Biography – Space Age

The Man Who Defined Space-Time; Albert Einstein

There was a time when the universe was perceived to be a rigid three-dimensional space with no flexibility. It was perceived that the region of space was highly static and unbendable in nature. However, all these ideas and theories changed when Albert Einstein did a thorough analysis of the nature of the universe and proposed a theory that has laid a highly concrete foundation that helps scientists today.

Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist, was one of the greatest known geniuses of all time. He was known for developing the theory of relativity and made important contributions to the development of quantum mechanics. He was truly a legend as he established two strong pillars of modern physics, which are quantum mechanics and relativity.

Family Background

Born in Ulm in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg in the German Empire on the 14th of March 1879, Einstein was born to a family of secular Ashkenazi Jews. There is a widely spread misconception that Einstein flunked school, but it is quite the contrary. He was well versed in science, mathematics and was great at proving complex theorems.

At 13, Einstein became interested in philosophy became a follower of Kant’s critique of pure reason. Not to mention, Kant was one of the greatest philosophers who was quite hard to decipher. He was able to evaluate patent applications for a variety of devices, such as an electromechanical typewriter and a gravel sorter. He excelled in academics and was one of the brightest students in class.

An Emerging Scientist

Einstein was always at the top of his game when it came to science, mathematics and quantum mechanics . In 1903, he became a permanent person at the Swiss patent office, He was passed over for promotion until he fully mastered machine technology. He focused on addressing patent office related questions about transmission of electric signals and electrical-mechanical synchronization of time.

When these two issues cropped up consciously in these thought experiments, this led to Einstein’s epiphany. He concluded about the nature of light and the fundamental connection between space and time.

Einstein’s achievements had reached several ears, and he was recognized as a leading scientist and was appointed lecturer at the University of Bern. He also gave a lecture on electrodynamics, and the principal at the University of Zurich recommended him to the faculty of the newly created professorship in theoretical physics. He was appointed as the associated professor in 1909.

Achievements in Theoretical Physics

In April 1911, Einstein became a full-time professor at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. He accepted Austrian citizenship and wrote 11 scientific works. He wrote five on radiation mathematics and the quantum theory of solids.

Einstein’s zest for teaching and research did not end there; he returned to his alma mater in Zurich and became a professor of theoretical physics at the ETH Zurich. He taught thermodynamics and continuum mechanics. He took an interest in the molecular theory of heat, the problem of gravitation, and continuum mechanics.

Fleeing the Nazi regime

Einstein decided to stay in the US in 1933 and continue his research due to the violent persecution of Jews in Germany and then Austria. He undertook his third two-month visiting professorship at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He then returned to Europe with his wife Elsa, and that’s when they learnt that the Nazis had raided and confiscated his personal sailboat. Knowing this, he confiscated his passport by formally renouncing his German citizenship.

The Government of the USA was quite impressed with his achievements and requested him to participate in the Manhattan Project in 1939. This project dealt with the creation of the atom bomb. Other renowned scientists like Richard Feynman and J Robert Oppenheimer were also involved in this.

Einstein became an American citizen in 1940 and settled into his career at the institute for advanced study in Princeton. He was recognized as the right individual without social barriers and became more creative and engaged in helping students in education.

Einstein’s Achievements

One of the most prominent concepts that redefined the perspective of our universe was achieved by Einstein. The concept that space was a static three-dimensional realm that was not bendable was challenged and disproved. Einstein proposed the theory of relativity, which encompassed that the nature of space-time is highly flexible, and the fabric of space can be bent accordingly. Also, the concept of time being relative was clearly explained in his theory. His formula of mass-energy equivalence is considered to be the most famous equation E=Mc2. This equation gave rise to the concept of rest energy.

Einstein provided empirical evidence of the atomic theory by clearly explaining the browning motion that confirmed the existence of atoms and molecules. He resolved the riddle of the photoelectric effect by challenging the wave theory of light and suggesting that light could also be regarded as a collection of discrete energy packets. In 1924, Einstein collaborated with Bose to predict the Bose-Einstein condensate. He also engaged in debates with Niels Bohr that brought quantum mechanics in focus. For his revolutionary achievements, Einstein was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1921.

