Albert Einstine (Scientific career)

Throughout his life, Einstein published hundreds of books and articles.^[14][5] He published more than 300 scientific papers and 150 non-scientific ones.^[11][14] On 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einstein's papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents.^[152][153]Einstein's intellectual achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous with "genius."^[15] In addition to the work he did by himself he also collaborated with other scientists on additional projects including the Bose–Einstein statistics, the Einstein refrigeratorand others.^[154]

1905 – Annus Mirabilis papers

Main articles: Annus Mirabilis papers, Photoelectric effect, Special theory of relativity, Mass–energy equivalence, and Brownian motion

The Annus Mirabilis papers are four articles pertaining to the photoelectric effect (which gave rise to quantum theory), Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity, and E = mc² that Einstein published in the Annalen der Physik scientific journal in 1905. These four works contributed substantially to the foundation of modern physics and changed views on space, time, and matter. The four papers are:

Title (translated)	Area of focus	Received	Published	Significance
On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light	Photoelectric effect	18 March	9 June	Resolved an unsolved puzzle by suggesting that energy is exchanged only in discrete amounts (quanta).[155]This idea was pivotal to the early development of quantum theory.[156]
On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid, as Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat	Brownian motion	11 May	18 July	Explained empirical evidence for the atomic theory, supporting the application of statistical physics.
On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies	Special relativity	30 June	26 September	Reconciled Maxwell's equations for electricity and magnetism with the laws of mechanics by introducing major changes to mechanics close to the speed of light, resulting from analysis based on empirical evidence that the speed of light is independent of the motion of the observer.[157]Discredited the concept of a "luminiferous ether".[158]
Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?	Matter–energy equivalence	27 September	21 November	Equivalence of matter and energy, E = mc2 (and by implication, the ability of gravity to "bend" light), the existence of "rest energy", and the basis of nuclear energy.

Statistical mechanics

Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics

Main articles: Statistical mechanics, thermal fluctuations, and statistical physics

Einstein's first paper^[159] submitted in 1900 to Annalen der Physik was on capillary attraction. It was published in 1901 with the title "Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen", which translates as "Conclusions from the capillarity phenomena". Two papers he published in 1902–1903 (thermodynamics) attempted to interpret atomic phenomena from a statistical point of view. These papers were the foundation for the 1905 paper on Brownian motion, which showed that Brownian movement can be construed as firm evidence that molecules exist. His research in 1903 and 1904 was mainly concerned with the effect of finite atomic size on diffusion phenomena.^[159]

Theory of critical opalescence

Main article: Critical opalescence

Einstein returned to the problem of thermodynamic fluctuations, giving a treatment of the density variations in a fluid at its critical point. Ordinarily the density fluctuations are controlled by the second derivative of the free energy with respect to the density. At the critical point, this derivative is zero, leading to large fluctuations. The effect of density fluctuations is that light of all wavelengths is scattered, making the fluid look milky white. Einstein relates this to Rayleigh scattering, which is what happens when the fluctuation size is much smaller than the wavelength, and which explains why the sky is blue.^[160] Einstein quantitatively derived critical opalescence from a treatment of density fluctuations, and demonstrated how both the effect and Rayleigh scattering originate from the atomistic constitution of matter.

Special relativity

General principles

He articulated the principle of relativity. This was understood by Hermann Minkowski to be a generalization of rotational invariance from space to space-time. Other principles postulated by Einstein and later vindicated are the principle of equivalence, general covariance and the principle of adiabatic invariance of the quantum number.