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Dr. Albert Einstein Died in Sleep at 76 on 18th of April, 1955

By: Professor Dr. Iffet Sultana

KARACHI: Albert Einstein who died this day in 1955, was born at Ulm, Wuerttemberg, Germany, on 14th of March, 1879.

Following his early education Einstein eventually obtained his PhD degree at the University of Zurich, where he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1909.

In 1913 a special post was created for Einstein in Berlin as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute. In 1921 Albert Einstein was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society. He received a Nobel Prize the very year for explaining the photo-electric effect, the basis of electronics.

Four years later Copley Medal of the Royal Society and in 1926 the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society were conferred on him in recognition of his theory of relativity.

In 1935 he was decorated with Franklin Institute Medal, one of the illustrious American scientific honors. Dr. Einstein was awarded honorary doctorates by prestigious universities like: Brussels, Buenos Aires, Cambridge, Harvard, London, Paris, Madrid, Oxford, Yeshiva and Zurich.

Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany made Einstein go to Belgium. When Prussian Academy of Science expelled him for having made statements regarding Hitler’s atrocities. Einstein held: “I do not want to remain in a state where individuals are not conceded equal rights before the law for freedom of speech and doctrine.” In 1940 he became a citizen of the United States.

Commenting on his love for artistically visionary plays Einstein stated: “After all, the work of a research scientist germinates upon the soil of imagination, of vision. Just as an artist arrives at his conceptions partly by intuition, so a scientist must also have a certain amount of intuition.”

Criticizing the modern method of education Einstein maintained: “It is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry. For this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom.”

Interestingly, when in 1952 Albert Einstein was asked if he would accept the Presidency of Israel, he refused saying that he was not suited for the position.