The legend of a dull-witted child who grew up to be a genius” Albert Einstein archives. Retrieved 23 July 2012
2. Whittaker, E.(1955).”Albert Einstein. 1879-1955”. Biographical memoirs of fellows of the royal society.
3. Hans-josef kuepper. ”list of scientific publications of Albert Einstein”. Einstein-website.de.retrieved 3 April 2011.
4. The Columbia electrons encyclopedia, 6^th ed. Copyright 2012, Columbia university press.
5. Richard Rhodes, the making of the atomic bomb. Ronald clark, Einstein: the life and times, the American institute of physics albert Einstein website
6. “Albert Einstein inventions” by Irving Oala 29^th may 2011, tech and gear.
7. NASA star child biography of Albert Einstein,” was Einstein a space alien?” article