German Jew. At 5 his father's compass — always pointing north — struck him with the conviction that "something deeply hidden lies behind things." At 15 he refused German militaristic schooling, renounced his citizenship, fled. At 16 he failed the Zurich Polytechnic entrance exam in French and botany. Seven years as a clerk in the Bern patent office, thinking in his off hours. In 1905 the Annus Mirabilis — four papers reshaping physics: E=mc², special relativity, Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect. In 1915 general relativity — gravity is the curvature of spacetime. The 1919 eclipse confirmation made him an overnight global star; the London Times headlined "Newton's ideas overthrown." The 1922 Nobel — but for the photoelectric effect, not relativity. In 1933 Hitler's rise drove him to 22 years at Princeton. In 1939 he signed Szilard's letter to Roosevelt, launching the Manhattan Project — the regret of his life. In 1952 he refused Israel's presidency: "I do not understand people." He died in 1955; the pathologist stole his brain. A century later LIGO detected the gravitational waves he had predicted.
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1875 – 1912 · 10 條事件1875 – 1912 · 10 events
1879 年science
愛因斯坦一生 76 年·重塑時空概念Albert Einstein · 76 Years
圖：Lucien Chavan [1] (1868 - 1942), a friend of Einstein's when he was living in Be · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: Lucien Chavan [1] (1868 - 1942), a friend of Einstein's when he was living in Be · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
德國猶太人、Bern 專利局小職員、1905 一年內發表 4 篇徹底改變物理的論文 (E=mc²、狹義相對論、布朗運動、光電效應)。1915 廣義相對論。1919 日食驗證一夜成國際名人。1922 Nobel 物理。1933 Hitler 上台被迫流亡 Princeton 22 年。1939 簽 Szilard 信給 Roosevelt 啟動 Manhattan Project ——後悔一生。1952 拒絕 Israel 總統位。死後病理學家偷走他的大腦做研究。
German Jew, a clerk in the Bern patent office, in 1905 he published four papers in a single year that overturned physics (E=mc², special relativity, Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect). In 1915 came general relativity. In 1919 the eclipse confirmation made him an international celebrity overnight. In 1922 the Nobel in Physics. In 1933 Hitler's rise drove him into 22 years of exile at Princeton. In 1939 he signed the Szilard letter to Roosevelt that launched the Manhattan Project — and regretted it for the rest of his life. In 1952 he refused the presidency of Israel. After his death, the pathologist stole his brain for study.
3 月 14 日生於 Württemberg 王國 Ulm 一個世俗德國猶太家庭。父親 Hermann Einstein 與叔叔 Jakob 開電氣工程公司。母親 Pauline 是音樂愛好者、教 Albert 拉小提琴 (終身愛好)。生時頭骨大、後腦凸、母親擔心畸形——醫師說正常。
Born March 14 in Ulm in the Kingdom of Württemberg, into a secular German Jewish family. Father Hermann Einstein and uncle Jakob ran an electrical engineering firm. Mother Pauline was a music lover and taught Albert the violin (a lifelong love). At birth his head was unusually large with a pronounced occipital protrusion — his mother feared deformity, but the doctor said normal.
父親送 5 歲 Albert 一個指南針療病。他凝視針永遠指向北、不論怎麼轉，深感震撼——「我至今仍記得這個體驗對我留下的深刻印象。我覺得萬物背後必有什麼東西、有什麼隱藏的東西。」這成為他終身物理探索的起點——尋找看不見的場、空間時間的本質。
His father gave the ill 5-year-old Albert a compass. He stared at the needle that always pointed north, no matter how he turned it — and was profoundly struck. He later wrote: "I can still remember the deep impression this experience made on me. There must be something deeply hidden behind things." The seed of his lifelong search for the invisible — fields, the nature of space and time.
15 歲拒服德國軍訓·棄籍流亡At 15, Refuses German Military Training — Renounces Citizenship
圖：The authorities of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: The authorities of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
父親生意失敗、全家搬義大利 Pavia。15 歲 Albert 留在 Munich 念完中學被拒——他極討厭德國軍事化教育、憎惡權威。他自己跑到義大利投奔家人、放棄德國國籍 (避兵役)、5 年無國籍狀態。1896 才取得瑞士國籍——他終生視為自己的真正祖國。
His father's business failed and the family moved to Pavia, Italy. 15-year-old Albert was left in Munich to finish high school — he hated the militaristic German education, loathed authority. He fled to join his family in Italy, renounced his German citizenship (to avoid military service), and was stateless for five years. In 1896 he became Swiss — he considered Switzerland his true homeland for life.
