Einstein rewrites space and time
In one miraculous year Einstein explained the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and special relativity; a decade later general relativity curved spacetime itself around mass.
Why it matters
Newton's absolute stage was replaced by a relational universe where time runs differently for different observers — and where GPS satellites must correct for it every day. The century's physics, and its bomb, grew from these papers.
People
Albert Einstein
Related events
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica — relativity