16 - The background to and essentials of special relativity

Summary

In the popular mind Albert Einstein is identified as the architect of the theory of relativity and as the embodiment of modern scientific genius. Also, among a somewhat older set, he is probably remembered as a man with great humanitarian concerns, as well as the person whose theoretical work was the foundation for the atomic bomb. For one who was to become a singular legend even in his own lifetime, Einstein's background and early years were inauspicious enough. In fact, in later life his own assessment of his ability was that ‘I have no particular talent, I am merely extremely inquisitive.’ Like Newton, he seems to have had an exceptional power of concentration. We begin with a sketch of Einstein the man and then turn to his arguments for the relativity principle.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, into a family none of whose members had shown any brilliance. One year after Albert's birth, the family moved to Munich. His father ran a series of small businesses, most of which ended in failure. Young Albert was not a particularly good pupil, largely because he disliked the rigid German school system that placed great emphasis on learning by rote. He attended a Catholic elementary school, where he was the only Jewish student in the class, and then entered the Luitpold Gymnasium in Munich when he was ten.