Quotidian | Quotes | Albert Einstein

German scientist and professor, famous for his theories on relativity. He is also undoubtedly responsible for the modern, stereotypical caricature of the mad scientist. According to the Nobel Foundation:

At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.

Einstein attained U.S. citizenship in 1940. He was offered the second presidency of the young state of Israel in 1952, but declined. This makes him the only U.S. citizen to have ever been offered a position as head of a foreign state.