16 歲 Zurich Polytechnic 入學考·法語植物學失敗At 16, Fails Zurich Polytechnic Entrance — French and Botany
圖：The authorities of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: The authorities of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
At 16, a year early, he sat the entrance exam for the Zurich Polytechnic (ETH Zürich). Aced physics and math, failed French, botany, and zoology. Advised to spend a year first at the cantonal school in Aarau. The free, open atmosphere at Aarau turned him from a school-hating boy into a happy adolescent — he later said his year there was the most formative of his life.
Graduated from Zurich Polytechnic in 1900 but could not find a university post (his professor Weber refused to write a recommendation). In June 1902, through Marcel Grossmann's father, he got a job as a third-class technical examiner at the Swiss Federal Patent Office in Bern, salary 3,500 francs a year. After work in his small apartment and cafés he thought physics. He later called the patent office "a worldly cloister where I hatched my most beautiful ideas."
1 月娶 Zurich Polytechnic 同班 (唯一女生) 塞爾維亞籍 Mileva Marić。Mileva 比他大 4 歲、瘸腳、智力出眾。父母堅決反對 (種族、年齡、宗教多重) 直到 Albert 父 Hermann 死前才同意。婚前 1902 已生女 Lieserl——交給娘家 Novi Sad、命運不明 (一說早夭、一說送養)。
In January he married his Zurich Polytechnic classmate (the only woman in the class), Mileva Marić of Serbia. She was four years older, with a limp, and brilliantly intelligent. His parents fiercely opposed (race, age, religion) until his father Hermann gave consent on his deathbed. Before the marriage, in 1902, Mileva had borne a daughter Lieserl — sent to her family in Novi Sad, her fate unknown (possibly died young, possibly given up for adoption).
At 26, while still at the Bern Patent Office, in 1905 Einstein published four papers in Annalen der Physik — any one of them Nobel-worthy. March: the photoelectric effect (light is particles, founding quantum theory). May: Brownian motion (proving atoms are real). June: special relativity (space-time is relative). September: E=mc² (mass-energy equivalence). The only annus mirabilis of its kind in the history of physics.
9 月 27 日《Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?》發表。內容簡單卻徹底——質量與能量是同一個東西、可互換。質量 1 公克 = 能量 9×10¹³ 焦耳 (相當於 21000 噸 TNT)。40 年後 1945 此公式變成原子彈在廣島爆炸的數學基礎——Einstein 終身為此痛苦。
On September 27 his paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" appeared. Simple yet revolutionary — mass and energy are the same thing, interchangeable. One gram of mass = 9×10¹³ joules of energy (equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT). 40 years later in 1945 this equation became the mathematical basis of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima — Einstein bore the anguish for the rest of his life.
In 1908 he became a Privatdozent at Bern University (unpaid lecturer); in April 1909 he was finally appointed associate professor at Zurich University — salary 4,500 francs a year, less than the patent office. After seven years at the patent office he was at last a proper academic. His physics had become a sensation across Europe; Planck and Nernst made the trip to Bern to call on this clerk.
In 1907, sitting in his patent office chair, came the flash: "A person in free fall does not feel gravity." The seed of general relativity. After eight years of mathematical struggle (with Marcel Grossmann's help on Riemannian geometry), on November 25, 1915, in his fourth weekly lecture at the Prussian Academy in Berlin, he completed the Einstein field equations. Gravity is not a force — mass bends spacetime, and objects follow the straightest paths through that curved spacetime.
離 Mileva·當年娶表姊 ElsaDivorces Mileva — Marries Cousin Elsa the Same Year
圖：Underwood and Underwood, New York · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: Underwood and Underwood, New York · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
與 Mileva 1914 年事實分居 (因 Einstein 與表姊 Elsa 戀情)。1919 年 2 月正式離婚、6 月娶表姊 Elsa Einstein (兼表親+從堂親、雙重血緣)。離婚協議：將來 Nobel 獎金給 Mileva。1922 年 Nobel 獎金真的全給她。Elsa 1936 年死、Einstein 從此再婚。
He had effectively separated from Mileva in 1914 (because of his affair with his cousin Elsa). In February 1919 they formally divorced; in June he married his cousin Elsa Einstein (both maternal and paternal first cousin — doubly related). The divorce settlement: any future Nobel Prize money would go to Mileva. In 1922 the Nobel money did indeed go to her. Elsa died in 1936; Einstein never remarried.
