Albert Einstein is known by the youngest elementary children and studied by the most seasoned physicists; he was the most influential physicist in the 20th century, and his effect is still seen in the world of science today. He was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879 to Hermann and Pauline Einstein. He began his schooling in Munich, at a Catholic school, and then continued it in Switzerland. In 1896, he began his training as a teacher for mathematics and physics at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Zurich.

After graduating the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in 1901, he worked for his Swiss citizenship. However, after he gained it, he could not find a job as a teacher, and took on in a role as a technical assistant in a patent office. During his work at the patent office (1902 – 1909), Einstein produced much of famous work, all without the aid of other scientific minds. In 1905, he submitted one his scientific papers to the University of Zurich and got a PhD. In 1908, he sent a second paper to the University of Bern and became a lecturer there.

next year, Einstein was offered a permanent position as a professor of Physics at Bern. By this time, Einstein was a well-recognized scientist throughout German-speaking countries and the scientific community. In 1914, he was asked to be a professor at Kaiser-Whelm Gesellschaft in Berlin. Later this year, he also got his citizenship in Germany. He remained in Berlin as a professor until 1933, in which he denounced his German citizenship due to political reasons.

While in Berlin, Einstein’s personal values, which included pacifism, caused controversy by the other professors around him. Because he was a Jew and had a Swiss passport and did not support Germany’s war efforts, many of his colleagues labeled him as a traitor. After leaving Germany because of this and moving to the US, he wrote President Roosevelt about Germany’s efforts to build an atomic bomb. His letter is commonly referred to what started the Manhattan Project.

Einstein was a well respected man on the global stage. After WWII, he was offered the presidency of Palestine, but turned it down.

Einstein and the Bomb

Though Einstein considered himself a pacifist and believed war to immoral, his findings were a staple in creating the nuclear weapons used in WWII. In his own words: "unconditionally refuse to do war service, direct or indirect... regardless of how the cause of the war should be judged.".

Though his works in physics were used in creating the bomb, this was not his greatest effort which set it off. He wrote a letter to President Roosevelt revealing the information about Germany’s plan to make bombs for themselves. This letter set off what is now known as the “Manhattan Project”. He later felt this was a mistake, saying "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 the Germans would make them,".

Though he was a pacifist, stating that if there ever was a war then he would not participate directly or indirectly, he briefly and reluctantly retracted his beliefs on war after the rise of Hitler. Because of this, he participated in helping the US build its own atomic warhead. He wrote to another physicist about what an epiphany he had about the future of atomic weapons: "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,".

When America bombed Japan months after Germany surrendered, Einstein withheld comment about it until a year later. It was then that he stated that he never had supported the bombing of Japan.

Quotes on Peace, on Pacifism by Albert Einstein

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
“Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.”
“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.”
“It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”
“How vile and despicable war seems to me! I would rather be hacked to pieces than take part in such an abominable business.”
“Force always attracts men of low morality.”
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”

Timeline of Albert Einstein’s Works

To see what he wrote and in what year, scroll over the black dot. Please understand that not all of these were published Jan. 1, but this was used rather than the actual date.