Conclusion

Most observable aspects of the universe and the scientific theories we know today have a strong connection with Einstein’s achievements and formulations. He gave scientists tools to mould different aspects of science, right from nuclear energy production to GPS synchronization of satellites. You would be surprised to know that many science fiction novels we read today have a deep imprint of Einstein’s theory. He has literally shaped modern science through his achievements and dedication. In fact, his theories and achievement have clearly stood the test of time and would even pave the way for future achievements in science.

Meet The Man Who Gave A New Definition To Quantum Physics, Richard Feynman

Passion is the driving force of successful physicists and engineers in this world. It pushes people to explore their inner potential and achieve unimaginable heights in their respective fields through revolutionary breakthroughs. Richard Phillips Feynman was one of the greatest minds the world has ever seen. He was an American theoretical physicist who revolutionized physics through his contributions to quantum electrodynamics, integral formulation of quantum mechanics, and particle physics. His contributions in the field of astrophysics are like the building blocks of scientists to emulate. Come, let us dive into the life of this genius to understand his journey and valuable contributions to this world.

A Natural Born Genius

Richard Feynman was born on 11th May 1918 in New York City, USA, to a humble family that migrated from Minsk in Belarus. He was a late talker as he did not speak until his third birthday but later developed a thick New York accent. He was quite close to his younger sister Joan, who shared the curiosity of the world, just like him. He encouraged Joan to pursue her interests in physics, and this led to her choosing a career in astrophysics. Richard’s father was a salesman brought up in a Jewish family. However, despite his religious upbringing, he always encouraged Richard to ask questions to challenge orthodox thinking and religious beliefs. Richard got his sense of humour from his mother, a fun-loving and caring homemaker known for her prominent funny bone.

Ever since he was a child, Richard had a strong liking towards the way things work and was always in the pursuit of knowledge. As a pre-teen, he maintained an experimental laboratory at home and spent a lot of time repairing radios. In high school, he excelled beyond bounds in physics and would always analyze issues theoretically and arrive at the solution. In high school, he was promoted to a higher math class thanks to his proficiency in solving math equations being way higher than his peers. He was such a gem of a genius that he taught himself trigonometry, advanced algebra, integral calculus, and analytical geometry. He also won the New York University math championship during his last year in high school.

An Impressive Student

Feynman joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity when he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although he majored in math, he switched to electrical engineering and later on changed to physics, which he thought was more accurate for him. He published forces in molecules in his graduate years, which is now known as the Hellman-Feynman therom. In 1942, he received a PhD from Princeton with his thesis being the principle of least action in quantum mechanics.

Feynman analyzed problems in quantum mechanics and applied the principle of stationary action, which paved a platform for the path integral formulation and Feynman diagrams. His supervisor was astonished by his thesis and exclaimed that no physicist on earth could match Feynman’s command over native materials of theoretical science. Feynman had stellar intellect as he was able to decipher the substance behind equations like a walk in the park. He exhibited an enormous amount of dedication and intelligence, just like how Einstein was at his age.

Assisted in Creating the Atom Bomb

In 1941, he got married to his first wife Arline Greenbaum, who passed away due to tuberculosis in 1945. With world war two raging on and the rising tensions between Japan and the United States after the pearl harbour attack, Feynman was recruited by the government to produce enriched uranium for the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. He played a major role in this project and developed a formula with leading scientists to create the fission bomb. After a lot of experiments and trials using a miniature nuclear reactor, his team was able to build the weapon of mass destruction. He was able to provide value addition to the team thanks to his prior experience in working with ballistics problems at Frankford Arsenal in Pennsylvania.

Quantom electrodynamics is the study of how light interacts with matter and how charged particles interact with each other. Feynman was known for his contributions in this field. At Cornell University, Feynman worked on a formulation on electrodynamics which was approved by Freeman Dyson, renowned astrophysics at his prime. He proposed a paper on the theory of positrons, which addressed various equations. He also published papers on the mathematical formulation of applications in quantum electrodynamics in 1951, which paved the way for students at the university to aid in the research.