5/29 日食驗證·一夜國際名人May 29 — Eclipse Confirms Theory, Overnight Global Star
圖：Frank Watson Dyson / Arthur Eddington / Charles Rundle Davidson · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: Frank Watson Dyson / Arthur Eddington / Charles Rundle Davidson · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
General relativity predicted starlight passing near the sun would be deflected by the curved spacetime by 1.75 arcseconds (Newtonian gravity predicted 0.875). On May 29, 1919, during a total eclipse, the British astronomer Arthur Eddington led expeditions to Príncipe and Sobral, Brazil, photographing the stars near the eclipsed sun — and measured exactly 1.75 arcseconds. Einstein was vindicated. The London Times of November 7, 1919 ran the headline: "Revolution in Science — New Theory of the Universe — Newtonian Ideas Overthrown." Einstein became a world celebrity overnight.
1922 年 11 月遞補頒予 Einstein 1921 年 Nobel 物理獎——但表彰理由是「光電效應」(1905 第一篇論文)、刻意避開相對論 (太爭議、Nobel 委員會保守派擋下)。Einstein 收 Nobel 時人在日本旅行。獎金全給前妻 Mileva 與孩子們——履行離婚協議。
In November 1922 the deferred 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Einstein — but the citation was "for the photoelectric effect" (his first 1905 paper), deliberately avoiding relativity (still too controversial; the conservative committee blocked it). Einstein was traveling in Japan when he received the news. The prize money went entirely to his ex-wife Mileva and the boys — fulfilling the divorce agreement.
1927 Solvay 會議 Einstein 與 Bohr (量子力學哥本哈根詮釋領袖) 大辯論——量子力學的機率本質讓 Einstein 無法接受。他名言：「上帝不擲骰子」(God does not play dice with the universe)。Bohr 答：「Einstein，別告訴上帝該怎麼做。」此後 30 年 Einstein 持續找量子力學漏洞——卻屢屢被實驗證明 Bohr 對、自己錯。是科學史最高層次論戰。
At the 1927 Solvay Conference Einstein clashed with Bohr (champion of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics) — its probabilistic nature was unacceptable to him. His famous line: "God does not play dice with the universe." Bohr replied: "Einstein, stop telling God what to do." For the next 30 years Einstein kept searching for cracks in quantum mechanics — and was repeatedly proven wrong by experiment. The highest-level scientific debate in history.
FBI 監視 22 年·1427 頁檔案FBI Watches Him 22 Years — 1,427-Page File
FBI 局長 Hoover 從 1932 起監視 Einstein——懷疑他是社會主義者、共產同路人。電話監聽、垃圾翻找、信件拆閱。22 年累積 1427 頁檔案。Einstein 公開反種族隔離、支持黑人民權 (與 Du Bois 同事)、簽羅森堡夫婦死刑請願——令 Hoover 視他為「美國國安威脅」。但 Einstein 從不申請美國公民、保持 1940 年取得的雙國籍 (瑞士+美國)。
FBI Director Hoover began surveilling Einstein in 1932 — suspecting him of socialism and communist sympathies. Phones tapped, garbage searched, mail opened. The file grew to 1,427 pages over 22 years. Einstein publicly opposed segregation, supported Black civil rights (he worked with W.E.B. Du Bois), signed the Rosenberg clemency petition — all of which made Hoover see him as a "national security threat." But Einstein never sought US citizenship, keeping his 1940 dual Swiss-American passport.
1933 年 3 月 Hitler 上台時 Einstein 在美國 Caltech 訪問。他立刻聲明放棄德國國籍、永不返德。納粹查封他柏林家、沒收存款、「相對論被駁倒」群眾燒書、出版《愛因斯坦的反相對論大師 100 名單》。納粹懸 5000 馬克殺他賞金。9 月安全抵 Princeton 高等研究所——餘生 22 年都在這。
In March 1933 when Hitler came to power, Einstein was on a visiting appointment at Caltech. He immediately renounced his German citizenship and vowed never to return. The Nazis seized his Berlin home, froze his bank accounts, organized a book burning of his works ("Relativity refuted!"), and published 100 Authors Against Einstein. They offered a 5,000-mark bounty on his head. In September he reached the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton — where he spent his remaining 22 years.
He arrived at Princeton on October 17. Lived in the modest cottage at 112 Mercer Street — refused a big house, no socks, rumpled shirts, frayed sweaters, the wild hair becoming his trademark. Asked his salary expectation, he said $3,000/year — the IAS paid him $16,000 (still less than his peers). He spent his last decades on a unified field theory (gravity + electromagnetism) and failed. Friends urged him not to waste time; he replied: "I am a seismograph, not a clock."
