Relativity turns 100

January 24, 2005 As part of the United Nations World Year Of Physics 2005, events and celebrations around the globe are planned for the centennial of the publication of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

Some of the more noteworthy events include:

January 17—Chancellor Gerhard Schröder sparked off ceremonies at the German Historical Museum in Berlin for the "Year of Einstein".

April 18—A statue by Robert Berks will be unveiled at Princeton, New Jersey, his home for the last 22 years of his life.

May 24—A relativity inspired ballet is to be performed in London.

Pirelli Relativity Challenge 2005—Explain relativity with a five minute multi-media presentation, win $30,000.

Although best known for the theory of special relativity, it was a series of papers published in 1905 (later known as the "Annus Mirabilis" papers–the miracle year) that formed a break from Newtonion or classical science and changed modern physics.

While the title isn't known on a world-wide basis, the final paper Einstein that year–Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on Its Energy Content?–produced a famous mathmetical formula: E=mc², which describes the relationship between mass and energy.

Significant Events


 * 1879—Born Ulm, Germany March 14
 * 1902—Employed as clerk at Swiss Patent Office
 * 1905—Published his "annus mirabilis" papers in Annalen der Physik
 * 1921—Received Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect
 * 1933—Left Germany a month before Hitler took power.
 * 1955—Died Princeton, New Jersey April 18
 * 1999—Named Person of 20th Century by Time Magazine.