Contributions to Physics and Engineering

At high school, we all would have studied the superfluity of supercooled liquid helium. If you are lucky enough, your school would have also had experiments on exhibiting this quality of helium, where it showcases a lack of viscosity while flowing. Well, guess what? This concept was discovered by Feynman during his investigation at the California Institute of Technology. He proved this through the quantum mechanical explanation of a Russian physicist’s theory of superfluidity.

Feynman was not just the jack of all trades; he was also the master of all. He proved this through his work on the forces like the strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravity; he established the investigations of all four interactions. This resulted in his success in quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity. He was a force to be reckoned with in the field of physics as he established a new idea that aided computer engineers. He knew that there was a relationship between physics and computation; he was one of the first scientists to discover the possibility of quantum computers.

Feynman was a person who loved to explore and never had anything called a comfort zone. He was always on the lookout to learn new things, experiment on different aspects, and learn through questioning and reasoning. In 1980, he began working at Thinking Machines Corporation and helped in building parallel supercomputers. He also considered the idea of constructing quantum computers. He proposed the variational perturbation theory that helped in measuring satellite experiments.

A Dedicated Teacher

Feynman was known for his revolutionary teaching methods, which were unorthodox in nature. He often said that students should be made to think in the most open-minded manner like scientists, and teachers have to constantly kindle their creativity and address their doubts with patience. In his lectures, he would give a holistic view of science in the simplest manner that is easily understandable by even a child. He would emphasize the evolution of life and the nature of knowledge transfer of science to the next generation, which is essential as it would enable humans to achieve things in the realm of science fiction.

Feynman often taught concepts in a very engaging manner. Scientists and students who attended his lectures would say that when he teaches a concept, he explains it in a very personal manner that it feels like he is sharing his life experience. He encouraged students and young scientists to constantly question how everything works and, most importantly, what makes everything work. His lecturers were so engaging that people were glued to their seats like toddlers listening to a wonderful tale of the universe and the romantic interaction between subatomic particles.

Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist

Feynman’s achievements in his lifetime are the equivalent of 10 highly intelligent scientists. His dedication and passion for science was immeasurable, and his contributions in astrophysics and particle physics were unachievable by even renowned scientists. He received the Albert Einstein Award and a gold medal for his contribution to physics in 1954. In 1962, he received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, followed by the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He shared the Nobel prize with two other scientists Schwinger, and Tomonaga, for their contributions in quantum electrodynamics and deep ploughing consequences of elementary particle research. He was also elected as a member of the national academy of sciences but resigned after a few years.

In 1978, tragedy struck Feynman when he faced abdominal pain, which was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. After multiple surgeries to remove the tumour that was the size of a football, his kidney failed due to duodenal ulcer in 1988. He refused to undergo haemodialysis, which could have prolonged his life for a few months. He passed away on 15th February 1988 at 69. His last words being “I hate to die twice. It’s so boring.”

Conclusion

Richard Feynman was truly one of the most remarkable physicists that the world could ever ask for. A Nobel Prize-winning astrophysics who found his work in the minds of several scientists today, he was one of the most magnificent personalities in science. His sense of humour and elegant personality helped him to hit the jackpot with the ladies. He may have passed away, but his work and ideas continue to tingle the minds of young scientists, students, and science lovers. He has proved that passion and curiosity are what drives people to achieve great heights.

A Tribute to Stephen Hawking

Meet the man who gave a new definition to the universe, a cosmologist, a passionate physicist, and a genius who was born to mesmerize the world with his voracious intellect. Stephen William Hawking was one of the world’s greatest theoretical physicists and an indispensable asset in the field of cosmology and particle physics.

A Legend is born

Stephen Hawking was born on 8th January 1942 to a relatively well to do family in Oxford, England. In his initial years, he was not academically successful but eventually showed excellence in scientific subjects and mathematics. He was also known as Einstein during his school days. He studied at Oxford university college, which was an utter cakewalk for him as he found most subjects ridiculously easy. However, he went into depression when he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), during his graduate years, and doctors gave him only two years to live. Despite this severe blow in his life that rendered him speech impaired and physically challenged, Hawking cheated death and soared to great heights with his thoughts pervading in every young astrophysicist well past his demise.