8/2 簽 Szilard 信給 Roosevelt·啟動 ManhattanAugust 2 — Signs Szilard's Letter to Roosevelt, Launching Manhattan
圖：Written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein. · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: Written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
In July 1939 the Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard came to Einstein with a letter to be sent to President Roosevelt — warning that Nazi Germany might be developing a uranium-fission chain-reaction bomb and America must move first. Einstein signed. The letter was sent August 2 — but actual delivery was delayed until October. The Manhattan Project formally launched in 1942; in 1945 Hiroshima. Einstein later said: "Had I known the Germans would not succeed in producing an atomic bomb, I would never have signed that letter." He felt guilt for the rest of his life.
廣島·「我這輩子最大錯誤」Hiroshima — "The Greatest Mistake of My Life"
圖：Written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein. · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsImage: Written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
On August 6, 1945, news of Hiroshima reached Princeton. After a long silence Einstein said to his secretary Helen Dukas: "Oh weh!" — the German cry of grief. He later told Newsweek: "Had I known the Germans would not succeed in producing an atomic bomb, I would never have signed that letter." He did no direct Manhattan work — but E=mc² was its mathematical basis, and the Szilard letter its political ignition. He lived under the weight of Hiroshima for the rest of his life.
1952 年 11 月 9 日 Israel 第一任總統 Chaim Weizmann 過世。本-古里安總理向 Einstein 提供總統職位 (Israel 總統為儀式職、無實權)。Einstein 立刻回絕：「我深感榮幸但必須拒絕——我這一輩子處理客觀事物，缺乏與人打交道的天然能力與經驗。」公開信感謝 Israel 但堅辭。
On November 9, 1952, Israel's first President Chaim Weizmann died. Prime Minister Ben-Gurion offered Einstein the presidency (a ceremonial post). Einstein declined immediately: "I am deeply moved... but I must decline. I have been all my life dealing with objective matters; I lack both the natural ability and the experience to deal properly with people." His public letter thanked Israel and firmly refused.
4 月 11 日簽 Bertrand Russell 起草的反核武宣言——警告核子戰爭可能滅絕人類、呼籲各國放棄核武。簽完一週後 Einstein 死。宣言 7 月在倫敦公開發表、震動世界、催生 Pugwash 反核運動 (1995 Nobel 和平獎)。是 Einstein 一生最後的政治行動。
On April 11 he signed Bertrand Russell's manifesto against nuclear weapons — warning that nuclear war could end the human race and calling on all governments to renounce nuclear arms. He died one week later. The manifesto was made public in London in July, shook the world, and gave birth to the Pugwash anti-nuclear movement (1995 Nobel Peace Prize). It was Einstein's last political act.
驗屍時 Princeton 醫院病理學家 Thomas Harvey 違背家屬意願、未經許可偷走 Einstein 大腦——切成 240 片、保存 40 年研究。1985 才被披露。Einstein 大腦比平均小、但「下頂葉」(parietal lobe，跟視覺空間思維、數學有關) 異常大、神經膠細胞密度也高。Harvey 1998 把所有切片送回 Princeton——終於回家。
During the autopsy, Princeton Hospital pathologist Thomas Harvey, against the family's wishes and without permission, stole Einstein's brain — cut it into 240 sections, kept and studied them for 40 years. The story emerged only in 1985. Einstein's brain was smaller than average, but his "parietal lobes" (visuospatial reasoning, mathematics) were abnormally large, and his glial cell density was unusually high. In 1998 Harvey returned all sections to Princeton — finally home.
At 1:15 AM on April 18 at Princeton Hospital, an abdominal aortic aneurysm ruptured. He was 76. He had refused surgery: "I have done my share. It is time to go. I will do it elegantly." His last words were in German; the night nurse did not understand German, so they will never be known. By his wish the funeral was minimal — 12 close friends, no religious ceremony, ashes scattered in the Delaware River, the location kept secret to this day.
廣義相對論 1915 年預測：劇烈時空變動 (如雙黑洞合併) 會產生「重力波」漣漪。Einstein 自己曾懷疑可探測——太微弱。整 100 年無人能測到。2015.09.14 美國 LIGO 首次直接探測到——兩黑洞合併產生的重力波。完全符合 Einstein 100 年前預測。2017 LIGO 三人獲 Nobel 物理。Einstein 的所有預測陸續實現——黑洞、引力透鏡、宇宙膨脹。
In 1915 general relativity predicted that violent spacetime events (like merging black holes) would produce ripples — "gravitational waves." Einstein himself doubted they could ever be detected — too faint. For 100 years no one could. On September 14, 2015 the American LIGO observatory directly detected them for the first time — gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger. Exactly as Einstein had predicted a century earlier. In 2017 the three LIGO leaders won the Nobel in Physics. All of Einstein's other predictions have been confirmed — black holes, gravitational lensing, cosmic expansion.
