In the history of world science, it is difficult to find a scientist of the same scale as Albert Einstein. However, his path to fame and universal recognition was not easy. Suffice it to say that Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize only after having been unsuccessfully nominated for it more than 10 times.
Brief curriculum vitae
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the German city of Ulm into a middle-class Jewish family. His father was first engaged in the production of mattresses, and after moving to Munich he opened a company that sold electrical equipment.
At the age of 7, Albert was sent to a Catholic school, and then to a gymnasium, which today bears the name of a great scientist. According to the recollections of classmates and teachers, he did not show much zeal for study and had high marks only in mathematics and Latin. In 1896, Einstein from the second attempt entered the Zurich Polytechnic at the Faculty of Education, as he subsequently wanted to work as a physics teacher. There he devoted much time to the study of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. Although it was already impossible to overlook Einstein's outstanding abilities, by the time he received the diploma, not one of the teachers wanted to see him as his assistant. Subsequently, the scientist noted that in the Zurich Polytechnic they obstructed him and pushed for an independent character.
The beginning of the path to world fame
After graduation, Albert Einstein for a long time could not find a job and even went hungry. However, it was during this period that he wrote and published his first work.
In 1902, the future great scientist began working at the Patent Office. After 3 years, he published 3 articles in the leading German journal Annals of Physics, which were subsequently recognized as the forerunners of the scientific revolution. In them, he outlined the basics of the theory of relativity, the fundamental quantum theory, from which the theory of the Einstein photoeffect subsequently emerged, and his ideas regarding the statistical description of Brownian motion.
Einstein's revolutionary ideas
All 3 articles of the scientist published in the “Annals of Physics” in 1905 became the subject of heated discussion by colleagues. The ideas he presented to the scientific community certainly deserved to bring the Nobel Prize to Albert Einstein. However, they were not immediately recognized in academic circles. If some scientists unconditionally supported their colleague, then there was a rather large group of physicists who, as experimenters, required to present the results of empirical studies.
Nobel Prize
Shortly before his death, the famous arms magnate Alfred Nobel wrote a will, according to which all his property was transferred to a special fund. This organization was to select candidates and annually award large cash prizes to those “who brought the greatest benefit to humanity”, making a significant discovery in the fields of physics, chemistry, as well as physiology or medicine. In addition, prizes were awarded to the creator of the most outstanding work in the field of literature, as well as for his contribution to the rallying of nations, the reduction in the number of armed forces and the “facilitation of peaceful congresses”.
In his will, Nobel, as a separate paragraph, demanded that when nominating candidates their nationality should not be taken into account, as he did not want his prize to be politicized.
The first time the Nobel Prize ceremony was held in 1901. Over the next decade, such outstanding physicists as:
- Wilhelm Roentgen ;
- Hendrick Lorenz;
- Peter Zeeman;
- Antoine Becquerel;
- Pierre Curie ;
- Marie Curie
- John William Strett;
- Philip Lenard
- Joseph John Thomson;
- Albert Abraham Michelson;
- Gabriel Lippman;
- Guglielmo Marconi;
- Karl Brown
Albert Einstein and the Nobel Prize: first nomination
For the first time, the great scientist was nominated for this award in 1910. Wilhelm Ostwald, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, became his “godfather”. Interestingly, 9 years before this event, the latter refused to hire Einstein. In his presentation, he emphasized that the theory of relativity is deeply scientific and physical, and not just philosophical reasoning, as Einstein’s ill-wishers tried to imagine. In subsequent years, Ostwald repeatedly defended this point of view, repeatedly putting it forward for several years.
The Nobel Committee rejected Einstein's candidacy, with the wording that the theory of relativity does not exactly match any of these criteria. In particular, it was noted that a more explicit experimental confirmation should be expected.
Be that as it may, in 1910 the prize was awarded to Jan Van der Waals for the derivation of the equation of state for gases and liquids.
Nominations in subsequent years
Over the next 10 years, Albert Einstein was nominated for the Nobel Prize almost annually, with the exception of 1911 and 1915. Moreover, the theory of relativity was always indicated as a work that was worthy of such a prestigious award. It was this circumstance that caused even contemporaries to often doubt how many Nobel Prizes Einstein received.
Unfortunately, 3 out of 5 members of the Nobel Committee were from the Uppsala University of Sweden, known for its powerful scientific school, whose representatives have achieved great success in improving measuring instruments and experimental equipment. They were extremely suspicious of pure theorists. Not only Einstein became their “victim”. The Nobel Prize was never awarded to the outstanding scientist Henri Poincaré, and Max Planck received it in 1919 after long discussions.
Solar eclipse
As already mentioned, most physicists demanded experimental confirmation of the theory of relativity. However, at that time it was not possible to do this. The sun helped. The fact is that in order to verify the correctness of Einstein's theory it was required to predict the behavior of an object with a huge mass. For these purposes, the Sun was the best suited. It was decided to find out the position of the stars during the solar eclipse, which was supposed to happen in November 1919, and compare them with the "ordinary" ones. The results should confirm or disprove the presence of space-time distortion, which is a consequence of the theory of relativity.
Expeditions were organized to the island of Princip and the tropics of Brazil. Measurements taken within 6 minutes while the eclipse lasted were studied by Eddington. As a result, the Newtonian classical theory of inert space was defeated and gave way to Einstein's.
Confession
1919 was the time of Einstein's triumph. Even Lorenz, who was skeptical of his ideas before, recognized their value. Along with Niels Bohr and 6 other scientists who had the right to nominate colleagues for the Nobel Prize, he spoke out in support of Albert Einstein.
However, politics intervened. Although it was clear to everyone that the most well-deserved candidacy was Einstein, the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1920 was awarded to Charles Eduard Guillaume for studying anomalies in nickel and steel alloys.
Nevertheless, the debate continued, and it was obvious that the world community would not understand if the scientist was left without a well-deserved reward.
Nobel Prize and Einstein
In 1921, the number of scientists who proposed the creator of the theory of relativity reached its zenith. Einstein was supported by 14 people who officially had the right to nominate candidates. One of the most respected members of the Royal Society of Sweden, Eddington even compared him to Newton in his letter and indicated that he was superior to all his contemporaries.
However, the Nobel Committee instructed to make a report on the value of the theory of relativity to the laureate in medicine in 1911, Alvar Gulstrand. This scientist, being a professor of ophthalmology at Uppsala University, sharply and illiterately criticized Einstein. In particular, he argued that bending a light beam cannot be considered a true test of Albert Einstein's theory. He also urged not to take as evidence the observations made regarding the orbits of Mercury. In addition, he was particularly outraged by the fact that the length of the measuring line can vary depending on whether or not the observer is moving, and at what speed he does it.
As a result, the Einstein Nobel Prize was not awarded in 1921, and it was decided not to award anyone.
1922 year
To save face, the Nobel Committee was helped by theoretical physicist Karl Wilhelm Oseen from the University of Uppsala. He proceeded from the fact that it does not matter at all why Einstein will receive the Nobel Prize. In this regard, he proposed to award her "for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."
Oseen also advised committee members that not only Einstein should be awarded during the 22nd ceremony. The Nobel Prize in the year preceding 1921 was not awarded, so it became possible to note the merits of two scientists at once. The second winner was Niels Bohr.
Einstein missed the official Nobel Prize ceremony. He delivered his speech later, and it was devoted to the theory of relativity.
Now you know why Einstein received the Nobel Prize. Time has shown the significance of this scientist's discoveries for world science. Even if Einstein had not been awarded the Nobel Prize, he would still have entered the annals of world history, as a person who changed humanity's ideas about space and time.