New Beginnings

Hawking came to Cambridge to study with one of the world’s famous cosmologists back in the 1960s, Sir Fred Hoyle.

Hoyle strongly believed in the steady-state theory, which inferred that the universe has no beginning or end. This theory stated that matter would continuously be created as the universe expands, in utter disagreement with the big bang notion of an indefinitely dense initial state. The steady-state theory was widely accepted among the most renowned astrophysicists at that time.

Young Hawking was eager to flex his neurons and genius intellect; he called his doctoral thesis properties of expanding universes. During his first months at Cambridge, he was interested in Narlikar’s calculations and began hanging around his office opening discussions and sharing ideas. He became more engrossed with Narlikar’s difficulties with the project Hoyle assigned.

In a talk at the prestigious royal society, Hoyle discussed the latest ideas based on Narlikar’s calculations. After his speech, he asked the crowd whether they had any questions, flaunting his appreciation with a sheepish grin filled with pride. Much to his dismay, Hawking stood up and said, “the quality you talk about diverges.” Filled with ego, Hoyle says, “How do you know?” Hawking replies, “Because I worked it out.” Hawking goes on to showcase his paper summarizing mathematical methods he had used and proved the divergence of Hoyle’s equations.

Hoyle was furious as an embarrassed laugh passed through the audience. He had his work refereed openly by an unknown post-graduate student.

Limitless Intellect

One of the Oxford tutors supervising Hawking’s work in statistical physics assigned several problems from a textbook. Only to be greeted with a list of mistakes in the textbook marked clearly with a valid explanation. His mind knew no bounds as he harnessed extreme intellect that enabled him to decipher even the most complex calculations and postulates into simple yet understandable concepts.

As Hawking was nearing his end of term at Oxford, he met with a terrible fall in the staircase due to the beginning effect of ALS, which resulted in a temporary memory loss. However, even ALS stood no match, as Hawking passed with flying colours!

A New Perspective of the Universe

Albert Einstein predicted the existence of black holes through his theory of relativity. Black holes stemmed from massive stars that collapsed. However, this black hole theory was not well understood by scientists due to the lack of exploration and complex nature of the concept.

Hawking took it a step further and notched it down for easier understanding. He christened a new definition to the black hole theory that established the existence of black holes as reality and not just a theory that could be debunked. With his remarkable brain, he proved certain rigorous mathematical theorems of Einstein’s equations for gravity. Under general circumstances, he showed that there were places where equations broke down and coined them singularities. The region inside a black hole, in which even light cannot escape, is known as a singularity.

Yes, Black holes Shrink, Hawking Radiation

In his initial research, Hawking was of the strong impression that the size of a black hole remains constant and never changes. However, after some vigorous research and rethinking, he proved that black holes could shrink as they radiate energy, thereby reducing mass. This energy that radiates is known as Hawking radiation.

Hawking theorized that this radiation from virtual particles was constantly popping into and out of existence in the bizarre quantum realm. This happens in matter-anti-matter pairs, where one has positive energy and the other with a negative. Hawking also emphasized that black holes have tendencies of evaporating or boiling themselves away in a brilliant burst of energy equal to a million 1 megaton hydrogen bombs, astounding, isn’t it?

Gracefully Dealing with Criticism

A successful person is always prone to criticism; Stephen Hawking was not new to that. He faced criticism from other scientists who coined the black hole information paradox. This paradox was a puzzle with the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Hawking proved that once a star dies, all its mass would collapse into a single point of infinite density that results in a singularity. The information paradox stated that once the black hole collapsed, all information is lost, thereby violating the principle of quantum physics that information cannot be destroyed as it stays constant. Hawking debunked the paradox with his witty argument that information is not lost but is encoded in particles emitted by the radiation.

Hawking’s contributions to physics are a force to be reckoned with. His level of intellect was beyond comprehension and blew the minds of renowned cosmologists and scientists. He established a strong foundation for scientists in the future by bridging several gaps in quantum cosmology, black holes, thermodynamics, and various riddles in the universe. His contributions would pave the way for future research and reshape our understanding of the universe.