Albert Einstein, whose theories on space time and matter helped unravel the secrets of the atom and of the universe, was chosen as 'Person of the Century' by Time magazine on Sunday.
A man whose very name is synonymous with scientific genius, Einstein has come to represent (46) the flowering of 20th century scientific thought that set the stage for the age of technology.
'The world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other century in history. The reason is not political or economic, but technological-technologies (47) , ' wrote theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in a Time essay explaining Einstein's significance. 'Clearly, no scientist better represents those advances than Albert Einstein. '
Time chose as runner-up President Franklin Roosevelt to represent the triumph of freedom and democracy over fascism, and Mahatma Gandhi as an icon for a century when civil and human rights became crucial factors in global politics.
'What we saw Franklin Roosevelt embodying the great theme of freedoms fight against totalitarianism, Gandhi personifying the great theme of individuals struggling for their rights, and Einstein being both a great genius and a great symbol of a scientific revolution that brought with it amazing technological advances (48) , ' said Time Magazine Editor Walter Isaacson.
Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879. In his early years, Einstein did not show the promise of what he was to become. He was slow to learn to speak and did not do well in elementary school. He could not stomach organized learning and loathed taking exams.
In1905, however, he was to publish a theory which stands as one of the most intricate examples of human imagination in history. In his 'Special Theory of Relativity', Einstein described how the only constant in the universe is the speed of light. Everything else-mass, weight, space, even time itself-is a variable. And he offered the world his now-famous equation: energy equals mass times the speed of light squared-E=mc2.
'Indirectly, relativity paved the way for a new relativism in morality, art and politics, ' Isaacson wrote in an essay (49) . 'There was less faith in absolutes, not only of time and space but also of truth and morality. '
Einstein's famous equation was also the seed that led to the development of atomic energy and weapons. In 1939, six years after he fled European fascism and settled at Princeton University, Einstein, an avowed pacifist, signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging the United States to develop an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany did. Roosevelt heeded the advice and formed the 'Manhattan Project' (50) . Einstein did not work on the project.
Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey in 1955.
A. explaining Times choices
B. how he thought of the relativity theory
C. more than any other person
D. that secretly developed the first atomic weapon
E. that flowed directly from advances in basic science
F. that helped expand the growth of freedom
(46)