 1905 paper on Brownian motion, which showed that it can be construed as firm evidence that molecules exist. This analysis would later be verified by French physicist Jean-Baptiste Perrin, and Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1926. His work established the physical theory of Brownian motion and ended the skepticism about the existence of atoms and molecules as actual physical entities.
Following his research on General Relativity, Einstein entered into a series of attempts to generalize his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism as another aspect of a single entity. In 1950, he described his “unified field theory” in an article entitled, “On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation“, which describes his attempt to resolve all fundamental forces of the universe into one framework.
Although he continued to be lauded for his work, Einstein became increasingly isolated in his research, and his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Einstein’s dream of unifying other laws of physics with gravity continues to this day, informing efforts to develop a Theory of Everything (ToE) – in particular String Theory, where geometrical fields emerge in a unified quantum-mechanical setting.
His work with Podolsky and Rosen, hoping to disprove the concept of quantum entanglements, also led Einstein and his colleagues to propose a model of a wormhole. By using Schwarzschild’s theory on black holes, and in an attempt to model elementary particles with charge as a solution to gravitational field equations, he described a bridge between two patches of space.
If one end of the wormhole was positively charged, the other end would be negatively charged. These properties led Einstein to believe that pairs of particles and antiparticles could be entangled without violating the laws of Relativity. This concept has seen quite a bit of work in recent years, with scientists having successfully created a magnetic wormhole in a lab.
And in 1926, Einstein and his former student Leó Szilárd co-invented the Einstein refrigerator, a device that had no moving parts and relied only on the absorption of heat to cool its contents. In November 1930, they were awarded a patent for their design. However, their efforts were soon undermined by the Depression Era, the invention of the Freon, and the Swedish company Electrolux acquiring their patents.
Attempts to resurrect the technology began in the 90s and 2000s, with student teams from Georgia Tech and Oxford University attempting to build their own version of the Einstein fridge. Due to Freon’s proven connection to ozone-depletion, and desires to reduce our impact on the environment by using less electricity, the design is considered to be an eco-friendly alternative and a useful device for the developing world.
Death and Legacy:
On April 17th, 1955, Albert Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which he had sought surgery for seven years prior. He took the draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance, commemorating the State of Israel’s seventh anniversary, with him to the hospital, but he did not live long enough to complete it.
Einstein refused surgery, saying: “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” He died in Princeton Hospital early the next morning at the age of 76, having continued to work until near the end.
During the autopsy, the pathologist of Princeton Hospital (Thomas Stoltz Harvey) removed Einstein’s brain for preservation, though without the permission of his family. According to Harvey, he had done this in the hopes that future generations of neuroscientists would be able to discover the cause of Einstein’s genius. Einstein’s remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.
For his lifetime of achievements, Einstein received countless honors, both during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanatio